The first forest service campground had a walking trail that went down toward the ocean.
The trees in the area have experienced high winds in their lifetimes and show it! All the branches point inland.
From the USFS campground we drove north to Heceta Head Lighthouse. Highway 101 crosses the bridge and the entrance to the lighthouse parking lot is below the bridge.
The first building you see is the assistant lighthouse keepers' house. It was originally a duplex. Now it is a bed and breakfast.
The lighthouse is at the end of a nice walk through the forest. Everything is very green. One thing we have noticed in this area is the lack of salt spray covering everything like it seems to do around Florida's beaches. The lighthouse is on a piece of land jutting into the Pacific Ocean. The light house is still in use.
We took the tour of the lighthouse. Only 4 people are allowed in at a time since the stairs are original. The stairs are attached to the building only at the landings.
The light doesn't have an opening at the bottom for cleaning and repairs, there is a side hatch to enter the light area.
On the way down from the lighthouse we stopped to look at tide pools on the rocks near the path. If you look carefully, you might see the lighthouse at the top of the hill.
Wildflowers are in bloom everywhere. The wild irises were beautiful.
The Heceta beach was in a quiet cove at the bottom of the hill.
From Heceta Head we drove north to Yachats to eat lunch in a quaint restaurant. We had a seagull for a dining companion. He sat on the ledge outside our window the entire time we were there.
As we drove back toward Florence, we stopped at Cape Perpetua. It is run by the USFS. There are camp sites, tidal pools, churn, spouting horn and forest trail. After touring the interpretive center we decided to walk the forest trail to see the giant sitka spruce which is over 500 years old. We crossed several bridges on our way to the spruce.
We followed a stream all the way to the spruce.
There were many large trees along the way.
The light reflected off the needles of some trees and made them look silvery white.
We saw many nurse trees along the way. Those are dead trees with other trees growing in their trunks!
When the nurse tree rots, the trees have openings at the bottom where the roots curved around the nurse tree.
We finally made it to the GIANT SPRUCE!
At one time it had been attached to a nurse tree. We could crawl through the opening at the bottom!
After we left Cape Perpetua, we headed back to the rv. We had had a full day of sightseeing.
We missed seeing Sea Lion Caves because the parking lot was full. Maybe we will catch it on the return trip.
We decided to stay at the casino one more night.
2 comments:
Wow! Do you two ever look like you are having fun! What phenomenal pictures and information about all that you are seeing and doing. I've mostly been absent for the past few weeks...sorry. Benjamin did vacation bible school that was held at a really neat park. The following two weeks he is enrolled at Safety City (now in the middle of those two weeks). We've had lots of play dates with his friends too, so things have been busy (but good).
I'm loving following your journey. How wonderful to see all the sites via your blog. LOVED the ice blue water from the falls. I'm sure it was better in person, but what gorgeous pictures. And that red poppy picture---Wow!
Be careful and keep having a blast!
Miss you,
Amy
We are having fun! Sounds like Benjamin and Lottie are keeping you busy this summer.
Miss you, too!
Joyce
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