New Year's Day on the Beach

I always spend New Year's Day on the slopes.  I had every intention of continuing this tradition January 1st, 2014.  I even skipped the evening's festivities, and went to bed before midnight, in order to be well rested for my ski day.

Happy New Year!

But the lack of moisture that's plagued the PNW continued through the holidays.  When my alarm rang the next morning, my enthusiasm for sliding on rocky slopes and icy snow had waned.  I decided to bag my trip and sleep in.

Bear takes in the salt air

Now I had an entire day with no agenda.  Not wanting to waste a holiday sitting around home, I needed to formulate a plan B.  Then the beach beckoned......

Time for the pups to play

I love photographing the Oregon coast.  And it had been awhile since I'd visited.  Grabbing my camera gear and the dog, I pointed my car west.

Pawprints in the sand

The shoreline just south of Cannon Beach is my favorite part of the coast.  For today's trip, I decided to visit Arcadia Beach.  Sandwiched between Cannon Beach and Hug Point, it was a perfect choice for an afternoon's ramble.

Foamy waves

I'm lucky to live a mere hour's drive from the coast.  In no time at all, I was pulling into Arcadia Beach's tiny parking lot. 

A BIG splash!

My dog Bear also loves the beach.  Once I was stopped, he instantly rocketed out of my car.  Bear got onto the sand and ran forever.  Then he sniffed everything in sight, and made friends with a couple other dogs.

Shell pieces

I, on the other hand, was busy with my camera.  There were a myriad of photo subjects to capture!

Beach scenery

Although high tide covered much the beach, other things caught my eye.  I noticed waves crashing on some rocks offshore, creating large, frothy splashes.  It took a little time and patience to capture one of the bigger swells, but I was rewarded when a giant wave hit, creating an enormous white fountain.

Lone rock

Bear and I slowly ambled down the soft sand, heading towards Hug Point.  It took me awhile, as there were many distractions.  Such as this lone rock, staring out to sea.

Half a sand dollar

And this partial sand dollar buried in the beach (does that make it a half-dollar?)

Splashing waves at Hug Point

Finally, I reached the rocky outcrop and basalt shelf of Hug Point.  The shelf  is an old wagon road, blasted out of the rock.  At the turn of the century, people used the beaches as roads.  The shelf enabled travel across Hug Point during high tide.  I visited the other side of Hug Point last May, and blogged about it here.

Hungry shorebirds

There's a bunch of tidepools full of sea creatures at Hug Point's base.  I noticed a huge flock of little birds pecking around in these tidepools. There must've been something really good to eat in those tidepools, because the birds were not deterred by anything.  Even when waves flooded the beach, the flock stayed put.  Made for easy photo subjects.

Colorful rock layers

Since the tide was still fairly high, I didn't venture out on Hug Point's rocky road.  I turned around and headed back to my car.  It's always amazing the things you discover on your return trip.  Such as these colorful layered rock cliffs.

Beach views

Although the cloudy skies didn't make for the greatest light, the late afternoon winter sun did supply a small streak of gold on the horizon.

Golden late afternoon sun

Which, in the right conditions, lit up the beach's sand ridges brilliantly.

My doggy and I

I came home with a tired, but happy dog, and a camera full of wonderful beach images.  A great way to spend the first day of 2014.

Although I would've rather been skiing, a day at the beach is always a good second choice. 


Sharing with:  Saturday's Critters and Weekly Top Shot and I Heart Macro.