South Highway 101, Oregon

After a good night's sleep in Cannon Beach we were well rested and ready for our next adventure.  We decided to spend the morning on a short day trip south on Highway 101. 

Our first stop was Arcadia Beach State Park.  This small state park is just off the highway and consists of a grove of shady trees and trail that leads down to a sandy beach.  We roamed the beach for a few minutes and found our first sand dollar at the base of Lion Rock.  At low tide you can explore the base of the rock and the small marine animals that call it home.

View of Lion Rock from Highway 101 overlook

Lion Rock

Marine garden at the base of Lion Rock

We find a few sanddollars

Our next stop was at Hug Point State Park just south of Arcadia.  A short walk, from the parking lot and down to the beach, reveals a seasonal waterfall, caves carved into sandstone cliffs and tide pools accessible during low tide.   Before Highway 101 was built, the beach was the only way to travel along this stretch of coast.  At low tide you may walk along the original stagecoach road, still harboring the wheel ruts carved into the rock.  Pioneers traveling around this headland had to "hug" this particular point even at low tide and so the point and the park both take the name hug point.

Caves in rock at Hug Point

Not much water flowing at this seasonal waterfall

G-man explores one of the caves at Hug Point

Hug Point, middle right

Closer to Hug Point and now you can see what was once a road

On Hug Point

On Hug Point about to turn the corner

A wagon and team cross Hug Point around the turn of the 20th century. The road, which is still there, was chipped into the rocky headland so wagons, stagecoaches and cars would not have to drive out into the surf to get around the point.

From Hug Point State Park we ventured further south and through the community of Arch Cape to a lookout point with the same name.  This pint was at the north side of Oswald West State Park.

Castle Rock near Arch Cape

Tunnel to enter Oswald West State Park

Everything is beautiful in Oregon!

Scenic viewing area over looking the beach

Historic Highway 101

After exploring south on Highway 101 we headed back to Cannon Beach.  We wanted to be at Haystack Rock during low tide to explore the rock's tide pools, as well.

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Leaving Mount Hood we headed west, back through Portland, and traveled northwest on Highway 26 towards the Oregon coast line.  Highway 26 is a beautiful scenic route that goes through Tillamook State Forest.  Somewhere around the town of Banks, we spotted a roadside fruit stand and stopped to buy some of those delicious looking cherries TK had her eye on in Hood Valley.  They were as delicious as they looked and a great snack to have on the road to Cannon Beach.

Loggers on Highway 26

Those delicious cherries on the dash of the Blue Devil

We stayed two nights at Cannon Beach, OR, using it as our "base-camp" as we explored the Pacific Coast.  Our two night stay was at the Schooner's Cove Inn where we had a lovely room with a balcony that over-looked the beach.  The room had a small kitchenette (no stove) which we used along side the community grill, below our balcony, to grill steaks one night.  The room also had a fireplace which came in handy on those chilly, June mornings.



Schooner's Cove sign

View of Cannon Beach from hotel looking south

View of Cannon Beach from hotel looking north

Sunset on the beach, back of Schooner's Cove

Community lounge, picnic chairs & grills

Inside of our room at Schooner's Cove

From our balcony, and looking north, we had a view of where Ecola Creek meets the Pacific, Bird Rocks, Chapman Point, and Tillamook Lighthouse.  Haystack rock sat just south of our room but its view was blocked from our balcony.  Fortunately,  with just a short walk from our hotel room and down to the beach, Haystack Rock and The Needles came into full view.

Bird Rocks and Chapman Point

Haystack Rock

Ecola Creek meeting the Pacific Ocean at sunset

Tillamook Lighhouse in the distance

Cannon Beach, OR, is located on the Pacific Northwest Coast of Oregon, 80 miles west of Portland and 25 miles south of Astoria.  It is surrounded by the rugged natural beauty of forests, ocean beaches, rivers, and the Oregon Coast Mountain range.  The town is only four miles in length, and has an approximate population of 1,700.  No franchise type businesses are allowed in Cannon Beach so lining the streets are "mom and pop" boutiques, art galleries, restaurants and pubs.

Everything is beautiful at Cannon Beach

 

Bill's Tavern - a good place to enjoy a pint

You didn't expect to read this blog post and without a history lesson, did you?  Well, here it is...the area now known as Cannon Beach was first inhabited by native cultures, and then, since the late 1800s, by American settlers.  In 1806, Captain William Clark, of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, traveled south to Cannon Beach in order to secure needed blubber from a whale beached near the mouth of Ecola Creek (right in front of our hotel!).  Supposedly, the Lewis & Clark Expedition was tired of eating elk and dog meat so they thought whale blubber would be a tasty alternative!

Back to our trip.....after we settled into our hotel we went in search of refreshments and found them at a hardware store, of all places.  Cannon Beach Hardware & Public House sits on the main drag of Hemlock St.  We enjoyed a local micro-brew in their beer garden and then went souvenir shopping in the hardware store. G-man couldn't convince himself that he needed one of the store's "Screw & Brew" T-shirts!

Cannon Beach Hardware & Public House

Public house side

Next, we roamed nearly four miles of pristine beach in search of sand dollars but came back to our hotel without any treasure.  Starving after our long walk we headed to Fultano's Pizza (have we mentioned how much Oregon loves pizza?) for a little pie.  They were closing but made us a pizza "to go" that we took back to our balcony and enjoyed along with the view.  We left our little "pizza-mooching" dog at home (with his grandparents) but had a "pizza-mooching" seagull demand our crumbs, instead.  I guess the seagull didn't see the sign about not feeding birds and wild life around the hotel.

Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!

With our bellies full and our feet aching it was time to hit the hay.  Wait, we mean go to sleep, as tomorrow we hit the hay - Haystack Rock, that is!

Mount Hood, Oregon

We continued our day trip through the Hood River Valley and into Mount Hood National Forest to Timberline Lodge. 

View from the highway

 Mount Hood is a composite volcano with an estimated height of 11,249 feet making it the highest point in Oregon and the fourth highest in the Cascade Range. 

Sitting at about 6,000 feet up the mountain is Timberline Lodge.  Timberline was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and is one of Oregon’s most popular tourist attractions, drawing nearly two million visitors every year. Considered an architectural wonder, it’s still being used for its original intent—a magnificent ski lodge and mountain retreat for all to enjoy.  In fact, people were skiing Mount Hood in June when we made our visit.

Lobby entrance

Fireplace on the right goes up three floors with balconies surrounding it

Massive stone fireplace in middle of lodge

The Blue Ox was closed at the time of our visit

Iconic Blue Ox Bar

Of course our visit to Timberline would not be complete without a refreshment in the Ram's Head Bar located on the second floor circular balcony.....just like Cheryl Strayed did in the book Wild.  Strayed took a break at Timberline before hitting the Pacific Crest Trail which coincides with the Timberline Trail on the west side of Mount Hood. (Did we mention TK's obsession with this book?)

Inside the Ram's Head Bar

If the outside of the lodge looks familiar it may be that you recognize it from the 1980 movie – The Shining.  The director used aerial shots of Timberline Lodge as part of its opening scene, and exterior footage for some establishing shots of the fictional Overlook Hotel throughout the movie.  

The movie director was asked not to depict room #217 (featured in the book) in The Shining, because future guests at the Lodge might be afraid to stay there. So a nonexistent room, #237, was substituted in the film. Curiously and somewhat ironically, room #217 is requested more often than any other room at Timberline.

Starting back down the mountain we stopped at Mount Hood Adventure Park at Skibowl to ride the Pacific Northwest’s only ½ Mile Dual Alpine Slide. We started with a leisurely trip up the mountain on the Scenic Sky Chairs, and then prepared for a roller coaster ride down the mountain. We dropped 350 feet over the half mile ride with average speeds around 20 MPH.  TK refused to go any faster even though this was "her idea" and G-man first alpine slide ride.

View from the ski lift

The slide's dual tracks

G-man's so excited to get his ride on!