Oregon Coast – Page 3 – Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Group

Bullards Beach to Seven Devils – February 10, 2018

Hike Coordinator – Richard O’Neill

The day after this hike, cold, rain, snow, slush, wind, and sleet came to stay for an extended visit that really curtailed hiking festivities for the time being. But on this Saturday at Bullards Beach, who really cared about all that? The weather was fantastically sunny, albeit a bit on the chilly side.

This was an 8’ish mile beach walk from the Coquille River Lighthouse at Bullards Beach to Seven Devils picnic area. Joined by our Coos Bay hiking friends we were nearly 20 hikers strong and it didn’t take long for the group to sort itself out into power-hikers and beachcombers.

There was plenty of rocks and shells to provide for some quality beachcombing and soon our packs were weighted down with collections of fossilized clams, polished glass, and petrified wood.

Besides the general beach ambience of the hike, we marked the miles with 4 landmarks: Cut Creek, Whiskey Run Creek, Fivemile Point, and Twomile Creek. Fivemile Point was the coolest, what with a very low tide exposing all manner of rocky tidepools.

All in all, quite an enjoyable hike on the beach on the last sunny day for a long, long, time.

Pictures by Richard O’Neill

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Dellenback Dunes – May 20, 2017

Hike Coordinator – John Malone

Eleven people tuned out for this hike with a total of four solo drivers, a two party car and Richard’s carload.

From time to time there was mist but by and large, it didn’t really rain. There was just enough moisture to keep the wet sand from blowing on the brisk wind.

The group decided to forgo the deflation area that leads down to the beach with its boot soaking puddles, so they climbed the big dune for the views then headed over to Tenmile Creek and made their way to the beach pausing to eat their lunches in a sheltered area before reaching the ocean. John set a precedent for getting to the beach with dry boots.

There were two really energetic kids on the hike, Emma, Gaoying’s daughter and Daweson, one of Richard’s grandsons. They were a delight to watch, Daweson with his leaps and summersaults and Emma with her vitality and stamina. They brought more joy to the marvelous vistas always present on the dunes. Oh yes, we mustn’t forget Rachel’s enormous leap which Richard captured with his ever- present camera eye. Rheo got a good picture of Daweson’s flip off a dune.

There were marvelous views of the lagoons with their sparkly blue waters even when there were no blue skies. The breezes kept the day from being too warm for hiking – in fact it was a perfect hiking day. Thanks go to John for coordinating.

Pictures by Richard O’Neill

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Blacklock Point – May 6, 2017

Hike Coordinator – Rheo Wheeler

We did not have a large crowd for this hike, boy did you all miss a great hike. The clouds blew away, wow did it blow, but the temperature was perfect for hiking and pictures.

Seven of us met in Roseburg and traveled over to the air field in Port Orford and met four others, total of 11. We hiked down to Blacklock Point for lunch on the windswept cliffs overlooking the ocean. Actually we had lunch hiding from the windblown sand in the bushes and trees just back from the view.

We then traveled on towards Flores Lake to find another photo op, looking over the cliff for a backside view of the arch on the beach. This was about 3.5 miles in so half of us headed back to the cars for a little over 7 miles. The other half continued on towards Flores Lake, thank you Richard, for a 10 to 11 mile hike.

Pictures by Rheo Wheeler

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Tahkenitch Dunes – March 25, 2017

Hike Coordinator – Richard O’Neill

I seem to be a lucky hike leader lately. It was raining in Roseburg and on the drive to the coast but once at the coast, the clouds dissipated and voila! It was a sunny day on the beach.

The original plan was to hike to Tahkenitch Creek and wade across to the Oregon Dunes area. But alas, Tahkenitch was rain-swollen and moving too deep and fast to wade across safely. So the plan was amended to an 8’ish mile loop through the dunes and past Threemile Lake. 10 hikers made the right turn and 3 hikers inadvertently made the left turn at the first fork. Any anxiety a hiking leader with missing hikers may have felt was assuaged when we ran into the three hikers doing our hike in reverse order, so all was well.

This has been an uncommonly wet winter and much to our surprise and chagrin, a full-fledged creek has formed about 0.5 miles from the beach. Because the soil is all sand, the creek has carved a veritable Grand Canyon of the Tahkenitch right across the trail. So, we got to practice our bushwhacking skills as we left the trail and scrambled down to Tahkenitch Creek.

We then got to practice our sprinting skills due to a very large sneaker wave. Rachel was ahead of us so I frantically pointed at the wave coming to smite her from the rear. Unclear on the concept, Rachel smiled sweetly and waved. She got wet.

We enjoyed a lazy lunch on the beach and the sun felt wonderful upon our pale Oregon skin. Everybody was game for more miles so we took the dune trail to Threemile Lake and then it was up and over the mountain and through the lush coastal woods before we returned to our cars at Tahkenitch Campground.

Almost as soon as we started home, the rain resumed. Like I said, I seem to be a lucky hike leader, lately.

Pictures by Richard O’Neill

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Bastendorff Bog Trail – January 14, 2017

Hike Coordinator – Richard O’Neill

I don’t want to get cocky by saying I dialed up a beautiful day because as soon as the weather gods find out I said that (and they will!), then I will never lead a hike in anything but rain, sleet, or snow. Southern Oregon had been pummeled by a series of icy and snowy storms and while the temperature was cold and the roads slippery with ice, it was a gloriously sunny day as we started hiking on Bastendorff Beach.

I sort of kept waiting for the Richard Hike factor to show itself but apart from having to splash across Miners Creek, there was an uncharacteristic lack of travails on this hike. At the end of Bastendorff Beach, we took a narrow path that climbed up to the forested bluffs overlooking the rugged and scenic Oregon coast.

Most of the hikers had never hiked this route so it was all new trail smell as we hiked to the end of Yoakam Point which sports a stunning overlook of Bastendorff Beach and Cape Arago Lighthouse. There are no official trails on this part of the coast so we followed a series of braided trails along the coast, enjoying the view to Gregory Point and Lighthouse Beach.

From Yoakam Point, a short walk along Cape Arago Highway took us to the well hidden Bastendorff Bog Trail. You’d never know the trail was there unless you know the trail was there, but the Bastendorff Bog Trail is used mostly by Oregon Coast Trail hikers looking to use the hiker camp at Sunset Bay. Despite its name, the trail is not boggy and and climbs up and over a small hill with thick coastal forest providing the scenery.

At Sunset Bay, the club ate lunch and then split into two groups: those happy with a 7 mile hike returned back to Bastendorff Beach and those wanting a 10’ish mile hike continued on the coastal trail for a couple of miles. By the time we hit Yoakam Point, the shadows were getting long with the advent of late afternoon. Lane, Edwin, and I were the only takers on the scramble down the cliff to Bastendorff Beach and while some use of hands was required, there was nary a fall on the way down. A mile walk down the beach in the golden glow of the sinking sun capped off a superlative hike. We all stopped for Mexican food in Coquille, and that capped off a fine day for a hike.

Pictures by Richard O’Neill

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