Hiking Oregon

I've been doing a bit of hiking lately and thought I'd share some photos from two beautiful hikes.

The first is a hike Megan and I took on the coastal hiking trail. Some of the trail follows the beach but we explored parts of other beaches trying to find new ways to hike the coast.


Megan and Zeke explore the beach


There was a tunnel carved out in one of the large rocks on the beach. It was really neat and the waves lapped up inside. The waves startled Zeke at first. Sorry the quality of the video isn't great.





There is a turnoff on Hwy. 101 that you can walk a few feet to see Natural Bridges. Someone told us that you can see goats crossing them sometimes, but I am not convinced.


Our hike ended at Indian Sands which is a really neat network of dunes.



It was probably one of the most beautiful hikes I've been on here... minus having to walk on the road a little bit. The trail went through coastal meadows and let us see a good variety of other coastal habitats. I suggest doing part of it if you ever visit the Southern Oregon coast, it is just along 101 in the Samuel Boardman Corridor.



Yesterday Megan, Jessie, Tim and I took the dogs and went on an adventure in the forest. We had to drive on the Forest Service roads for two hours to get to the trail head. We hiked Panther Ridge 4 miles (or so we estimated) to Hanging Rock. I think it must be a pretty big attraction as it is on the cover of the map for the Ranger District it falls in. We encountered one other group of people but otherwise the trail was nice and quiet. The trail led us through the woods and lots of blooming rhododendrons. It was a bit chilly and when the wind wasn't blowing the fog got pretty thick.

Tim in the rhododendrons


Thirsty dogs



Looking down on the Rogue River valley from hanging rock




Tim peering over the edge


It was a great hike and the view was well worth the work put in to get there. I can't imagine how far you must be able to see on a clear day.


Me on Hanging Rock


Keeping the dogs away from the edge



Daredevil Megan



I thought this rock looked like a face but no one else seemed to appreciate it as much as I did. I think its really neat.


Megan, Jessie and Versailles snacking

The whole crew heading back to the car, minus Zeke who likes to be out in front of the pack.

That's all for now, I'm going on a rafting/weeding trip down the Rogue this week so I am hoping to get some neat pictures from that to share!

Shipwrecked

One day a storm blew into the Southern Oregon coast. In Gold Beach the wind blew the waves onto shore. In the midst of the storm a man and his sailboat fought to stay afloat. The man tried to point the boat up the Rogue River to safety but the wind blew the boat South and he was forced to jump overboard. In the morning the boat had been washed on shore.



It was the talk of the town for the weeks that followed as it lay stranded on the sandy banks of Gold Beach. Every day tourists and townies alike visited the boat to take pictures to send home to their families.




The town gossiped about the future of the boat and pondered over how the owner would ever get it off of the beach. The boat had remained relatively undamaged from the storm and its crash landing, but getting it off of the beach would be a challenge. No one saw the men that took the sailboat away, one day it was simply gone. All that remained were the old papers with its picture on the cover and gouges in the sand.