May 18
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May27
May 28 - 30
The group got up early, as they had a long drive back to Portland to catch their planes for home. I got to sleep in a little later, as I planned to drive up the coast, stopping when the fancy struck me and spending the night at Cannon Beach before heading back to Mom and Dad’s on Monday.
After an early breakfast, I finished packing and headed north.
My first stop was an overlook near Heceta Head Light. We had stopped there four times in the previous two days hoping the fog would clear enough for a long shot across to the lighthouse. Well, I got a break. It was fairly clear, so I stopped and shot a couple of rolls there.
The three photos above were taken from this overlook. The one on the left shows the caretaker's house. The center photo shows what the view from the overlook was. The photo on the right is a telephoto shot of the lighthouse.
The photo on the left was taken from this same overlook looking down at the waves marching past.
I also stopped at Cape Perpetua and shot several rolls of the crashing waves. They weren’t as high as the previous day, which had a storm at sea pushing them, but they were still impressive. I spent 2.5 hours there....
The three photos above were taken at Cape Perpetua. The one on the left shows an overview from the highway. The other two photos show the Devil's Churn.
I stopped at Fogarty State Park for a quiet lunch and at Munson Creek Falls State Park to see the waterfall there (photo to the right). It’s a tall, thin one that’s hard to see through the trees, but it was a pleasant area and well worth the drive back into it.
I finally arrived at Cannon Beach and discovered it was a madhouse. It’s a popular tourist area and everyone had decided to spend Memorial Day Weekend there. It reminded me of Gatlinburg in many ways, both good and bad.,,,
I found my hotel, a quaint little hotel with 12 rooms. Very nice. Checked in, then left for an early dinner at Mo’s. I’d seen signs for Mo’s up and down the coast (they have a half dozen locations). It wasn’t worth the search. Very crowded and very chaotic.
Then out to Ecola State Park for some long shots of Cannon Beach and the coastline. The two photos above are from this overlook.
There was a wedding reception going on in one of the pavilions at Ecola State Park. In fact, the bride was getting her picture taken with the sea in the background. Dragging a long white dress through the dirt to get the shots she wanted and getting in everyone’s way, but I guess she thought it was worth it. Don’t know what ethnicity they were, but they weren’t talking English.
When I arrived at Ecola, I was right behind the Rescue Squad. As near as I could figure out, someone had climbed down the cliff there and had fallen in the water, which has a bad undertow and is very rough. A second Rescue Squad vehicle and a helicopter soon arrived. They wound up taking everything on to the next cove north to pick up the person from the water. The snatches of conversation I overheard implied no serious injuries.
Then back to the hotel and out to the beach. I was just in time for some sunset shots (above), but to get the sea stacks in the shots meant almost a mile trek down the beach, dodging tourists all the way. Made it, but don’t know how the pictures will come out. Walked back to the hotel and settled in for the night.