Monotone Oregon Coast

by Robert Bales

Title

Monotone Oregon Coast

Artist

Robert Bales

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Photograph - Photo

Description

One of Oregon's most beloved coastal parks, Ecola State Park at Cannon Beach, is about as beautiful as it gets on the state's Pacific shore. After driving into the parking lot, most visitors get out of the car and stare.
Quickly lost are any thoughts of going for a hike. Since you don't need to walk far to be surrounded by beauty, why bother?
Even on a gorgeous summer day when several hundred people were milling around the parking lot, I was the only one who took the time to hike 1.5 miles down to Crescent Beach, where I shared the warm sand with a flock of curved-beaked whimbrels.
In the winter, of course, you're less likely to run into other hikers, though the trail is navigable year-round.
As the surf crashes onto the beach, the offshore lighthouse on Tillamook Rock dances in and out of the cloud banks that often cloak it. No longer used as a lighthouse, it most recently served as a columbarium for ashes of the deceased.
The trail down to Crescent Beach begins at the Ecola Point parking area, which also has other paved paths to viewpoints. At low tide, Crescent Beach is accessible directly from the town of Cannon Beach, though this access is best left for locals who know how to time the tide at Chapman Point.
Beyond Ecola Point, the park road ends at Indian Beach, with even more memorable views of offshore seastacks, crashing waves and bird sanctuaries.

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November 25th, 2023

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