Spring Break
It’s Spring Break and Shane is off campus! Time to get out of the very cold Spokane to rainy Oregon Coast! Ha..ha..ha… anything but snow. We are so tired of being cold and half of my face hurt from Bell’s Palsy. We arrived three days ago at my sister-in-law’s house in Nehalem, Oregon. Shane and I took Dramamine to avoid being sea sick and we were out fishing at Garibaldi Bay yesterday. We only brought home Dungeness Crabs. Fishes just didn’t want to bite Shane’s baits. He gave up after his fishing line was caught among the rocks near Painted Rock.
Oswald West State Park and Short Sand Beach
There are so many beaches to choose from in the Oregon Coast. We LOVE it here because we can combine hiking in the temperate rainforest and the beach. Today’s destination is Oswald West State Park. The parking area is finally empty of vehicles unlike our last attempt to park here. Oswald West State Park is popular with surfers, hikers and beach goers, hence the often crowded parking spaces. From the main parking area, we walk under the bridge of Highway 101 (Oregon Coast Highway) following the Short Sand Beach trail into the forest. It is an easy half a mile hike with low-growing ferns, salal and salmonberry bushes shaded by massive western red cedar, western hemlock and Sitka Spruce trees. We cross the creek on a railroad-style bridge and after that is a beautiful picnic area overlooking the Short Sand Beach.
Short Sand Beach
Short Sand Beach is a secluded 0.6 mile beach sheltered by Smugglers Cove. The only access to this beach is via several hiking trails through the forest. Nicknamed “Shorty” by the locals, this beach offers one of Oregon’s best waves. Even on a foggy day like today, surfers are out riding the waves. The beach is edged with impressive volcanic basalt and sandstone cliffs. Broken pieces of massive rocks lay jagged on the ground along with many drift woods make this beach unique. We spot Blumenthal Falls, a small waterfall that tumbles off Cape Falcon into the bay. James told us the waterfall often dries up in summer. We couldn’t walk close to it because the tide is coming in. We are happy to have the beach almost to ourselves today.
Click HERE to read about the activities we do in Oregon.