An Early Morning Walk in the Fog

There's something magical about a beach early on a foggy morning. Maybe it's the mystery, maybe the peace. Hard to say. Our weather this summer has been a roller-coaster ride of warm, sunny days followed by cool, foggy days. While I would prefer more of the warm, sunny kind, there is something to be said for the balance. Houses never get hot and we appreciate the sunshine all the more when it finally breaks through. This morning I walked from home around 7am, headed to Harris Beach.

Fascinating how the variety of flowers blooming along the path has changed so completely since my last photo essay of this walk. These are a variety of fuschia. They glow even in the fog.

This early, even the morning glories were still showing themselves, twined amongst all the other greenery.

Too bad there's not something here to show scale. These were tiny flowers massed low on the ground.

These wild roses have been blooming for awhile and look as if they may be on their last legs, but they are still lovely and there are many of them.

Wild sweet peas are showing in all their spreading, glowing, rampant beauty right now, all along the highway and on cliffs. Everywhere!

I find it tough to capture the feel of a foggy beach completely, but somehow this photo works. These houses have never looked so good!

Lots of birds out on the water today, including some very large ones that I couldn't see well enough to identify. These two caught my eye on shore -- particularly that black one with the long red beak. My birdwatching friend tells me he is an American Oystercatcher. A first for me!

Back on the path headed home, the fog had lifted a bit, but still held a little magic. What a wonderful way to begin a day. Thanks for coming along.

Crissey Field State Park and Welcome Center

Just south of Brookings, less than a quarter-mile from the California State Line, is a newish state park and Oregon Welcome Center. The center, above, seems to fit well with its surroundings. A trail to the beach can be found on the north side of the center from the parking lot, or from the center itself down graveled paths to the trail. Finding the trail from the beach is another story -- I was about ready to start scrambling over driftwood.

When I first arrived the morning fog still shrouded the shoreline, but that quickly lifted to warm sunshine. This is a very long beach -- stretches well south into California and connects at low tide across the Winchuck River Mouth to another long stretch going north. And quiet -- very few people.

This Sea Star seemed to have just washed up in the surf -- either dead or dying, no doubt. Fascinating critters, to me.

I walked far enough south that I was probably in California -- no way to be certain. There is a huge outcropping of mussels here, but since I wasn't sure what state I was in, and since my Oregon shellfish license wouldn't help much in California, I opted not to take any home for dinner. I'd say these rocks have already been harvested of edible size mussels anyway, for now. I turned around at this point -- was a good walk back to the car.

Looking north towards Brookings from the mussel beds -- beaches as far as the eye can see. Very peaceful and beautiful.

All in all, this is a very nice place to visit. As I was driving out, I saw trailhead signs for a Winchuck River Trail and for a wetlands trail. I was tempted, but had had enough for one day. Next time -- and soon.

Crabbing at Dawn -- and a Walk to Chetco Point

This morning the tides were right for some early-morning crabbing and I was on the dock by 6am. Not surprisingly, the scenery was lovely in the dawn light. Pelicans and seagulls cruised in packs, searching for and occasionally diving for breakfast. I was more interested in this than in the crabbing, but of course, I tossed the trap out first, then played with the camera.


All those reflections are so lovely...

I caught two about this size, both female and thus illegal to keep even if it was the right size, which they were not. As I was trying to free the second one from the net, my bait splashed into the water and sank -- the crab took quite a bit longer to free. The bait holder on this net is small, and the fish head too large to allow it to close, so I knew I was taking a chance. With no more crabbing to be done, I hopped into the car and ended up by happenstance to be near the Chetco Point park area, so thought I might as well go for a walk.

The sun was just coming over the hills. This park is right in town, is in fact behind the sewage plant. I'd visited briefly on my first trip here, but today I walked all the way out to the point and down to a rocky beach where one lone surf fisherman was at work. I didn't disturb him -- decided I'd rather go up on the point.

This lovely dawn view was just to the left of the previous photo, on the other side of the narrow neck of land. The views from the point itself are expansive and lovely, but not very interesting photographically.

So - no crabs for dinner today, and not another good combination of time/tide for a couple of weeks, but that's OK. I thoroughly enjoyed being on the water that early, and also the unplanned walk on the point.

Port Orford

One of my neighbors called early this morning to see if I was up to a trip to Port Orford for the day, and of course I was. We had quite an adventure and I saw many things that were new to me. The day was clear and sunny, but very windy and a little cool -- lovely, nonetheless.

I'd driven through Port Orford often, and stopped often at its beautiful beach, but hadn't seen the rest of the town. Because there is no protected marina here, the sizable fishing fleet lives on land, with the boats hoisted in and out of the water on a daily basis by two very large cranes. Since this was Sunday, the boats were all at home. I've never seen anything quite like this.

There is a state park in town on the site of what was a Coast Guard lookout tower, way out on a high bluff. Trails cross the area and the views are superb in all directions. We spotted these lazy sea lions way below where we stood. After we'd walked around here for awhile, the tide was reaching its low for the day so we headed back to the rocky beach in town to see what sea life we could find. We found plenty!

This looks more like tropical waters to me, but it's not..

There were countless starfish of all sizes and colors clinging to rocks amidst the closed anemones, or basking on the sand. The big guy in the middle is a great big sea star -- kind of creepy, but beautiful in its own way. Note the mussels in the photo on the lower left -- Port Orford is known for its mussels, and since I have a shellfish license I was tempted to take some home for dinner.

If you've been reading this for any length of time, you know my fascination with patterns and reflections on wet sand. I thought this one was particularly pretty.

After we'd tired of the beach we still weren't ready to return home, so we drove further north to visit the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. This sits about 6 miles off the highway and I'd never driven out to it, so this was lovely. The road out was lined with cranberry bogs and wildflowers in fields -- foxglove, daisies, wild azalea, lupine, yellow daisies by the hundreds. The wind out on this bluff was strong -- it was hard to stand still enough to take a photo.

To take this one I had to lean against the car for support, still couldn't stay very still. You might not want to try enlarging this one, but it's a pretty view and gives some sense of the location. After this, windblown and chilled, we headed back to Port Orford for some suds and some of the best fish & chips I've ever had, at a funky, crowded place called the Crazy Norwegian. I think a nap is next on my agenda!

Brookings Harbor

I made my second and still unproductive attempt at crabbing this morning, then somebody on another crabbing pier told me that I was trying at the worst possible time. So much to learn! But, it was a beautiful, calm, sunny morning and my neighbor and I had two happy hours sitting and watching the harbor action. As I watched the folks prepare that sailboat to go out, I found myself itching to go with them.

Lots of critters out and about -- mostly birds, including this and several other brown pelicans. Fun to watch them dive, although I didn't see that they were having any more success at finding breakfast than I was. We also saw some water mammals of some kind -- little round heads poking out of the water and watching us, but not so close that we could figure out what they were. Either a baby harbor seal or an otter, probably. Cute.

The crab dock is right below where I'm standing here, and the big hammock hanging on the sailboat always looks so inviting. Can you make it out? It shows as a thick white line hanging above the center of the boat, but in actuality it's big and comfy looking.

The crab dock is on a long, narrow jetty that separates the Chetco River from the harbor. This is the river and its mouth, taken from almost the end of the jetty. You can see how calm and still and beautiful the water was -- at a minus tide.

So -- no crabs, but lots of fun and now I know when to try again.

Stout Grove via Hiouchi Trail

Today dawned one of those picture-perfect, chamber-of-commerce days that simply call for an excursion, so who am I to argue? I wasn't sure where I wanted to go -- but by the time I finished my morning weight-work I felt a call to the redwoods so off I went. I was curious about the Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, because it's so well-known, but didn't want to drive down there merely for 1/2 mile loop trail. I wanted some hiking.

A quick look at William Sullivan's Oregon Coast Hikes book (which includes Crescent City, CA and the redwoods), and I'd found a perfect trail. The Hiouchi Trail leaves from the Highway 199 bridge over the Smith River and follows the river for about 2 miles, then crosses Mill Creek before reaching the Stout Grove. Later in the year I believe there is a footbridge over the creek, as there is over the river at the same place, but today I had to ford the stream on foot. Thanks to Sullivan's book I had been fore-warned and wore my river sandals. The creek was only about 10 feet across and no more than mid-calf at it's deepest. The cool water felt great on my feet. The round trip took me about 3 hours, with lots of dawdling along the way. Beautiful!

Not far from the highway the trail passes through this old redwood stump, which was really cool. Kind of like a hobbit hole -- I found lots of those today.

Ever been inside a redwood? This was a first for me. Cool view up.

Another hobbit hole. I found the lighting on this spider web interesting.

Much of this trail travels through a mixed forest and it's very beautiful -- and beautifully maintained with lots of stair-work such as this, many of them much steeper!

Another hobbit hole - but I loved this knarly old stump for much more than that. It called to me for some reason.

Lots of wildflowers along the trail, including these tiny roses with a great big scent. Only a few were blooming, but the air was filled with their aroma.

Wild honeysuckle just about to open -- and right next to the roses. I can only imagine how wonderful this spot would smell when both are in full bloom.

And what would a hike in this are be without wild Rhododendron? Quite a few still blooming, although I think it's fairly late in their season.

The wild and wonderful Smith River is visible through the trees for most of the trail, but now and then a wide vista like this opens up. It's a lot tamer looking than when I was here a few months back, in the rainy season, but it's still impossibly green and clear and utterly beautiful. Look at all those tall trees!

I loved this brilliantly-lit tree in the midst of the dark forest.

I think this is the Stout Grove, but I wouldn't swear to it. One big bunch of redwoods looks very much like another, and it's very difficult to capture the scope of these forests, so I tend to focus more on scenes that catch my eye for one reason or another.

This big boy is definitely in the Stout Grove -- don't you just love those knarly roots and burl?

Again, not sure where these are -- but does it really matter? What matters is that there are 10,000 acres of first-growth redwoods in this park that have been saved forever. It matters a lot.

Small Things -- a Photo Essay

The overcast we've lived with for the past couple of weeks broke today so I took the opportunity to go down the road to Harris Beach once more. While the rocks and surf are as beautiful as ever, I was more captivated by the wildflowers and other small vignettes that greeted my walk.

Look at all the life on this rock! Those sea snails and such are alive and thriving, waiting for the next tide to wash over them.

I wandered up into the dry sand and driftwood near the cliffs until the hot sand sent my bare feet back to cooler, surfaces. I was surprised to find wildflowers thriving in the sand here.

I wasn't the only one happy to see the sun today. Lots of kids and dogs out there, and this rather photogenic little bit of sea flora.

The path up to the parking lot was lined with blackberries and other wildflowers.

Something about this old wooden bench near the top of the path appeals to me.

Another surprise -- wild Azaleas blooming at the top of the path.

I hope you enjoyed this little walk on the beach with me. This is one of those days when I'm so grateful to live here. My soul is satisfied and happy.