February 22, 2022 I Spoke Too Soon!

Winter came roaring back with a series of storms that dumped over a foot of snow in parts of the Cascade Mountains. Of course we had scheduled a trip to Bend during this time! We had a good trip over the mountains to Bend, then a couple of inches of snow fell in Bend. We returned over slushy, icy roads safely to Newport!

We had a really dirty car to clean up!

Looking back from whence we came, at the snow covered foothills of the Cascades, along the shore of Foster Reservoir in Sweet Home;

February 18, 2022 Daffodils!

Spring has Sprung here! The first daffodils!

Down by the water of King Slough on Yakona Nature Preserve. Possibly an old homesite because there is a nearby well.

The beautiful bench in the background.

February 13, 2022 Beaver Creek

An overcast, breezy day was not conducive to a walk on the beach (too windy & cold) so we headed south and inland a little bit to the Beaver Creek State Natural Area near Ona Beach and Seal Rock. We first hiked to the beaver marsh trailhead and discovered why it is marked ‘seasonal’!

I guess it’s not the right season for this trail, too wet!

So we headed around the park to access the higher ground in the background!

We eventually hiked up the Snaggy Point Loop trail and reached the top, ‘Snaggy Point’ I expect!

No views to the ocean today, too overcast, with low clouds.

February 11, 2022 Depoe Bay

Looking for whales we went to Depoe Bay, to the Whale Watching Center at the entrance to the bay, “the world’s smallest harbor”. Apparently it is now in-between whale migrations. The 20,000 or so whales that pass this area headed south in December and January and will be heading back north starting in March. So we did some exploring in Depoe Bay. We walked around the edge of the harbor and found the City Park where Depoe Bay Creek enters the harbor. There is a fantastic short trail hidden in the sitka spruce forest behind Depoe Bay!

Heading downhill from Hwy 101 on the north side of the bay we accessed the harbor.

We passed the Coast Guard Station;

I guess the harbor inlet looks like a ‘hole in the wall’ when coming in from sea!

Once in the City Park we found the nature trail as we passed this cedar growing from the remains of a tree trunk.Continuing around the trail we headed uphill, back towards the south end of town.We didn’t see whales, but we saw more of Depoe Bay than we have before!

February 10, 2022 Lone Tree

A walk around Olalla Reservoir on a beautiful sunny day.

A lone snag in the lake with a sapling growing from the top.