Travelogues
2019 Oregon Trip

Wednesday, July 3

Boiler Bay

Today was a beautiful day for a drive along the coast. We had to wait until late morning for the fog to clear, but the rest of the day was nearly perfect.

Our first stop was Boiler Bay where we saw the whales the other night. Today, it was all about blue skies, clouds, and gorgeous blue water. We photographed and watched the waves roll into a small cove. The color of the ocean just off the coast was deep blue, but as the waves broke, the curl changed to a light aqua green color.

Boiler Bay Boiler Bay

Otter Crest

We took the Otter Crest Loop over the Ben Jones Bridge to Otter Crest State Scenic Viewpoint for an unobstructed view of the waves rolling into a small bay. The gift shop is now part of the state parks and is staffed by volunteers and park personnel who are familiar with the area and the wildlife found here. While we were there, a man spotted a whale just off the rocks near the point. A volunteer zoomed in with a telescope that was set up, and a large-screen TV displayed the live image for the visitors. It was pretty cool.

Otter Crest

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

We tried to visit Devils Punchbowl, but we couldn't find parking, so we continued south to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We saw Devils Punchbowl last time we were in the area, and it's not one of the "can't miss" locations. The Yaquina Head Lighthouse sits on a point that juts out into the Pacific, so there are views to the north, west, and south. The small islands just offshore were packed with cormorants and murres.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse Yaquina Head Lighthouse Yaquina Head Rookery

Yaquina Bay

Staying with the lighthouse theme, we continued south to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. We got there just in time to photograph the lighthouse before they closed the shutters and shut everything up for the day. We also had a good view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge, but they are renovating most of the major bridges on Highway 101, and some of the bridge was covered with tarps.

Yaquina Bay 
      Lighthouse

Seal Rock

The sea stacks at Seal Rock were our next stop. The basaltic sea stacks run parallel to the coast and look a little like black beads as you look north and south of Elephant and Tourist Rocks. Geologists believe the lava that created these sea stacks flowed 300 miles, all the way from the Columbia River Basalt Group.

Seal Rock

Cape Perpetua

Cape Perpetua has been one of my favorite places since I camped here with Mark Johnson on our way home from backpacking in the North Cascades and Olympics back in the 70's. Cape Perpetua has gotten a lot more popular in the past few years since Thor's Well has become one of the hot new places to photograph. We're planning to return later in the week when high tide will be closer to sunset.

Cape Perpetua

Sunset at Seal Rocks

We returned to Seal Rocks for sunset and watched the gulls play in the shallow pools left behind by the receding tide. The gulls created silhouettes in the golden light as they splashed and preened.

Seal Rock Sunset Cape Perpetua