The Oregon Coast – Sigh

Warrenton, OR

The Oregon Coast. It’s beautiful. Rugged and moody. Warm and fun. Paradise for photographers, hikers and shoppers alike.

I started the day back in Astoria, poking around the town a bit on my way to and from the Astoria Column. The Column stands at the top of Coxcomb Hill on the highest peak in Astoria. It was built in 1926 with financing from the Great Northern Railway and one of the famed Astor family. It stands 125 feet high, and I climbed to the top observation deck, all 164 steps. Unfortunately the clouds were still quite thick so not great for picture taking, but it was worth the epic effort to see the panorama from the observation deck. The murals on the column depict all sorts of history, including the tales of Lewis and Clark as this was the north-western terminus of their their Expedition in November of 1805.

Next I headed south on Highway 101, called the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, not surprisingly, along the Pacific coast. By this time the sun had come out and it had warmed to 18 or so degrees, so I stopped when I arrived at Cannon Beach to stroll along the beach and get some photos of Haystack Rock without which no trip to the Oregon coast would be complete. I walked on the beach for almost 2 hours, enjoying the sun and sound of the surf. The beach of beautiful fine sand is really wide, and the water shallow, depending on the tides. It goes for miles with smaller versions of Haystack Rock poking up from time to time along the coast.

I had worked up an appetite so I picked up a deli sandwich and ate it sitting on a porch along the main drag, people watching. Cannon Beach has more art galleries than almost any town I’ve been in, I think. And the shops are definitely upscale, unique and interesting. Traffic and parking in late October were crazy, although it was a warm Saturday and it’s only an hour and a half drive from Portland. Can’t imagine what it’s like in the summer. The accommodation here was also high quality from private beach houses to B&Bs, to small hotels all running along the cliff overlooking the beach.

Revived by the rest and sandwich, I headed further south along the coast. The drive alternated between magnificent cliff views of the Pacific and heavily forested winding roads. Intersperced are cute towns all trying to compete for the almighty tourist buck and supporting the local fishing industry. Oysters appear to be a favourite, but since I’m not a fan I didn’t investigate. A particularly nice stretch was between Cannon Beach, through Oswald West State Park and down to Neakahnie-Manzanita State Park. Sometimes at sea level and then climbing through forest to 200 feet to poke out again to look down along the coast. There are multiple hiking trails along the way, and lots of pull outs to stop and admire the view. And beaches…….unbelievable beaches.

My stop in Tillamook was to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory, just north of, you guessed it, Tillamook. Several people had mentioned it was an interesting stop and so I had to investigate. Having tours of production facilities is an excellent marketing tool. Adding some second floor windows to the plant and a cheese tasting line where I was able to consume maybe 1 ounce of cheese, resulted in US$ 39 in sales to me alone, not to mention the ice cream cone. (Which, BTW, Nanci was delicious!).

I turned around and headed north again, not without a couple of stops along the way to admire the views again in different light. I’m tucked back in my Prolite and unfortunately the rain has started and so I’m happy to be cocooning this evening.