The Pacific Ocean meets the Oregon coast only about an hour west of our house. We go there sometimes to get away from things, to enjoy some seafood, and to experience the full-on forces of weather.
In fact we just returned from a trip to the coast, where we stayed in tiny Depoe Bay, equipped with no grocery store, no medical facility, no schools, no grocer, and one traffic light.
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| That's our hotel on the upper left. |
If you turn at that light, you find yourself at the harbor, which is filled with fishing boats.
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| There are 7 harbor seals in this photo. |
Every night the resident seals nap at the edge of the harbor.
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| Carving in front of Gracies's Sea Hag, a restaurant and bar. |
Depoe Bay is a sleepy little place, not without its charms.
We walked past this caramel corn place a dozen times and failed to buy any...what's up with that? Next trip I have promised myself a bag of it.
Oregon is home to some serious place names, every one of them for a good reason: Desolation Peak, Poverty Gulch, Dead Man's Pass...this is a picture of Cape Foulweather, named by Captain James Cook in 1778.
Cape Foulweather was the first place on the Northwest coast to be named by Cook.
Sitting on top of Cape Foulweather, 500 feet above the sea, is a hardy little building originally built in the 1930's as a coffee shop. It's a gift shop now, with arguably one of the best scenic vistas on the planet.
True to form, Cape Foulweather delivered drama. The rain came at us, then the sun.
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| Moolack Beach |
According to the Oregon Beach Bill of 1967, the public has "free and uninterrupted use of the beaches" so there are numerous easements allowing people to get to the state's beaches. There is no such thing as a private beach here.
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| On Tuesday night at sunset there was a group of Mexican kids celebrating their team's good game against Brazil in the World Cup. |
Public access to the coast is one of the things I love about Oregon. Yet the beaches are not at all crowded; perhaps it's because the people are so spread out.
Much of the shoreline is quite rocky, and the water is cold.
Water is nature's sculptor.
The coast of Oregon is a wildly beautiful place formed by wind, water, and long-ago lava flows, a place of zen. I hope you can visit some time, but you should bring warm clothes and be prepared for the weather.
This week I'm linking to
Friday Shoot-Out, where you will find others posting about their beaches and shorelines. (I see that India, New Zealand, Australia, and Germany are already represented.)
These are beyond beautiful. I would love to visit a place along the shore that minimalistic as Depoe Bay. But that lack of civilization is sure made up by the wonderful nature and coastlines. I really like your 13th image. Thank you so much for linking up with Friday My Town Shoot Out with this magnificent post.
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
Mersad, with you in FSO these days I feel like I must step up my game! Your photography of Croatia and surrounding regions is so wonderful.
DeleteI hope that some day you can visit us here in this photogenic part of the US.
OMG! What more can I say, Kerry? Your pictures have used up all the words in the dictionary. Thank you, once again, for sharing these beautiful, powerful images of a gorgeous place. Can't wait til August when I can see it with my own eyes. And I WON'T be taking a camera!!
ReplyDeleteWon't be long now, Merry! We'll go for a walk on the beach!
DeleteWondrous and wonderful. The Oregon beach in summer is so incredible.
ReplyDeleteI am always in awe of this place, Reya.
DeleteHannah's fav little town is Yachatz
ReplyDeleteYachats is also a great favorite of mine. It is about an hour south of Depoe Bay, and very beautiful as well. You've probably been there at some point?
DeleteYou have given us a great tour. Gotta love the name Cape Foulweather. I really like the sunset Mexican beach pic.
ReplyDeleteAC I didn't realize what they ere celebrating until the next day when I read up on the World Cup.
DeleteCape Foulweather is a great name, eh? Very Dickension and so appropriate. The wind can be 100mph there, but it wasn't so bad during our visit.
We spent a week in Newport and loved exploring the area. I even have a sweatshirt from Cape Foulweather!
ReplyDeleteAhh! You get around, don't you? Even I do not have a Cape Foulweather sweatshirt. :-)
Deletesuch amazing beauty! and an hour away?! i'd be in the car on my way to get some caramel corn. :)
ReplyDeleteI know, right? May be worth it.
DeleteWow, gorgeous images, Kerry! Four years ago I went to Cannon Beach and was amazed at all the starfish clinging to the rocks. Thousands of them. Now I read that they are in peril, dying out from some disease. I so wanted to go back and see them again. How great that Oregon allows public access to the beaches. It should be that way everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt's true about the starfish. I hope the disease runs its course quickly and that they recover. :(
DeleteWe are a bit spoiled by our access to the beach. When we go other places we feel denied everywhere!
Lovely photos. Great lighting and exposure. You got all the shadows that usually disappear in bright sky shots.
ReplyDeleteTabor, it is one of the strengths of my new camera that it does well in situations of contrasting light.
DeleteThat's my sort of coast, Kerry. The quiet harbour is such a contrast to the exposed shores. Love the celebration shot, glorious colours and look at those waves! Cook left some great names behind, we have a lot of them here, too but Cape Foulweather just speaks for itself, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteNZ and Oregon share many things, don't they? The look of the coastline, and the marks of James Cook.
DeleteBeautiful series of images. The Oregon coastline is just beautiful.. Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks Eileen. Same back atchya!
DeleteI'm spending 5 days at a beach house with some girlfriends on the Oregon coast the first week of August. these pictures are wonderful. it didn't occur to me that I might need warm clothes so thanks for the heads up. Texas also has open beaches and anyone who builds a beach house (must be behind the dune line) on Galveston Island and then the dune line moves after a hurricane, whether the house is damaged or not, has to forfeit the house and property. Of course the very rich have at times gotten a pass on that. Galveston is a barrier island. barrier islands lose land on the gulf side and gain it on the bay side until it is no longer an island and then the next sand bar out builds up and becomes the new barrier island. It always amazed me that anyone would build a beach house right behind the dune line knowing that the next big storm could/would make it forfeit.
ReplyDelete5 days in August! Where will you be? Those will be 5 busy days for us, just before our daughter's wedding, otherwise I might just be tempted to crash your party. It gets quite chilly at night, even on the warmest days, so yeah, bring a jacket & pants.
DeleteAs for beach houses, I guess if you have enough $$ you can rebuild over and over again? I always wondered about the houses built on dunes in the Gulf Shores area of Alabama. I really loved going there when we lived in AL, but everything gets flattened with every hurricane.
What AMAZING photos. I love the photo with all the seals in it. And Cape Foulweather looks amazing. Wow...I must visit this place.
ReplyDeleteHeyyy Optimistic! Come on by! It is beautiful. :-)
DeleteThank you, Felicia. Oregon lends itself nicely to photography.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots of our wonderful coast! Thanks for visiting my blog, leaving a comment and following. Always nice to hear from another Oregon blogger. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda! I was delighted to find you!
DeleteBreath-taking scenery. Beautiful photos. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Thank you Cuban. Someday I'm going to go to London and shoot a billion pics.
DeleteVery enjoyable post. I love the shot of the faces. You did a great job.
ReplyDeleteFirst I was like...what faces...then I remembered the wooden carving! Right! Thank you.
DeleteI am not sure that I counted the right seven seals. Was there one between the two in the background? Or was there one swimming under water that couldn't really be seen? I would NEVER have passed up the carmel popcorn.
ReplyDeleteYes, there was one between the two n the background: the Seventh Seal, hahaha, that was a cult movie wasn't it?
DeleteI cannot believe I passed the popcorn. But I did kind of overdo it on the fish and chips, sooo...you know, I didn't exactly starve.