Saturday and it is
raining off and on. We hope that it will have
ended by the time we get to Florence, South Jetty
Beach area. A bakers dozen, 13 of us, depart the
vehicles at a parking lot and don our rain
ponchos. We've checked the beach and there is
still enough of it to walk on. High tide is at
2:30 and seven feet. Since there is wind and mist
the beach is narrow and we are blown along with
the foam. Someone sees ahead a wave that covers
the beach so we head back and some of us get on
top of the dunes and leave the receding beach to
the brave of heart. It is energizing to be on the
ocean but we are to experience even more. We take
lunch by the river in the sun and watch the water
rise as we eat. Going back to the entrance station
we take a, plain to see, bush whack trail that
heads to the top of the sand dunes and we are in
for a treat. We hike the ridge toward the river
and the town of Florence. The dunes ripple and
roll down to the rivers edge and that is where
most of the hikers go. Geoff, Phil, Richard the
logger and I stay atop. Richard is there to keep
sight of the low hikers and the high hikers. He is
soo good don't you know.
We've been on the
ocean and we've been on the desert sands. What a
great hike. I'd say four miles all toll.
