The Nonsense of W&J

Oregon remains one of our favorite states to explore with its beautiful coastline, spectacular waterfalls, and amazing hikes.  We had a blast adventuring in Oregon and plan to return one day to continue exploring this state.

Our favorite Adventuring in Oregon

Oregon Coast

Cape Perpetua Area

This was Jessica’s favorite area on the coast of Oregon.  She could watch Thor’s Well for hours.  Right off Highway 101 is a pull off for the overlook for Spouting Horn.  However, to get a better view of Spouting Horn and to walk further to see Thor’s Well, hike a little ways down from the overlook.  It is easy to find the trail.  The GoPro does not do this area justice.  In person, watching Thor’s Well and the Spouting Horn, you can see the starfish inside and hear the rumble as the waves move through the caves below.

Once you have your fill of the Spouting Horn area, you can hike north from Spouting Horn to Devil’s Churn or turn off onto the overlook pulloff and hike the short ways down.  As the tide comes in, the swirling, forceful waves travel onto the beach beside Devil’s Churn and smash against the walls of Devil’s Churn.  It is an amazing view.  We could spend days in this area watching the force of the tides and playing on the rocks.

Natural Bridges

Windell’s favorite spot on the Oregon Coast was the Natural Bridges Area.  Hiking down from the viewpoint to stand on the rock arch below is not as apparent as the hike to Thor’s Well.  However, it was not difficult to find the path.  You must make a right turn to hike down through some thick foliage to access the bridge.  Once we reached near the bridge, we turned to the left to explore the rocky coast a little more.  Another couple was on the arch and we were hoping we could have it to ourselves.  However, the couple was still there when we finished exploring, so we went ahead and hiked down to stand on the arch.  This is a gorgeous area that could be better captured with a drone.

Just north of Natural Brides is a parking lot with a hike that leads to Secret Beach.  You can even hike from Natural Bridges to this parking lot.  The hike to Secret Beach is not well-defined, but definitely worth trying.  Just remember to follow the sign that says “Beach” although the path seems to take you away from the beach.  We spent hours playing on the beach after following a few wrong trails on the hike.

Gray Whale Watching Charter

We were lucky while visiting Oregon that we happened to be during the best time to see gray whales.  So, we flew by the seat of our pants and purchased tickets for a boat charter for whale-watching.  We will never forget our experience of being so close to these magnificent giants in our small boat with only four other guests and a captain.  This last minute decision taught us to seize some opportunities without too much thinking.  If we had waited too long, we would not have seen the gray whales.  And, we had the best day.  We will always be on the lookout for whale-watching charters when we can find them.

Columbia River Gorge

The Columbia River Gorge is a tremendous area for waterfalls.  Besides the impressive Multnomah Falls, Jessicas favorite waterfall, Tunnel Falls, plus several more waterfalls are on the Eagle Creek Trail GPS 45.63676, -121.9196.  This is not the only trail in the area with several waterfalls.  There are many more in this area that we plan to hike when we return.  Next time we plan to hike Horsetail Falls Trail GPS 45.59011, -122.06928 to Pony Tail Falls, the Wahkeena Falls Trail GPS 45.57602, -122.12782, and any more that we discover.  This is an amazing area for adventuring and we cannot wait to return and explore more.

While exploring this area, we were RVing an hour away at Mt Hood Village RV Resort 65000 US-26, Welches, OR 97067.  We choose this campground because we wanted to explore other areas in the south, including Silver Falls State Park and Mount Hood. However, the Portland Fairview RV Park 21401 NE Sandy Blvd, Fairview, OR 97024 is a lot closer to the Columbia River Gorge, and we would choose it next time.  The Portland Fairview is an Encore Park at $20 per night with the Trails Collection.

Crater Lake National Park

We were blown away by Crater Lake National Park.  We actually hiked three different trails in the one day we visited.  Amongst the Cleetwood Cove Trail, The Watchman Peak Trail, and The Garfield Peak Trail, our favorite was The Garfield Peak Trail.  The deep, rich color of the lake in the crater of a volcano is just an amazing sight.  The Watchman Peak Trail is a fantastic trail to see Wizard Island from above, but the Garfield Peak Trail was our favorite for an overall view of the lake.

We have not finished adventuring in Oregon.  There is so much to see and do.  In addition to exploring more in the Columbia River Gorge, we also want to visit the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, hike to more waterfalls, and see more of the rocky coastline.  When we return, we will also have to visit the Cape Perpetua Area and Natural Bridges again.

One of our most memorable hikes was hiking to Secret Beach in Harbor Oregon.  Although the beach has amazing rock formations that you can explore; what made it so memorable is the hike itself.  We took so many wrong turns and questioned ourselves so many times before we actually arrived at the beach. Our plan was to explore the Thunder Cove Trail and other coves in this area in addition to Secret Beach.  However, the hikes to the coves were not clearly defined and we did not find Thunder Cove.

There is a small parking lot just a little ways north on Interstate 101 from Natural Bridges, Oregon.  However, you could just hike it from the Natural Bridges parking lot also.  The trails for Thunder Cove and Secret Beach were not well marked and Jessica, as she usually does, just started hiking down several trails without knowing exactly where she was headed.  We saw a sign that simply said “Beach” but it looked to go more inland, so we disregarded it at first.

The sign marked “Beach”, however, was the correct trail to Secret Beach.  There are many smaller trails off the main hiking trail that people have created that adds to the confusion.  This is where we made several wrong turns.  We eventually made it to the beautiful secret beach and spent several hours just playing.  Some of the most fun is just flying by the seat of your pants and simply trying.  Usually, it works out better than you imagined!  If you see a sign to your right that says “Beach”, follow that trail.  You have to go inland and hike around to eventually access the beach.  Click the link to go to our Secret Beach YouTube video  and check out this gorgeous beach.

While traveling through Oregon in at the end of September 2022, we were still researching cool things to do.  An article on the internet stated that September was a great month to see gray whales in Depoe Bay, Oregon.  So, by the seat of our pants, we called Whale’s Tail Charters, LLC  to see if they were seeing gray whales and if we could book a couple of seats on a charter.

We could not believe our luck!  Yes, they were seeing gray whales, and yes, they had a couple of openings in a few days.  Wow!   The GoPro does not do justice to how close the whales were. On our way to Depoe Bay, we stopped at the Devil’s Punchbowl.  We knew it was going to be a great whale day when we saw so many of them spouting at this location.

The charter at Whale’s Tail was well worth the cost.  Whale’s Tail Charters has smaller boats with only 6 passengers and a captain. It was amazing to see the whales rise to the surface and blow.  And, of course, seeing the tail at the end just blew us away.  The captain was very knowledgeable and could even identify individual whales.  We saw one whale come to the surface with his mouth open!  If you are in Oregon in September, book a small charter and be astounded at these beautiful amazing creatures!  You will never want the day to end.