Cape Kiwanda and Sitka Sedge State Natural Area, Oregon

We've been wanting so badly to get to the coast this summer, if for no other reason than to break out of the monotony of our enforced quarantine. But with me suddenly losing my job, it took a few weeks to get our financial situation to the point where we felt comfortable spending the money on gas and perhaps dining out, if the circumstances would permit.

In early August, all our stars aligned to the point where we felt comfortable heading west for the hour drive to the coast. We left without any plan, so talking en route, we decided to cut northwest up Highway 22 past the Grande Ronde Reservation, Mt. Hebo, and through the Siuslaw National Forest and the Coast Range on our way up to Pacific City, a place we had visited before with my girls.

Cape Kiwanda

It was 59 degrees and sunny when we pulled into the parking lot at 8:30am by the dory launch ramp next to Pelican Brewing at the far north end of Pacific City. Watching Haystack Rock almost all the way through town, we were able to get a great front-row parking spot, unlike when we returned at around 11:30 in the morning when the lot was overflowing.

Low Tide at Haystack Rock

Walking down from the parking lot onto the beach, bare feet in very cool sand, it was clear that the tide was low and still going out. Haystack Rock was directly ahead of us and dories were being launched to our right, closer to the sandsone mass of Cape Kiwanda.

Cape Kiwanda

We first walked north up the beach toward the cape where Annie snapped this great picture of the cape reflecting in the water on the beach.

Tide Pools at the Base of Cape Kiwanda

Still no plan in mind, we occupied a driftwood log next to the big dune just inland of the sandstone cape and contemplated climbing the dune, but decided against it. Exploring the tide pools would have been fun too, but there were too many kids playing in them for us to feel safe in wandering around them.

As we sat there chatting away, missing our morning coffee, we watched the intricate dance of launching dories into the Pacific Ocean. Trucks with their dories in tow would back rapidly into the water and stand on the brakes, shooting the dories out into the water where with the aid of a push and some oars, the dory would find itself in deep enough water to lower the outboard motor and speed away for a morning of fishing.

Ultimately we wandered three quarters of a mile or so south on the beach, taking in the surfers in their wetsuits trying desperately to get up on two-foot breakers in the very calm ocean. After meeting a few friendly dogs, we did an about face and headed back in the direction of the truck, with no real plan other than to head north. As we pulled out of the parking lot and took a left north up the beach road, I thought we might be headed for Cape Meares and its scenic lighthouse.

Sitka Sedge State Natural Area

We had just passed through the tiny little community of Tierra del Mar, just north of Pacific City, when I spied a state park on the left. Something said, "Pull in!" So, I did, serendipity in action, the whole Forks in our Road thing guiding us to a wonderful place. After parking, we availed ourselves of the restrooms and headed out into the marshes and estuaries for a short hike.

Thanks to the signboard with a map of the hiking trails, we learned that we were visiting Sitka Sedge State Natural Area, which turns out to be one of the newer parks in the State of Oregon, having opened in the summer of 2018. It is a reclaimed farm that has been returned to public use via public-private ecoinvestment.

I still feel quite the newbie as far as flora is concerned out here in Oregon. Whereas in Virginia I had a pretty good shot at identifying most of the plants that we encountered on our hikes, I am a babe in the woods out here. That's nothing that time in the wild won't cure and Sitka Sedge was a good start in exposing us to some plants we've not seen before.

Tidal Estuary at Sitka Sedge Natural Area

The trail from the parking lot heads through a bit of woods and then out onto a dike that divides freshwater on the left from brackish on the right. As soon as we stepped out of the woods, I heard a Belted Kingfisher call and was able to show Ann a pair, hunting. One hovered on our right like a tern, before plummeting into the shallow water and coming away with its prize, no doubt part of an endless cycle of feeding hungry babies.

Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

As we were driving to the coast, Ann kept asking me what the patches of flaming pink flowers were on the side of the road. I had seen stands of both Purple Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) and Fireweed along the way. When we walked out onto the dike at Sitka Sedge, Ann pointed out the fireweed plants as those she had spied from the truck.

Fireweed and Sword Ferns along the Dike

Where back east, we would see a bit of fireweed very sporadically, out here in Oregon we have seen vast stands of it, including entire hillsides blooming flaming pink. While we were admiring this stand up close, a male Rufous Hummingbird came to take a look while just behind on the mudlfats, a flock of Sanderlings scurried about looking for food.

Walking the Dike, Path Lined with 

The sides of the path along the dike are lined in golden ray flowers (cat's ears and hawksbeards), sword ferns, and berries of all sorts. As we were standing in the shade of this small Sitka spruce, a curious Stellar's Jay foraged nearby. While we have Stellar's Jays in our neighborhood, the California Scrub Jays are much more common, vocal, and visible. We rarely see Stellar's Jays up close, because they don't move too far from tree cover.

Cutleaf Blackberry (Rubus laciniatus)

Blackberries are so common in Oregon as to be a nuisance, despite bearing incredibly delicious fruit. Ann and I love to gorge on wild blackberries. Walking along the dike at Sitka Sedge, however, I saw a blackberry that I have never seen before, one that is ubiquitous there. While I can't (and don't really care to) discriminate between the species of blackberries, the cut leaves on this one stood out. When I got to WiFi, I googled "cut leaf blackberry" and sure enough, that is the common name for this berry. That never happens. For me, there's always a lot of searching to identify new plants.

Western Spirea (Spiraea douglasii)

Here's another new plant for me that favors marshy ground, Western Spirea. We saw several thickets of it, mainly bloomed out, along the path, adding pink highlights here and there to the sea of green.

Evergreen Huckleberries Ready to Eat

Walking the wilds of Oregon in late summer, you can feast on any number of wild berries and Sitka Sedge is no exception. In places, the path was lined to seven feet high with both Evergreen Huckleberries (Vaccinium ovatum) and Salal (Gaultheria shallon) bearing ripe fruit. We have a small huckleberry in our yard which is just ripening a tiny bit of fruit. The fruit has wonderful flavor, but the tiny seeds feel grainy in your mouth. We did not try the Salal fruit because at the time, I was not sure if it was edible. I now know that it is and have tasted it. More on that in a later post.

Abundant Hoppers

We looped along the sunny open farm road on the dikes until we reached the tree cover that fronted the ocean. While we saw several rabbits out on the edge, we saw nothing in the trees except for a single squirrel. In places the trail was so sandy walking on the dunes that we took off our shoes for better traction, the shady cool sand feeling so welcome. In places though, the fallen spruce needles were pretty aggressive making us put our shoes back on.

In one creek bottom, a pair of birds alerted to us and started talking loudly. A pair of unusual-to-me birds popped up, curiously watching me and vocalizing constantly, looking for all the world like a cross between a cocked-tail wren and a small, dark sparrow with a funny looking bill. It's not very often in this country that I see a bird species that I have never seen before. These two Wrentits (Chamaea fasciata) were a first for me.

All along the trail through the woods, we heard Towhees calling, but only rarely did they come out into the open. I heard a Bald Eagle calling from the trees, but from inside the thicket, I couldn't see a thing. We also saw a bunch of crows, which is a bit unusual for us. At home in McMinnville, any large black corvid flying through the sky seems to be a raven.

Without the benefit of breakfast, our stomachs were rumbling at the end of our hike along the ocean, so we decided at 11:15 to head back to Pelican Brewing, knowing that they opened at 11, but not knowing if we would feel safe enough there to eat. We decided to take a look-see and then decide to stay or head back home.

Pelican Brewing, Pacific City

Clearly, we decided to stay. When we got back to the parking lot, we found it full to overflowing causing us to make a big loop through it looking for a spot. This let us see safe looking widely spaced tables out back, so we found a parking spot in front of the pub and asked for a table outside on the patio sitting right off the beach. We lucked into the last table and one in the shade with a great view of the ocean. Score!

Our New Reality

Sunny and Hazy!

Burgers and Onion Rings

For our first meal out in months and having worked up a thirst and hunger by walking, we decided on total junk, burgers and onion rings, accompanied by two different hazy beers. Hazies are all the rage out here in Oregon, having started as New England IPAs, but now fully adopted by Oregon brewers. Pelican isn't really in the top tier of local craft brewers, but it is the best and only game in Pacific City. We don't go there for the beer and food, but for the incomparable view of the ocean out back.

Getting out of the house to see the coast was just what we needed to help with the same-four-walls quarantine blues. We had a great time feeling normal, eating and drinking out on a beautiful day, all the while watching the dories come back in. They'd hit the horn a few times as a warning and jam the throttle down to come flying up on the beach, skidding to a halt in their flat-bottomed boats a long way from the water line. Always fun to watch.