Just Another Cannon Beach Sunset....

On to a bit more current happenings......

This past January NW Oregon experienced three straight weeks of dry, clear skies and sunshine.  For a climate that's normally cold and rainy in the winter, this was unheard of!  I enjoyed some beautiful sunny days on the ski slopes, and most of the sunrises and sunsets were quite spectacular.  So one day in mid-January I took a break from skiing and headed to the coast in hopes of capturing one of those great sunsets.

Seafoam on the beach

The seaside town of Cannon Beach is about an hour's drive from my home, so it's super convenient to drive down there whenever the mood strikes.  I packed up my car and was on the road by one o'clock in the afternoon.  I figured a midafternoon arrival would give me plenty of time for beach walking before the sun dropped around 5 pm. 

Quarreling shorebirds

Driving along US highway 101, which is the main north-south coastal highway through Oregon, I was about a mile or so from the Cannon Beach exit when I spotted some large animals walking across the pavement.  A herd of a dozen elk decided the vegetation looked greener on the other side of the highway and sauntered across.  Traffic ground to a screeching halt - no one wanted to hit such a large animal.  Elk are big enough to total a car (just ask my hubby, it happened to his truck 5 years ago.)

A little bird looking for lunch

The unexpected elk crossing delayed my arrival by a few minutes, but that was ok - it was cool to see such majestic animals so close up.  I'd seen photographs of an elk herd walking along Cannon Beach, right in front of the hotels, but in all my visits had never witnessed this for myself.

Waves and Terrible Tilly lighthouse

I finally pulled into the parking lot at Tolvana Beach State Recreation Site.  After switching shoes, bundling up, (the wind was cold!) and grabbing my camera gear, I headed for the beach.

Sand patterns

Usually when visiting this beach, I turn north and head towards Cannon Beach's landmark seastack - Haystack Rock.  But today, since there was still plenty of time before sunset, I decided to walk in the opposite direction.

Love is on the beach...

I came upon a group of low rocks, sitting just inside the waterline.  Seeing movement, I realized that these rocks were full of tiny seabirds.  The little birds were brown on top with white bellies.  Quick swapping to my zoom lens, I had fun trying to photograph them. The bright sunlight made exposure a bit challenging, but I managed to get a few cute images of the birds.  Once home, my bird book identified them as black-billed plovers, but when I posted some photos on Facebook, someone else said they were surfbirds.  Whatever they were, I enjoyed watching and photographing them.

Found an interesting vantage point

After my bird photography session, I headed back north towards Haystack Rock.  Although skies were sunny, the wind was biting.  Despite the cold temperatures, the beach was full of people and dogs out enjoying a brisk walk.

Driftwood scattered beach

The problem with arriving too early for sunset is that one has a bit of time to kill.  I walked past Haystack Rock and then turned around to go back.  I noticed a public wooden stairway connecting the beach to a neighborhood and decided to check it out.

Sun is starting to go down

The top of the stairs provided a nice view of Haystack Rock and the ocean.  I had to wait a few minutes for two women to finish filming themselves before I got an unobstructed vantage.  I thought about setting up and shooting sunset here, but in the end decided I wanted to be closer to the seastacks.

Glowing between two seastacks

So back down to the sand I went.  By now, the sun was finally beginning to sink.  Although my original plan was to make Haystack Rock the centerpiece of my images, two smaller seastacks to the south caught my eye.  The sun appeared to be setting in between them.

Getting close to the horizon

That would make a cool image!  So I found a good place to stand, far enough away from too many people, and waited.  As the sun sunk lower in the sky, its rays began to shine brightly between the two rocks.  I took many, many photos of the scene (lots of people walked in front of my lens) so later I had lots of images to choose from.

Day's last light reflected on the sand

Although the lowering sun lit up the sky a brilliant shade of orange, the lack of clouds made for a unspectacular sunset.  But it's always nice to be on beach and watch the day end.

An orange sky

With the sun nearly down, the wind picked up, and it was downright frigid.  As soon as the sun departed from the horizon, I packed my gear up and began the long walk back to the parking lot.  I was so focused on getting back to my warm car that I nearly missed a surprise.  Thankfully, a man walking in the opposite direction with his dog alerted me.  He said "There's a herd on elk on the beach over there."

Elk on the beach!

In the fading light I spotted a half dozen elk grazing at the edge of the beach.  One big female was sitting in the sand, her legs tucked blissfully underneath.

Right after sundown, the elk came out to browse

I thought about switching to my zoom lens, but there wasn't enough light to capture good images.  So I zoomed as much as I could with my landscape lens just to get a few photos to prove they were there.  Thanks to that man, I now can say I've seen elk on Cannon Beach!

Parting shot

Of course the only downside to capturing sunset on the beach is the drive back on a dark, winding highway through the coastal mountains.  But I'd gotten some nice sunset images and finally got to see elk on Cannon Beach, so I considered that a fair price to pay.  Hopefully I'll get back there sometime this month for another sunset, and maybe catch the elk herd again!

More From the Southern Oregon Coast

I'd had a wonderful two days reacquainting myself with Bandon's lovely beaches.  (If you missed that post, find it here.)  But I had another yurt reserved farther south in the town of Brookings, so on the third day I reluctantly began to pack up my car for the 80 mile drive.

Morning above Bandon Beach

But check in there wasn't until 4 pm, so with plenty of time to kill, I decided to take one last morning walk on Bandon Beach.

Part of Elephant Rock

The low-angle morning sun was shining from the east, flooding the beach with spectacular light.  Sauntering along the bluff high above gave me a perfect vantage to capture the seastacks glowing in sunshine.

Seastack reflection

Then I climbed down to beach level for another angle.  Some of the seastacks reflected quite nicely in the wet sand.

Face Rock

The churning waves in front of Face Rock were especially photogenic.

Yawning harbor seal

Then I strolled over to Elephant Rock to see if there were any Harbor seals around.  There were!  The blubbery mammals were chilling on some nearby rocks.

Seal pup and his mama

I spotted a seal pup and his mother nearby.  

Giving mom a kiss

The tiny baby seal was adorable, especially when he gave his mama a kiss on the nose.

Table Rock

Then, not wanting to miss low tide again, I headed over toward several prominent seastacks, where I knew from past visits had some great tidepools.

Tidepool life

And the tidepools did not disappoint!

Dueling seastars

Although the alien-shaped anemones were interesting, my favorite tidepool life form by far was the seastar.  I spotted several of these colorful creatures.  Lots of photographs may have been taken....

 

Lots of colorful seastars here!

I had to be out of my yurt in Bandon by 1 pm, so around noon I packed up the car and slowly headed south on highway 101.  

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

I made a stop at the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.  Although the lighthouse itself wasn't open to the public, it was in a very photogenic location.  A sky full of interesting clouds added drama to the scene.  I even ran into the lady I'd met on Bandon Beach the previous afternoon.  We seemed to have similar schedules - the lady was staying at the same state park in Bandon, and yesterday I kept meeting her in the bathroom!

I sent this pic to my hubby to let him know I'd made it

Then on to the very southern tip of the Oregon Coast and town of Brookings, where I had another yurt reserved at Harris Beach State Park.  After unpacking and having some chill time, I headed back out to seek sunset at a place called "Secret Beach."

A bride and groom were being photographed when I arrived

I'd stumbled upon Secret Beach during my last visit, several years ago.  However, since it had been awhile, I couldn't remember exactly which trail I'd taken or where I'd parked.  Thinking maybe I'd started at the "Natural Bridges" trailhead, I left my car there and followed a path that led northward into thick, coastal forest.  This rough trail roller-coastered through the woods, dodging rocks and large roots.  I walked for over a mile, and was getting very hot and tired.  I was just about ready to give it up when I spied a downhill path leading towards water.  Following an extremely steep trail I came out above a beach sheltered by several seastacks.  This was it!

Cool clouds above Secret Beach

The first thing I noticed was a bride and groom doing a wedding photo shoot.  The happy couple was down on the beach while their two photographers remained perched in the rocks above.  Reaching the beach required navigating a near-vertical, rocky slope that dived about 50 feet from where I stood.  I was impressed that the couple had made it down there.  After watching their half hour photo session, both bride and groom managed to climb back up the steep bank (the bride still in her wedding gown!) and the couple and their photographers left.

Sadly, the skies clouded over right before sunset

Secret Beach was a very scenic place.  A tiny, sandy beach ringed by several large, tree-topped seastacks, it was a popular place for local photographers to capture sunrise and sunset.  Although the beach below looking intriguing, I was too chicken to brave the rock scramble to reach it.  I wasn't even sure I was going to stay for sunset.  Although I'd brought my headlamp and a bright flashlight, the thought of hiking back out in the dark forest by myself wasn't appealing.  Then I met a young couple from North Carolina who were planning to stay for sunset.  I asked if could hike out with them and they replied "yes, of course."

Redwood Nature Trail

I discovered the couple were National Park junkies like me, and we had a great conversation about the parks we'd visited and the places still on our bucket lists.  They had just visited Redwood National Park, and had driven a bit further to see the Oregon Coast while they were in the neighborhood.

At first, the sky filled with small, pebbly clouds.  I got excited - if those clouds lit up at sunset, they would produce an amazing backdrop.  But sadly about 10 minutes before dusk, dull, gray clouds took over the sky.  No light was getting through those.  Sunset was a bust.

Huge redwood tree

When my new friends and I saw that the sunset show wasn't gonna happen, we decided to leave.  I followed the young couple back up the trail.  They had parked in a different pull out than me, one much closer.  We only walked about a quarter mile before arriving at their rental car.  I'd walked way too far!  However, being the nice people they were, the couple offered to shuttle me to my car.  As I settled into the back seat of the couple's car, rain began to pepper the window.  We'd made it back in the nick of time!

More giants

It absolutely poured all night, and I was glad to be in a yurt instead of tent camping, like many other poor souls in the campground.  My yurt had was made of thick canvas, featured a wooden floor elevated from the ground, and electric heat.  I was dry and cozy as a bug.

The redwood trees had such interesting bark

The rain continued well into the next morning, so I waited out the weather reading a book and drinking several cups of tea.  From my past visit, I remembered a small redwood forest just east of Brookings with a short nature trail.  Foggy, rainy days were perfect for photographing these spectacular giants of the forest.  If the rain didn't let up soon, I decided to head there.

Oxalis 

The rain finally did let up, but it was still quite foggy so I decided to go check out the redwoods anyway.  Although redwood trees are common on the Northern California coast, Oregon has only a few small groves.  Apparently this is the northernmost redwood grove with a trail through it.  This short, 1.1 mile trail led me through these soaring giants.  My photos don't do justice as to how huge these trees really were.  They were really quite amazing!  As I traveled along the fern-covered forest, the clouds parted and sun began to stream through the tree canopy.

Harris Beach

After my short hike, I returned to Harris Beach State Park and walked down to check out the beach area.  Although it had a couple of seastacks, it wasn't nearly as pretty as Bandon's beach area.  Feeling kind of tired, I cut my walk short returned to the yurt.  I ended up having a lazy afternoon at the yurt, sitting around and finishing my book.  I didn't know it at the time, but I was in the beginning stages of an illness.  Two days later I came down with my husband's nasty cold, which he'd brought home from the office.

Sunset over Harris Beach

Low energy or not, I did manage to wrest myself away from my comfy yurt to capture one last sunset over the ocean.  Not wanting to walk a long distance, I chose a nearby viewpoint overlooking Harris Beach and set up my tripod.

Almost gone....

This night's sunset was the best of all.  A few low clouds provided some drama and the setting sun radiated a bright golden light that reflected in the ocean waves.  After the sun disappeared, it lingered in the sky for several minutes afterward.

Lingering light

It had been a wonderful four days spent revisiting some of my favorite spots on the southern Oregon coast.  But it was time to head home.  I had a memory card full of images to sort and edit that would keep me busy for many days.  And lots of good memories to tide me over until I could visit again.

Until next time!

Beach Time at Bandon

Bandon, Oregon.  The town with my all time favorite ocean beach.  It had been well over a year since I'd visited this gorgeous piece of heaven.  Time to plan a return trip!

Classic Bandon beach view

Spring is a perfect time to visit the Oregon coast.  Wildflowers are blooming, birds and other aquatic animals are having their babies, and increased daylight means more time outdoors.  I made yurt reservations at Bandon's nearby state park for late April and counted down the days.

Pretty oceanside cliffs

The first thing I always do when pulling into town is head directly for the beach.  Bandon's main beach is stunning, with craggy seastacks, tall cliffs decked in yellow wildflowers, and a wide expanse of sand (at low tide, anyway.)  On this day the beach was littered with thousands of small jellyfish-like creatures.  Called velella velella, these sea animals float on the ocean's surface, propelled by a small sail.  At the mercy of prevailing winds, colonies of velella velella are often subject to mass strandings on ocean beaches.  Such was the case today where I observed tiny blue bodies everywhere.

Lots of velella velella washed up on the beach

I'd seen this phenomenon once before many years ago.  Apparently velella velella mass strandings happen on some sort of cycle.  Mother Nature or not, it was sad to walk along the beach stepping over so many of these lifeless organisms.  

Velella velella close up 

After checking into my cozy yurt, home for the next two nights, I returned to the beach for sunset.  Bandon's beach is known for fabulous sunsets, the ocean sky framed by tall rock pinnacles.

Horse riders on the beach

Of course, I was a bit early.  So I entertained myself by photographing other things.  A group of horse riders trotted along the sand, and I couldn't help capturing a few pics of them.

Almost time for sunset!

Per usual, it was a bit windy on the beach.  Still having a hour to wait, I moved near the cliff, hoping it would break the wind.  It wasn't a bad view at all - I considered just staying put for sunset.

There she goes!

But in the end, I elected to wander a bit.  I walked up and down the beach, checking out the surroundings.  It's always difficult for me to chose the best sunset spot.  What should I include in the foreground?  The cluster of seastacks?  The interesting rock in the sand?  This time I tried to include both.

Post-sunset light

It was a beautiful evening.  The sun sank behind a cloud layer on the horizon, shooting up a few last rays before disappearing for another day.

Coquille River Lighthouse with lovely clouds

The next morning dawned cloudy, so I didn't bother getting up for sunrise.  After a bit of breakfast, I drove over to nearby Coquille River Lighthouse.  Although not in use anymore, the lighthouse is maintained by Oregon State Parks as a tourist attraction.  Sitting on a scenic spot along the Coquille River, I love photographing this landmark and always pay it a visit when in town.

 

Beautiful morning at the lighthouse

The yellow gorse was blooming around the lighthouse, which made for a pretty foreground.  Climbing out onto the surrounding jetty rocks for another perspective, I was delighted to see blue sky peeking through the clouds.  It didn't take long for blue to overtake the grey, leaving lovely puffy clouds in the sky.  A perfect backdrop!

Wildflowers at Devils Kitchen beach

After a quick stop at Bandon Coffee Cafe (highly recommended!) for a latte and second breakfast, I headed over to check out Devils Kitchen Beach, a place I'd never visited on all my prior trips.

Interesting rocks

Pulling into the parking area, I was greeted with a huge spread of wildflowers covering the grassy dunes surrounding this beach.

Sea stack

There were a bunch of interesting sea stacks here too.  Along with more washed-up velella velella bodies.  I spent a happy couple of hours wandering this beach, snapping copious photographs.  

Oystercatcher with it's lunch

Then with low tide approaching, I headed back to Bandon's main beach to check out the animal life.

Two oystercatchers

Walking near Elephant Rock, I spotted two oystercatchers searching the rocks for food.  These birds with their black bodies and bright orange bills are interesting to watch.  I noticed another lady with a long lens also photographing these birds.  We struck up a conversation, and discovered she too was traveling solo and loved to come here to photograph the sights.  The lady was staying in the same campground as I, camping in her van.

Harbor seal enjoying the day

After watching the oystercatchers for awhile, we moved over to where several Harbor seals were perched on the rocks.  No action happening in seal-ville, they were all just chilling.  Nothing much bothered these seals, even when waves from the incoming tide splashed over their bodies.

Harbor seal getting splashed

I spent so much time chatting with my new photographer friend, I nearly missed low tide.  Some of the larger seastacks have amazing tidepools around their bases.  By the time I got out there however, the water was flowing back with many of them already underwater.  I did manage to get one nice shot of an orange seastar, surrounded by velella velella bodies.

Seastar

The incoming tide seemed to be bringing in even more of these little blue sailors.  The beach was littered with their squishy bodies, so much so that I couldn't avoid stepping on them.

Thousands of velella velella on the beach

After dinner at Tony's Crab Shack (another local favorite) I returned to capture sunset number two of my trip.  Parking at Coquille Point, I decided to set up on top of the bluff instead on the beach.  High tide was coinciding with sunset, and I didn't think there would be enough beach left.

Evening light

The sinking sun lit up Bandon Beach with some of the most beautiful light.  It turned the water a bright shade of blue.  While waiting for sunset, I enjoyed watching white, frothy waves crash over the seastacks.

Sunset number two!

It was another nice sunset, cut short by thick clouds near the horizon.  I still enjoyed some nice colors in the sky before packing things up for the evening.

The end of another great day

I got lucky with two dry, partially sunny days during my time in Bandon.  Tomorrow I planned to head to the town of Brookings, the southernmost point on the Oregon coast.  I'll recap the rest of my trip in the next post.  Stay tuned!