OCT Summer 2015 update

 

Harlequin ducks off Bald Point

A relatively un-stormy winter has left a high volume on the sand on the beach this summer (I think all along the coast; definitely here on the North Coast where I'm staying for a month). For OCT hikers, that means you don't always have to wait for low-low tide to get around certain rocky points along the  beach. (All these photos were taken a couple of hours past a -1.8 tide.)

Looking south to Cannon Beach from Bald Point

Case in point: Indian Beach to Chapman Point, north of Cannon Beach. During this summer's very low minus tides, especially, you can easily walk the beach all the way from Indian Point (the south end of the trail over Tillamook Head) and around Chapman Point to Cannon Beach--which means you can actually walk the beach from Tillamook Head to Arch Cape. But to walk that entire stretch (9? 10? miles) before the tide blocks you from going around Silver Point, even on a low minus tide, you might want to be on Indian Beach an hour or more before the limit of low tide in order to get around Bald Point, Ecola Point, Chapman Point, AND Silver Point. I would, anyway. Nice run of minus tides coming June 29 to July 7 and again July 12 to 19 (but not quite so low).

Looking north to Ecola Point and Indian Beach from Bald Point

Crescent Beach: The trail down to Crescent Beach (in Ecola State Park) is being rebuilt at this time. Doesn't look like it will take very long to finish, but the trail is closed during the project. (No one's there on the weekend, but it's steep and pretty dangerous and I recommend staying off it even if no one's around.) So either walk from Indian Beach all the way to Cannon Beach on a minus tide or plan to walk the park road to Cannon Beach after getting off the trail at Ecola Point.

Cape Sebastian, on the south coast: I hear from hikers in Gold Beach that the trail on the north side is in no better condition than it was when I walked it last. But it's passable. And they inform me that there is now a trail between the north and south trailheads at the top of the Cape, so you don't need to walk on the park road. Which wasn't a big deal, but there you have it. (I thought I spotted a trail there years ago, but when I went back I couldn't find it. Either it's new and I hallucinated it, or it's been there for awhile and I'm blind...)

I love to get updates to share with other OCT hikers; keep them coming.

Bonnie