Oregon Coast: Spouting Horn, Thor's Well, and Devil's Churn

Our visit to Cape Perpetua continues in this post with a walk down from the Visitor Center to the water after going back to the car and eating the remainder of our breakfast for lunch. This part of the coast consists of many fingers of lava jutting out into the water, replete with gaps, holes, tunnels, and small slot canyons. The interaction of the wind, waves, and tides with these rock formations creates some spectacular viewing. Three features have been named and we visited each of them in turn from south to north. 

The Spouting Horn

The trail from the Visitor Center leads directly to Cape Cove where the tidepooling is supposed to be good, but we timed our arrival for high tide when the other features are best viewed. From the trail leading down to the water, the Captain Cook trail leads south along the hillside towards Thor's Well and the Spouting Horn.

Sandy Cape Cove Beach

Flag Trees Permanently Bent in Brutal Wind

Slot in Lava with Tumultuous Waves

Proceeding South Under Flag Trees

Incoming and Outgoing Waves Colliding

First Look at Thor's Well, a Collapsed Cave

Water Pouring Off the Lava

Violence in Slot Where Spouting Horn is Located

Waves Loading up at the Spouting Horn

Rapid Sequence of Horn Spouting

Thor's Well Loading Up

Thor's Well Exploding

7-Photo, 5-Second Thor's Well Sequence

We had intended to walk north on the Cape Cove Trail to visit the relatively secluded Cape Cove Beach and then head further north to Devil's Churn. Unfortunately, the trail is not safely passable (probably from winter erosion/landslide) and the NFS closed it. So, we chose to drive the few hundred yards north and go see the churn, a slot canyon named for the churning action of the incoming waves colliding with outgoing waves bouncing off the back canyon wall. Ultimately, we had seen enough of the Devil's Churn from atop the Cape and also from the overlook up on the highway that we did not bother to find and descend the stairs to view it up close.

Devil's Churn

Having run the course with Cape Perpetua, we were ready to head back to Yachats and have a well-earned post-hike beer, having put in over ten miles already (with a couple more to come later). Our story continues in the next post.