Cape Meares

We returned late yesterday afternoon from a four night stay at the Rockaway Beach cabin on the Oregon coast.  Yes, of course I have photos!

I'm starting out with one of the places we visited on our last day, just because.

Whenever I can combine deep old forests with stunning views of the sea, I am in heaven. So it was on this sunny but brisk day at Cape Meares State Park. 

 There spruce trees out on the end of the cape are old and wizened, but not very large, because life out here in the wind is a struggle. 

 The salal hedges are wind cropped and dense. At the base of one I found this lovely native Pacific Coast Iris. 

 Walking back toward the parking lot along the bluff trail.

 Wild life sighting!  A banana slug. 

 Back from the bluff in a bit more sheltered location stands the mighty Octopus Tree. The cause of this oddly misshapen tree is unknown, but early in it's 250-300 years of life, it lost its central leader.  It is 46 feet in circumference at its base before flaring out into its arms. 

 We did sit here for a bit, enjoying the sun and the sea. 

 Then we drove over to the entrance to the park, for a walk on a little known trail,  to see a giant. 

 Behind the headland, out of the wind, the trees grow huge here, especially the spruce. Some of them have toppled since out last trip here. 

 That "wall" down the trail is the root structure of a huge, toppled spruce. It will now rot and provide the nutrients for more of the bio-mass that occurs in a temperate rain forest. 

 Like this small stump, loaded with vegetation. 

 The forest floor is carpeted in green.

 The trail is short and the reward is immense - literally. 

 At 750 to 800 years old, it is showing its age, with much of the top broken away.  I hope it makes it at least another hundred years. I gave it a hug as best I could. 

 There are huge burls on the back side of the trunk. 

 Trillium, false lily-of-the-valley, deer ferns, and Johnny Jump-ups lined the trail back to the car, and the end of this post.