Cape Mountain (Oregon Coast) 13-May-2019

Cape Mountain, about five miles north of Florence, Oregon, is home to some 17 miles of well-graded, well-maintained trails. Although primarily intended for use by equestrians, they are perfect for hikers too. No brush, no poison oak, no ticks. We came across this trail system when we were looking for hikes along the coast that didn’t necessarily involve a beach. And, since most of the day was overcast anyway, it didn’t matter that we spent most of it in a green tunnel through an old-growth forest. Thanks to hiker’s irony, the sun popped out (briefly) just before we got back to the trailhead. 🙄

We started at the Dry Lake Trailhead, ascended the Princess Tasha Trail to the Scurvy Ridge Trail and followed that to a junction with the Berry Creek Trail. Then down across Berry Creek and up the Nelson Ridge Trail, which we followed past Dry Lake back to the trailhead. Nelson Ridge gave us some huge old-growth, a brief view of the ocean, and startlingly close views of two large black bears 🐻 🐻 foraging in the meadow. We’ve now seen more black bears (4) in the wild in the last 30 days than in the last 30 years! Hey bear! There were some ups and downs and ups, so our loop consumed 7.6 miles and gained 1,200 feet.

Thus endeth this year’s escape to the coast. Despite the overcast, it was a good one – with sunshine to start, beaches, old-growth, bears(!), and views. We managed to dodge a heat wave in the interior and it didn’t start raining until the morning we started for home. 😀

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