The Oregon coast: better than Disneyland!

Sea palms (Postelsia) or as I dubbed them, miniature Lorax trees at Rocky Creek State Park, north of Newport. Copyright (c) 2012 Wendee Holtcamp 

I took Sam to the Central Oregon coast two weekends ago (and this past one, we went to Astoria, Cannon Beach and the north Oregon coast, but those pics will have to wait until another day- maybe tomorrow!) The Devil's Punchbowl shown in this photo can be seen in the tiny town of Otter Rock. At high tide, the ocean splashes up through the hole in the rock. We went at high tide, but it didn't splash so much. Maybe it was a lowish high tide. Sam wondered why the water inside the "bowl" is a different color than the ocean. I think it's probably an effect of the depth but I'm not sure.

Another view of the Devil's punchbowl and the gorgeous rocky coastline. We arrived on Friday night, on a cloudy, drizzly (aka typical) day on the Oregon coast (I took these punchbowl photos on Sunday, actually) and it was pretty cloudy all Saturday too. We were the guests of Dick Cutler and the Inn at Otter Crest, an awesome condo and hotel/resort in Otter Rock, Oregon where I'd stayed on my last year's trip also. I didn't get a photo but it has the coolest "tram" that takes you from the parking lot at the bottom of the hill to the lodge units which are placed up a steep mountainside. We were at the very top! It is sort of like an elevator, and it went pretty slow, but it was kind of a fun experience. Especially when a group of kids were in it with us, and we were going downhill, and one of the young ones said, "is this moved by people power?" Out of the mouths of babes! Ha!

The first order of the day was to see the Japanese dock that washed all the way across the sea to Newport! It has become a popular tourist attraction! See it soon, though, as they are about to cut it up and haul it off. It originally had seaweed growing all over it and other images on the web show it in all its glory, but they "torched" it to kill everything, after collecting samples for scientists to study. They thought an oceanic journey would kill everything but no... at least three species are potentially invasive, so they were concerned about economic and ecological repercussions. I also attended a meeting of the two U.S. Oregon Congressmen and representatives of various boating and fishing industries, to discuss what to do about possible repercussions if ships at sea run into some big debris like this floating dock.

People clearly do not wish to obey the No Trespassing signs. :)

Just below the Inn at Otter Crest, there's a nice beach where a lot of people go and have campfires.  I love campfires so much, and only wish we could have had one. Nothing is more awesome than hanging out by a campfire with friends or a loved one.  People also look for agates which are common on the Oregon coast especially in this area. We looked for agates but I couldn't remember what they looked like in the unpolished form and I was confusing them for geodes in my mind.

So he was trying to crack them open...

Another view of Otter Crest beach

A nice bench!

Later, we stopped by Rocky Creek State Park to do some tide pool explorin'. When I got there, I realized I had been here before, but only as far as this. I had taken some photos on last year's visit.

Sam found this ginormous skunk cabbage leaf on the trail down to the tide pool area. Of course, he has to hide his face behind it... He so loves his photo taken...

A view of the vista at Rocky Creek State Park.

Then we climbed down onto the rocky shore below. 

Sam walking on the volcanic rock. It reminded me of the Galapagos Islands. Minus the iguanas. And Sally Lightfoot crabs.

And then... I spotted them. What the heck? Miniature Lorax trees growing on the rocks?

I got closer, and marveled at the awesomeness that is the mini-Lorax tree seaweed. OK really they are called sea palms, or scientific name Postelsia. And they're edible and very nutritious! While Sam explored, I sat and watched and photographed the waves splashing the Lorax trees, er, sea palms, for a long time. I had such a sense of peace.

A cool shot of the ocean splashing on the rocks and the sea palms.

They are just the coolest things ever!

A fun shot of a wave coming in. It was cool how the color in the wave is more green than the deeper blue/aqua of the rest. Kind of similar to how the color inside of the devil's punchbowl was more green. It must have something to do with the reflection of the sun and the depth. See, I'm solving the conundrum using my own photographs!

 

I had this tiny daisy in my hair, as I am inclined to do, and it fell into the water, and I thought it looked kinda cool. There were also mussels all over the place.

Later that day, we stopped by the Whale Museum, just opened in Depoe Bay, and since there was a second low tide later in the day, we decided to go tide pooling at Boiler Bay at the recommendation of the people at the Whale Museum. It wasn't a super low tide, and we had to totally bush-whack through the freakin jungle to get to the rocky ledge, but it was cool once we did. Then on the way back up we discovered an easier path up the bank.

It's so named because of a schooner that ran aground and then the oil tanks exploded. Some of the metal is still present in the bay, including one of the engine oilers - seen here - that is visible at low tide.
 

I just love me some starfish.

More starfish!

This is such a funny photo of Sam throwing a piece of seaweed at me!

Another view of Boiler Bay

Sam found this very bizarre hollow tube of some sort of seaweed. Reminds me of the weird horn-like hair growths on some of the Star Wars characters.

I wanted to add a few images I took with my phone. We ate at Oceanbleu at Gino's in the historic Bayfront area of Newport, on the recommendation of Yelp, and it didn't disappoint. Both Sam and I agreed it was the best seafood we had on our entire Oregon trip. I decided that even though I've been vegetarian since the beginning of the year, I would have some of the locally caught wild salmon while here. It didn't disappoint! Their clam chowder was delicious too.

I took a similar photo of this shop last year but love this one because you can see Sam and my reflection in the image. Ha ha! The shop was open this time and I got some pretty funny gifts in here...

I took Sam to the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, and we saw some pretty cool tide pools but it wasn't that low of a low tide this day - not anything like when I went last year. Anyway these are the cobbles on the cobblestone beach that I think are so cool. I didn't take pics with my good camera because it was super drizzly.

We also went to the Sea Lion caves near Florence, where we not only saw Steller sea lions but we bought and then consumed enormous quantities of fudge.

Wendee & Laura's Excellent Seattle adventures!

The original Starbucks in Seattle. Really, y'all!
Copyright (c) 2012 Wendee Holtcamp

I started out my adventure in the Pacific NW with a visit to my dad and Bev's. This is a photo of the back of their van, which they have graciously allowed me to use while I'm here! I dropped Sam off at his week-long overnight camp and then hit the road to Seattle, where I stayed with my friends Francis and Laura Zera.

Laura took me on a tour of the best Seattle has to offer. Though I've been to Tacoma several times visiting my cousin, and blazed through Seattle on the way to Olympic National Park, I'd never actually seen the city. First, we went to Pike Place Market - a Seattle classic! It was so cool! I am in love with all the fresh flower bouquets!! This is Laura with the flowers. She even wrote the Insider's Guide to Seattle for Cheap Flights.

A bouquet of white flowers at Pike Place Market.

Fresh peppers at the market.

Homemade pasta! They sold some pretty cool varieties, including dark chocolate pasta! I bought some but haven't managed to cook it yet. Laura said I was like a kid in a candy store at the market. True story!

The fish market is pretty famous too. They start shouting and then they throw the fish to one another!

Another shot of the fish market.

The original Starbucks! I had just pondered aloud to Laura, I bet the original Starbuck's is somewhere here in Seattle. I wonder where? And then I saw this just outside the Pike Place Market, with a line down the street, and I was all, dude! That must be it! And sure enough, it is!

Next we visited the Seattle Space Needle, which has a bunch of museums and such nearby. We didn't go in the elevator up to the top, but we browsed in the store at the bottom.

The EMP Museum near the Space Needle. I love the exterior! And don't ask me what the heck EMP stands for, because I still can't figure that out.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster has been unleashed near the Seattle Space Needle! Really, this is a Chihuly glass sculpture but it sure looks like the FSM to me.

Next we went to Fremont, a neighborhood in Seattle. There is a giant sculpture of a troll under a freeway bridge, and it's so freaking cool! I didn't get a photo that turned out, unfortunately, but here's one on Wikipedia.

And we went to the Theo chocolate factory. I think I died and went to chocolate heaven! They had tons of samples all around and I totally pigged out. I think I ate my weight in chocolate. :) And, ahem, all the 'gifts' I bought may or may not have already been consumed...

Fremont is just weird, I guess. And that's why I like it. They have dinosaur sculptures covered in ivy (er, topiaries!). It's right on the edge of the Washington Ship Canal, and there are major offices for Google and some other corporate giants there.

We browsed the shops in Fremont and this one shop had this pack of gum that I thought was awesome. On the opposite side, it says Hell Yeah!

We ended the day at the Elliott Bay Brewhouse in Burien, a microbrewery, where I added a new beer glass to my collection. This is Laura with the beer sampler I drank (she was driving). Yum!

I spent last weekend with my son on the Central Oregon coast, and will put those pics up soon. We had a great time! I even got to see the dock that floated across the Pacific from Japan after the tsunami and which washed up in Newport, Oregon. Cool! All the sealife had been torched off, but people were climbing all over it despite the "No Trespassing" signs all over it. While there, I attended a meeting between ship and fishing industries and the US Congressmen from Oregon, which was interesting.

Last, but not least, my article on the Elwha dam removal and the return of spawning salmon and steelhead - which had been blocked from the upper reaches of the river for more than a century - is now published at Nature News online: Fish return to undammed Elwha river: First hope for salmon and trout restoration in biggest dam-removal project in US history. Check it out and let me know what you think! I will be writing more about the removal project for other pubs. 

Elwha dam removal!

Sun star! The sun through the trees on a trail to a viewpoint over the former Elwha dam site. Copyright (c) 2012 Wendee Holtcamp

Last week was PERFECTION in every way, and this week Murphy has gone crazy!!! I have to make this short, because I have to post and caption all these images for my editors, file my story on the Elwha dam (link to come soon, I hope), and then pick my son up from his day camp job and then we are headed to the Central Oregon Coast for the weekend. A much needed break from a hell week in which my poor sweet cat is dying back home, 3,000-miles away and I can't do a damn thing other than rely on my friends and my daughter (I LOVE YOU GUYS!!) to take care of her. She is not doing well and very well may not make it. To make it worse, I feel terrible as I probably killed her myself from bringing in my beloved stray Pippin...

At any rate, that on top of PMS, communication breakdowns, and every technical difficulty with phones, GPS, internet and technology in general under the sun you can imagine... but LAST week was so perfect and fun in every way! The short version is, we arrived in Oregon, spent a couple days with my dad and Bev, I dropped Sam off at his overnight camp and then I headed to Washington. I first visited friends in Seattle, and got an awesome tour of the city with Laura (I will post pics on my next blog, promise!). The highlight was seeing the very first Starbucks, ever! And then I headed to Olympic National Park where I camped in my friend Terri Hansen's RV at Salt Creek campground, soaked in the Sol Duc hot springs, and got to interview several biologists and go see the former Elwha dam site and the Glines Canyon dam which is partly out and coming completely out soon. I'm writing an article for Nature and just got another assignment today. It was just an awesome time there, with lots of laughter, total peace of mind, new friends, and just a really great time. I am posting images from the Elwha trip and will post more in a couple few days! Here's a link to the blog post from my visit two years ago when the dams were still up.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the finished article at Nature News online: Fish return to undammed river.

First we went to the site of the upstream Glines Canyon dam, which is partly but not totally removed. This is a view showing Lake Mills, which is slowly being drained and will be gone eventually once the dam comes out completely. It's scheduled for demolition of the remaining parts beginning again on July 2nd. They are in a "fish window" now where there's no blasting or dam removal activities that could affect water quality since fish are spawning.

Another view of Lake Mills. Not sure what this structure is - I'll find out. Oh ok it is the "intake tower."

Another view of the Glines Canyon dam, partly removed.

When you look over the edge from the platform, the water makes a rainbow!

I laid down and shot this over the edge. What a high! Love it. You can see the rainbow at the top of the canyon wall on the top part of the image.

Next we went to the lower (downstream) Elwha dam, which is now completely gone! Lake Aldwell used to be here, but is fully drained, and they are grading the riverbanks and have begun replanting native vegetation.

Another shot of the tractors and backhoes or whatever they are called grading the banks post-removal.

This is the Elwha river near the former Elwha dam site.

A pile of contaminated soil at the dam site, waiting to be removed and shipped off. I'm writing an article about this but the dam itself and its structures had some contaminants.

Then I took a short trail to an overlook where you can see a bigger view of the former Elwha dam site. Pretty cool! Barb Maynes, the Public Information Officer for National Park Service/Olympic NP on the project said it's interesting to stand there and listen to the various conversations about the dam.

This is the view from the end of the trail of the Elwha dam site activity.

Another view.

A fern on the trail.

A view through the woods of the former Elhwa dam.

The next day, I went out in the field with several scientists to take turbidity data in a tributary (actually, it was technically a floodplain channel) of the Elwha. We met at the tribe hatchery building, and this is a shot of a snow-capped mountain in the distance on the Lower Elwha Klallam reservation.

Another view of the mountains in the distance, from a road in the reservation.

In the channel, this is Chris Curran with US Geological Survey, Matt Beirne a biologist with the Elwha tribe, John McMillan a fisheries biologist with NOAA and Jeff Duda with USGS. The USGS guys were teaching the others some techniques to monitor turbidity, and calibrating for some sampling error or somesuch. (Earlier, I mis-identified Chris C as Chris Magirl - sorry! They both were out with us that day)

I believe this is USGS hydrologist Jeff Duda walking in the tributary.

Me in my waders. Sexy huh? Just kidding! LOL. I don't like this photo of me, but whatevs.

Matt, Chris C and John in the channel.

NOAA biologist George Pess in the channel with some turbidity equipment.

This is a view from the campground Terri and I stayed at - gorgeous isn't it?