Winter Waves at Shore Acres State Park

Shore Acres State Park - a picturesque portion of the Oregon coast where ocean waves crash onto tall sandstone cliffs.  Known for ginormous wave action during high tides and furious storms, it's many local photographer's first choice for capturing turbulent ocean images.  Rumor has it winter is the best season to visit, as the probability for tempestuous storms is much higher.  

Wave action at Shore Acres State Park

Wanting to capture a bit of this ocean action myself, I booked a yurt at nearby Sunset Bay State Park for early February.  Since my reservation was a month in advance there wasn't any way to guarantee favorable wave-producing weather.  As it turned out, although I didn't hit the storm window, I did get two lovely cold, but sunny days.

Beautiful sandstone cliffs

After sanitizing touch points and unloading stuff into my canvas-walled home for the next 2 days, I grabbed my camera and headed up the road to check out Shore Acres' wave action.

Green shore rocks at sunset

Although waves were crashing against the tan sandstone cliffs, they weren't of any remarkable size.  Still the path along the clifftops had amazing views of both the Pacific Ocean and the vast shoreline, which were duly captured by my lens.  

Sun sliding under a cloud layer

Sunset was fast approaching, but since Shore Acres closed their gates promptly at 5 pm, I had to find another spot to capture the show.  Driving further down the road, I came upon a viewpoint created specifically for spotting sea lions.  From the information boards I learned a huge colony liked to congregate on nearby offshore rocks.  I could hear their barking yelps even though the blubbery creatures were quite a distance away.

Better sunset at Cape Arago

I stood by the sea lion viewpoint and watched the sun drop....right into a low-lying cloud bank.  Ugh - sunset prospects weren't looking so good right now.

Orange skies

Thinking I'd been skunked, I got into my car and drove a mile to the end of the road at Cape Arago.  Imagine my surprise when pulling into the parking area, I noticed the heavens turning a lovely shade of orange.  Sunset was salvaged that night with some images from this beautiful sky show.

Sunrise bust

The following morning I set my alarm early in hopes of catching sunrise.  However, cloudy skies didn't produce much sky color, so it was all for naught.

More wave watching at Shore Acres

But I was up early enough to be the first arrival at Shore Acres State park when they opened their gates at 8 o'clock sharp.

One of many inlets

Following a path along the clifftops, I meandered for about a mile taking in the beauty with my camera.  Although cloudy, the diffused light was good for photographs - no shadows.

Interesting wave-sculped sandstone

This breathtaking area was once the grand estate of timber baron Louis J. Simpson.  In 1906, Simpson built a huge mansion on a promontory overlooking the sea and a grand formal garden nearby.  The garden boasted plants and flowers from all over the world.

Cliff scenery

The original mansion burned to the ground in July 1921.  It was rebuilt, but financial losses suffered in the Great Depression caused both the house and garden to fall into disrepair.  The State of Oregon purchased the land in 1942 and slowly restored the garden (the house was too far gone).  Now an attraction on it's own, this formal garden has something blooming nearly every month of the year, and offers a colorful light display during the Christmas season (except in 2020).

Waves hitting a rock barrier

Since most of Oregon's geology is of volcanic origin (think dark basalt rock), the light-colored sandstone cliffs of Shore Acres are sort of an anomaly. 

Tilted sandstone at Shore Acres

Near the old mansion site, the cliff rock layers are tilted, which make for interesting scenes.

Classic Shore Acres view

I spent a happy morning exploring the trails at Shore Acres, trying to capture the biggest wave splashes.  See for yourself......

Big wave splash!

More rowdy waves

Lovely afternoon light

In the afternoon, looking for a better sunrise location, I parked near Sunset Bay, and walked a primitive dirt path around the bay's outer edges.  I found a clearing looking due east with nice views of the Cage Arago lighthouse.  Perfect!

View towards former Simpson mansion site

Then I followed the dirt trail around the clifftops until it joined my morning's turn-around point at Shore Acres.

Waiting for a sunset that didn't happen

Since Cape Arago provided such a nice sunset show the previous night, I returned again hoping for an encore.  I found a most scenic overlook in the day use area, complete with a strategically placed picnic table.

A metal plaque inset into the table proclaimed it Rick and Bonnie Barron's most romantic and favorite spot on earth.

Loved the plaque in the picnic table

While the ocean panorama was indeed outstanding, thick clouds obscured any chance of a decent sunset.  Foiled again!

Pink skies

But I now had my ace-in-the-hole sunrise spot that I'd scoped earlier.  Hoping for a clearer sky, I again rose early the following morning, and hiked the short distance to this vantage point, toting my tripod, camera, and cup of tea to ward off the morning chill.

Sunrise is getting started

Persistence paid off - this time the sky delivered!  First I noticed pink and blue streaks along the horizon.  Then, low-lying clouds began to glow with orange hues.  

Morning has broken

Finally, morning light began to illuminate the Cape Arago lighthouse, situated on a narrow strip of land jutting out into Sunset Bay (Interestingly enough, although named for it's neighboring cape, this lighthouse is located in Sunset Bay instead of Cape Arago).

Cape Arago lighthouse at dawn

It was a perfect way to start the day!

Song sparrow in Formal Garden

My final morning at Shore Acres State Park was spent exploring the Formal Garden.  I'd visited here once before in May 2016 when several flowering plants were in bloom.  However today nothing was really showing color, so photo opportunities were minimal.  The most interesting capture was of a friendly song sparrow who perched on top of a bush and miraculously held still for several minutes.

Now it was time to pack up the car and head down Highway 101 to my next destination - the charming town of Bandon and it's scenic beach.  Coming in my next post!