Port Orford Heads

One more Port Orford hiking place that I just have to write about is Heads Wayside Park, up Coast Guard Hill and just off Highway 101.  My family has been going there since I was a kid, when there was one out-and-back paved trail to a lookout point.  It was never one of my favorite places to go until six or seven years ago, when some wonderful parks people created several new bark chip trails through the forest, grasses, and the wind-twisted shore pines that line the peninsula.  Now it is one of my very favorite places to be... great for running, exploring, whale-watching, or just breathing deeply.

We always start at one of the trails by the parking area that leads into the woods.  Of the two or three trailheads I know of here, all pretty much connect up and lead to the same place, which is out into an open area of grasses and wildflowers that overlooks the ocean.  This trail forks, and you can go straight up the hill to your left, towards the original lookout point, or right, down to another lookout point with a view of the Cape Blanco lighthouse, Agate Beach, and Garrison Lake, as well as a great spot to see sea lions.

See, you can actually tell that they are sea lions, right?  Even with my little point-and-shoot camera.  I can tell, anyway.

After heading to this lookout, we head back up to where the trail forks and continue along the peninsula, overlooking the ocean.  One of my favorite spots is along this trail, because of a pastel painting by Port Orford artist Dana Amarisa www.danaamarisa.com, which hangs over our piano.  I always have to snap a picture of the spot, although the painting is prettier than the snapshots!

The trail heads back up the hill to join with an old pavement trail to the original "heads" lookout point where you can see a sweeping, not quite 360 degree view of the Pacific.  There's a bench to sit and relax, and some tall wood fences that the kids like to climb on.  Here's a picture of Jaeden and Stella taken a year ago at this spot.

However, we usually don't stay here very long and instead head on another "new" trail that is more forested and follows along the other side of the peninsula.  Here the ocean water below is a deep greenish-blue, almost tropical-looking, and calmer.  Seaweed can be seen floating below the surface when the light is right.  And once we saw a whale, only thirty or so feet away, playing in the water below.  Continue on towards an overlook at Nellie's Cove, where there used to be a coast guard outpost.

The irises were blooming when we walked here in early June, along the path that continues up the hill, to some giant spruces and a field of daisies.  There's some kind of museum here (a coast guard museum?  we obviously don't take the time to visit there often), and a few houses, and a large boat on display that was used by the coast guard in the past.

It's a beautiful place--one of those rare places that feels strangely healing to be at.  You know the Beatles line, "when I find myself in times of trouble..." Well, like many Port Orfians, when I find myself in troubled times, I head to the Heads, though I do prefer going there in happy times.  It's quite pretty in any weather, but especially in the rain and wind.  Which is what Oregon coast weather is like most of the time!

Cedar Grove Trek

This last Sunday, Eric, Carol, and the kids and I went back to Reed College Canyon and met some of our friends there for our hike.  So that's a hike I've covered before, which means I will not feel guilty writing instead about one of the hikes we took last week when we were visiting Port Orford.

My lovely supportive family is thrilled that I've been keeping this blog, and before we visited, my Dad talked with one of our family friends, Rick Hazard, who we've known for over 25 years.  Rick runs Cedar Grove Farm, complete with chickens, goats, and a large vegetable garden.  The farm is on 35 acres and Rick (with a little help from his goats) has cleared several different trails through the property, and he was kind enough to take us on a hike through his forest.

The plan was to was to circle around and end up where his 22 (24?) goats were grazing, so, with a little herding help from Rick's dog Cali, we quickly found ourselves on an easy pine-needled trail.  Rick was kind enough to turn off the electric fence that bordered the path, so we didn't have any shocking experiences.  After hearing a few tales of bears and bobcats, I was quite thankful it was there.  Several trees along the path had died because of bears scratching away the bark, but Rick said he hadn't noticed any bear activity that year.  It was striking to see the difference between the areas that the goats had helped clear (where it was possible to walk), and the area on the other side of the fence, which was extremely thick with the undergrowth of brush--salal, rhododendron, thimbleberry, and huckleberry, among other plants.  The trail wound around to an area filled with cedar trees twisting into odd shapes. 

It was rather like a playground, and the kids climbed around happily for a bit before we continued on.

It was quiet and peaceful until we started talking about mountain lions, and then I was thankful for that electric fence again.  Several areas of the trail turned into tunnels, like this:

They were my favorite parts...heading through the tangled darkness to the light on the other side.  Ah, forgive me...I took some poetry classes in college and still can't resist it sometimes.

It was a great hike, so fun to hang out with my parents and Rick.  Rick is full of knowledge about many things, not the least of which is his trees and land.  The part of the forest we were hiking in is a model for sustainable logging--a "working demonstration eco-forest"--and it was great to walk among so many different tree types and have an expert to answer our questions.  After just the right amount of hiking time for Jaeden and Stella, we arrived at the area where the goats were, and if the kids' energy had been lagging, they perked right back up when they saw the goats and the goat kids.  The goat-milk caramels my mom brought along (thanks Aunt Katie!) to mark our journey's end didn't hurt either.

Then we herded the goats back to the barn, and Jaeden and Stella just joined right in line with them, like they were goat kids, too.

Afterwards, Rick invited us in for lemon macaroons and fresh goat's milk.  Which, I can assure you, when very fresh, does not taste "goaty" at all.  It was delicious!

Many thanks to Rick for such a great day!  For more info. on his farm, check out
http://cedargrovefarm.com

Jedediah Smith, N. California Redwoods

This past week, the kids and I visited my parents in Port Orford, Oregon, and instead of hiking weekly, we hiked, or at least went exploring, daily.  So I have a few different hikes to talk about here--all of which were beautiful.  It's the Oregon coast, after all; who would expect anything else?  However, for our first big hike we headed south to California, and this post will cover that hike.

We drove down windy Highway 101 to the California border and passed into the state without incident despite being asked pointedly if we had any produce.  We didn't, as we were only going to be there for a few hours, but I felt nervous, like I might have had an unknown apple hiding in the car or something that suddenly became contraband.  A few miles into California, we took Highway 199 East towards the park, and since there was no road work, it only took a few minutes before the road was curving around giant redwoods.  We stopped at the campground, and they directed us to the hiking areas which allowed us to bypass the $8 parking charge we'd paid last time we were there to park at the campground, and headed down a bumpy dirt road that followed the river until we found a trailhead, whose sign pointed us towards Stout Grove via the River trail. 

It was a quiet half mile hike with just the Smith River for background noise and the approaching deep silence that accompanies a redwood grove that isn't crowded with people.  We purposely had chosen a weekday for this trip and we only saw a few others, which is the best way to experience trees and quiet of that magnitude.  The trees were giant, filling us with awe, some in groups that created what felt like rooms and mazes.  We played a game of hide and seek that quickly turned frustrating and then slightly frightening--Stella was hiding with my mom (thankfully not on her own) and they stayed very quiet just long enough to get my dad, Jaeden, and me nervous.  Well, at least my dad and I were nervous--I think Jaeden was enjoying the "only child" time actually.  Stella is only three, I just didn't think she had the patience to stay quiet as long as she did!  Among other notable things, we saw two banana slugs and heard a strange grunt that thankfully didn't repeat itself (I thought it was maybe a bear).  We tried to get closer to the river, but the water was so high that there just wasn't much shore on the side of the river we were on, so we contented ourselves with just the hike.  Visiting the redwoods is something we didn't do often when I was a child, despite how close Jedediah Smith is to where I grew up, so it feels like a real treat to drive down there and feel the quiet peace of my own insignificance.  In a good way, of course.

My mom and Stella on the River Trail

Jaeden and Stella pose on the path

A view of the trees

The green viny maple leaves were just amazing when contrasted with the dark redwoods

 Not sure what was going on with the bark of this tree, but it was really unique

Multnomah Falls

Over Memorial Day weekend, Eric had two Taiwanese friends from Las Vegas visiting (one was a friend from high school) and since this was their first time to see Oregon and Portland, we decided to take them to Multnomah Falls.  For those not native to Portland, especially first-time visitors, Multnomah Falls is THE outdoor place of choice for waterfall viewing and hiking.  And while the weather forecast was entirely gray, the clouds didn’t last and by the early afternoon, there was plenty of blue sky.  The only water droplets we felt were from Multnomah Falls, which sent up a lot of spray. 

Multnomah Falls is very popular and busy on weekends, partly because of the different viewing areas.  A one-minute walk and you can have your picture taken in front of the cement bridge and waterfall.  Walk 0.2 miles further, and you can stand on that bridge and look down at the people milling around below.  The trail all the way to the bridge is even wheelchair-accessible, which means you’ll see a lot of strollers.  The trail to the top of the falls is approximately one mile, and is comprised of 11 switchbacks with signs so you can count them down.  Jaeden ran most of the way up, and Stella ran most of the way down, but it was a short enough hike that neither of them had to be piggy-backed, thankfully.  At the top of the uphill climb, there are two choices: you can head left towards the Larch Mountain hiking trail (which we didn’t do this time, but I highly recommend it…less busy and absolutely breathtaking hiking along the river), or continue to your right to a viewing area that overlooks the top of the falls.  The circular platform perches just to one side of the rushing water, and if you hold your camera way out, you can capture part of the bridge below, and further down, Multnomah Lodge and the people way at the bottom where you started.  For those wary of heights, it is probably not very fun.  But for others, it’s a great spot to take yet another picture!

My apologies to those of you who noticed that I "missed" this past week--I was hoping to write more, but we've already completed this week's hike, so this will have to do as I move on to the new!  Also I will have to post pictures later, as we are out of town and I don't have access to my pictures from here.  But there will be more to come, and soon, I promise!