Oregon Coast: Cape Perpetua

This is the continuing story of our escaping the brutal heat in Central Oregon to spend a couple nights in Yachats on the coast. After having a long look at the tidepools off of Yachats, we drove the couple miles south (we could have walked along the Oregon Coast Trail) to the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center. I had a laundry list of things to see by following the trails that radiate from the Visitors Center.

In this post, we climb the short distance (1.4 miles if I recall) to the top of Cape Perpetua, about 700 feet above the Visitor Center. Then we come back down and take a little detour to see a mammoth, nearly 600-year old Sitka Spruce before returning to the Visitor Center. 

Most guides rate the St. Perpetua Trail to the top of the head as moderately challenging. I guess with all the trails we have been hiking this summer, this trail didn't feel too tough. In any case, the spectacular wildflowers and views were well worth the effort to climb the trail. As we found out when we arrived at the top, most people drive to the top. That's not our style. You see the world around you in a very different light at walking speed. That's our style.

From the Visitor Center, we descended into a creek bottom, then crossed over the creek and out through a campground before starting to climb. The woods started off damp at the bottom, but we lost a lot of tree cover as we ascended, coming out onto exposed, much drier grass-covered slopes just before the top. The views at the top, especially to the south, are spectacular. If you continue as we did for a few more yards along the cliffside, you come to s stone structure of CCC vintage that offers excellent views west and north.

On the lower and mid parts of the trail, the foliage is starting to encroach a bit as summer wears on. At times, we found ourselves wading through shoulder-high Sword Fern fronds. I really miss the Sword Ferns that we had in the Willamette Valley; they are scarce in Central Oregon. Truth be told, we have very few ferns of any ilk in the high desert of Central Oregon.

The following photos are in the order that I shot them.

Siberian Spring Beauty, Claytonia sibirica

Indian Pipe, Monotropa uniflora

An Unidentified Brodiaea

Elegant Brodiaea, Brodiaea elegans

Bird's-Foot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus

A Large-Flowered Lupine, Lupinus sp.

Large-Leaved Avens, Geum macrophyllum

Salal, Gaultheria shallon

A Spectacular Shrubby St. John's Wort, Hypericum androsaemum

Common Centaury, Centaurium erythraea

Pacific Hemlock-Parsley, Conioselinum pacificum

Mexican Hedge Nettle, Stachys mexicana

Coastal Monkeyflower, Erythranthe dentata

Common St. John's Wort, Hypericum perforatum

A Brilliant Paintbrush, Castilleja sp.

Sticky Bartsia, Parentucellia viscosa

Looking South, Nearly at the Top

Devil's Churn from Above

Pacific Stonecrop, Sedum divergens

Cape Perpetua Scenic Area from the Top

Creeping Buttercup, Ranunculus repens

Cape Perpetua Stone Shelter

Looking South From Stone Shelter

Queen Anne's Lace, Daucus carota, Just Opening

Seaside Agoseris, Agoseris apargioides

From the top of Cape Perpetua, we descended via the trail that we climbed to the creek bottom and then turned left (inland) and started walking to the site of the giant Sitka Spruce. We quickly found ourselves in an area of really pretty massive spruces, including one felled across the trail, in the photo below. A sign said that by the rings, this tree was about 200 years old when it fell. This "little" tree was really nothing in comparison to the giant spruce that we were walking to see. It is 40 feet around at the base (diameter of about 14 feet, 4 meters) and they estimate its age as somewhere between 550-600 years old. It bears battle scars, but is a thing to behold, awesome in the truest sense of the word.

550-600-Year Old Sitka Spruce, Picea sitchensis
Note Ann Inside

Coastal Brookfoam, Boykinia occidentalis

Pacific Trillium, Trillium ovatum

Busy Pacific Wren

Fairy Bells, Prosartes sp.

Oregon Oxalis, Oxalis oregana

Deer Fern, Blechnum spicant

Western Skunk Cabbage, Lysichiton americanus

After climbing back up from the creek bottom to the Visitor Center, we went to the "beach." In the next post, we'll walk downhill from the Visitor Center under Highway 101 to the coast side and then down to the water level to see various tidal attractions: Thor's Well, the Spouting Horn, and the Devil's Churn. These things are best seen at high tide, hence our trek up the hill first while waiting for the tide to come in.