I figured that a rare rainy Monday in August would be ideal to spend in Ecola State Park. So I headed west out Oregon Hwy26 about 1 hour or so to the park.
ECOLA STATE PARK, Oregon, is located just north of Cannon Beach, about 50 W. of Portlamd. In 1805 the Lewis & Clark expidition established a fort and stockade here. The area offered plenty of protection from the winter storms and food. The forests here date back to 123,000 years. The image above is a good representation of the Sitka Spruce, moss covered alder forest that encompasses the entire park, right doen to the edge of the 60o’ plus cliffs that come right up to the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Douglas fir, red cedar and red alder also are plentyful. The area averages over 75″ of rain per year and rarly freezes. If you like green, here is the place!
There are 2 main areas with plenty of hiking trails. On the north, there’s Indian Beach. On the south, theres Crescent Beach. You can get to points that offer great views of Seal Rocks, and Haystack rock just south at near by Cannon Beach.
Crescent Beach
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse
This lighthouse is visable only on fairly clear days as it is located 1.2 miles off shore. The tower is 62′ tall and is 133 above sea level. It opened in 1881 after three years of construction ( imagin building this lighthouse one mile off shore in the late 1800’s!) and was active until 1957 when it was shut down. Today, there is an automated bouy that replaces the functions of the lightouse. Believe it or not, the only use for this lighthouse today is as a mausoleum for storing the ashes of those wishing to spend their eternity at sea.
Roosevelt Elk
Just as the rain was increasing and I was getting ready to head out leter in the day a small heard of Roosevelt Elk came out of the near by woods. Roosevelt Elk originated from a transplant of 8 calves captured on the Olympic Peninsula in 1928. The can be found south into Northern California. The are slightly larger and darker in color but less symmentrical then the Rocky Mt. Elk found east of the Cascade Mts.
Ecola State park is a great place to photograph, even in rainy weather.
JG
Great Photos Jack!!!! Of course it’s cause your camera takes good pictures!!!
Great work Jack, I really like the crescent beach shot, the jungle shot is cool as well.
I just saw pictures of the storm damage to Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park with rhe snapping off of the hige Sitka Pine Tree as well as all the snapped off other trees in the area. What a shock to lose all this. I wondered if any of the Goonies property close by was hit at all. My son and daughter-in-law visit at Cannon Beach each year and are big Goonies fans. We were wondering about any damage as well to the Goonies area as it is so close there. Appreciate any info. My son will be out there again this Memorial Day. He lives in Ohio. I am going out to Cannon Beach in a year or so with them. They couldn’t wait to show me this gigantic old tree that they have pictures standing in front of–they are quite sad, now ,of course, with it’s destruction. Dan remembered he hadn’t gone to see it the last time they were there and had been looking forward again to it. This must be the same feelings felt by many who live there,certainly. I am sorry for this loss for eveyone as well. Fortunatly, it wasn’t uprooted–I hope it will bw left there to hopefully continue new growth.Mary Pryde
I don’t know if it’s just me or if everybody else encountering issues with your blog.
It seems like some of the written text within your posts are running off
the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let me know if
this is happening to them too? This could be a problem with my web browser because
I’ve had this happen previously. Thank you
I’ll send this over to someone who knows more than I….. thanks for the feedback!–JG
I love it when individuals come together and share thoughts.
Great blog, stick with it!