Secret Beach

The Oregon Coast is a photographer’s dream. High rocky cliffs with waves below, freshwater rivers and streams cascading over mountains to the sea, and fog to give everything beautiful atmosphere. This combination repeats itself to varying degrees to create breathtaking scenery up and down the coast. As much as I try, I can’t do it justice. In a world of irony, one of my favorite things to photograph is moving water…and I live in the desert.

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

The above photo is actually more inland, as one of the many Colombia River Gorge waterfalls, near Portland. But until I have a prettier representative Oregon waterfall, this will suffice.  Below is a representative woodland scene on the coast. The fuzzy trees all have so much character. Columbia River Gorge

I think the above photo looks like a shark made of rocks. But the amazing thing is the birds hurling themselves out of the water onto those rocks. Look closely to see one in mid-jump. Weeeeeee!   How do they stay on those rocks?

Drone video over Elk River. drone video over Elk River in Southern Oregon
Elk River.

Elk River  The not-so-secret, Secret Beach. Secret Beach

I love to visit Oregon, but somehow in the time between visits I forget about the challenging terrain, or that the terrain is challenging for me.

My years of scampering through the forest or frolicking on the beach are behind me. Now, as I slowly meander, I mutter to myself: “Just don’t fall down”.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Yaquina Head Lighthouse....ADA accessible. The rest of the place.....not really.

Yaquina Head

One example is Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. Is it just me, or is it odd to have the adjective “outstanding” included in the name? It is beautiful. And maybe even “outstanding”??? But other adjectives come to mind.... treacherous is one. On the south side of the peninsula there are stairs down to the beach. A good thing. Conversely, so many Oregon beaches have convoluted trails with exposed tree roots....hence my mantra.....”don’t fall down”.

While the stairway down is safe enough, once you step off the landing, your feet slide out from under you like walking in one of those toddler plastic ball pits.....if it was replaced with 16th century cannon balls! The black round rock beach looks beautiful from the top of the cliff. But it is not sand, it isn’t even gravel. The rocks are black little baseballs, that move with every step and then they come together to bruise your ankles like clackers. 

I watched 3 people fall in less than 15 minutes. Smack! On their butts. Then they struggled to get up. I did not want to be part of that break dance. But just beyond the beach there were sea lions beckoning to be photographed. Ok, they didn’t care, but I did. I moved ever so slowly and cautiously. I was like a toddler trying to walk on ice..... and carrying 2 cameras. So embarrassing.

In my youth, beach going involved flat long sandy beaches, bikinis, and a tan. I would run just because I could. Now, it does not occur to me to run. Mostly because in Oregon every beach I want to get to involves a 30-60 foot descent. Some beaches have a pathetic little rope fastened to rocks that is supposed to help, but mostly you are expected to be agile enough to scramble over, under, and through rocks, roots, and trees. 

(Just to the right of my husband's feet in the video is one of the aforementioned helpful little ropes near Depoe Bay.)

Admittedly there is a great reward to behold if you can do it.....and not plunge to your death. My fleet-of-foot younger self probably wouldn’t have even recognized any of it as an obstacle.

Below are Natural Bridges. They are awe-inspiring, and another example of precarious Oregon hiking trails.

Your average 20-something’s frontal cortex (the area of the brain responsible for decision making) is not fully developed. That’s why shortly after the photo, I watched a young man billy-goat across that narrow ridge in flip flops. Invincible.

Natural Bridges

The video above and cell phone photo below are the same place near Natural Bridge. Note the exposed roots and the shear drop off on either side of the narrow path. Most of the hike was more of the same. Luckily, I'm not scared of heights, but I do have a fully formed frontal cortex to help keep me safe.

Photo below is a vertical pano of the bay to the right, pictured in the above video.

As for unrecognized obstacles...

Two summers ago, on my birthday, I endeavored to take photos on a very accessible beach. The parking lot has plenty of space and overlooks the sea stacks, so my husband could make sure a rogue wave didn’t wash me away. Or at least he could watch it happen if it did. I guess there is comfort in that.

The parking lot is about 30 feet above the beach, and instead of craggily rocks and roots that would assure a hard landing, it has little sand dune moguls with tufts of tall grass lining the labyrinthine descent. A fall here only bruises one’s ego. No damage. Easy little sand slides.

Below is a cell phone photo that my husband took of me. I'm the dot in red. The trail in the foreground drops invisibly to almost vertical between the grass and the driftwood.

I remember it was my birthday because normally my husband is very impatient and I try to be very efficient with my allotted exploration time. But on this day, it was my wish to have time to really let my creativity breathe. 

I wore my muck boots (Wellies, for my British readers) instead of my hiking boots, so I could stand in the cold Pacific intertidal for hours if needed. And I did! I miscalculated how hard packed sand is in the surf. I basically gave myself plantar fasciitis that day. In my normal desert world, I would never stand on concrete for 5 hours without arch support. Why did I think this was different?  I’ll be fine, I thought, it is sand, it contours. Nope. Six months later my feet still hurt if I wasn’t wearing my less-than-fashion-forward “smart” foot-ware. I am officially that person. No more cute little high heels. I’m grumpy if my feet hurt.  Sensible foot-ware is a right of passage, like AARP.

It was a beautiful day with ever-changing light and fog. So much fun! A lot of work actually, but worth it.

I packed up my cameras several times to leave, only to unpack them as I rounded another sea-stack. Such splendor, and I had such a feeling of accomplishment as I hauled my equipment toward the car.

It is a fairly flat beach. The area of loose dry sand mini-dunes is about a 60 degree ascent from beach to parking lot, and situated directly below the lot. It is not visible from the cars, unless you happen to be standing on the edge looking directly down. My husband was in our car, on the phone with his work. He was completely unaware of the scene unfolding just below him.

By this time, I was tired and looking forward to my birthday lunch. I started my slow ascent between the grassy knolls. Two steps forward, three steps back. Not exactly progress. Maybe if I run up? Nope, I just slid down faster. Usually I can use my tripod legs as a walking stick to leverage myself up....tried that. Nope. And the muck boots weren’t helping either. I can be clunky and uncoordinated without muck boots, but with them, I'm not exactly poetry in motion. At least it wasn't a public embarrassment.  No one could see me in the vertical maze. The solitude of the situation just made it funny!

It was exhausting running UP the DOWN escalator of sand, and the more I struggled, the more I had to laugh at how ridiculous it was that I was struggling... the more I laughed, the weaker I got. Doomed, like a hamster on a never ending wheel.

There weren’t any rocks to affix a pitiful little rope, but maybe next time I would bring a rope and tie it to the Jeep, and wear my hiking boots even if they got wet. Live and learn. 

If “snap, crackle, and pop” is the sound your cereal AND your knees make, then plan accordingly, because on the southern Oregon coast you will be presented with 4 main types of beach access:

The stair master …

The sand slide …

The root/rock scramble, and if you are lucky…..

The rappeler’s starter kit. 

I hope to return to the Oregon coast again though, as I would like to do the Bandon Beach stair master workout. I didn’t have time to explore it on a previous visit. Bandon Beach has sea stacks and expansive sand that has drawn many a photographer, but I’d like to try too...... maybe I should plan to get on my elliptical a few times at home before I go? Then I could concentrate more on the creative process, and less on counting how many stairs to and from the beach.  

I’m hoping the prospect of golfing nearby at Bandon Dunes Golf course will be a motivating force for my husband. Fingers crossed. 

My husband builds his memories around golfing and fishing. Oregon has plenty of both. 

I try to do plenty of research before each trip to make sure both of us can enjoy our respective passions. Even with all my research, it is often just the exploration of the area that reveals the best opportunities. 

On our last trip to Oregon, my husband talked to someone about a stream and reservoir that was stalked with trout. It was not on our radar, but what an opportunity! He loved the fishing, and as it turns out, where there are fish, there are Ospreys!…..a great photo op!  They are amazing fishing raptors….and possibly another blog subject to come. ......

Osprey