Another Oregon Gem

Day 32

          You may have surmised by the title that the Tour Bus did, in fact, stay another day here in Pacific City. Trying to figure out the near-term weather situation up in the Olympic Peninsula led us to decide that another day here was in our best interest.

          And the fact that it is hard to leave the little fuzzy dogs that live here. Oh, and Liz and Beth too!

          Our Big Adventure for the day was a hike in and around the Sitka Sedge State Natural Area.

          No…. we did not travel to Alaska for the day, so not that Sitka!

          Sedge is a family of grasses that grow in marshy areas. Think the large grassy areas down the shore that are near the shorelines of the bays.

          Sitka (sedge) is a member of that family that grows out here in the Western States, hence Sitka Sedge State Natural Area.

          So now that we have today’s lesson out of the way, I am going to apologize to you in advance. The apology is for the photographs that accompany this particular post. My goal when photographing a subject to present to you folks, is to have you yearn to be there with us. I try to have the photos be an honest representation of what we  are experiencing at the time.

          So, here’s my apology……

          I could not get the photos to accurately depict the incredible scenes that lay before us, especially down inside the wooded areas of the hike. The sunlight filtering down thorough the canopy overhead and illuminating the lush green carpet that lay before us, and the other-worldly sweaters of moss that the trees were sporting, were particularly difficult scenes to portray with any amount of surreal realism.

          Yet, here they are in what I hope will be a half-way successful attempt to convey to you the absolute subtle grandeur that one feels as you walk immersed in a kind of splendor that belongs fittingly to creatures that should live here, like Wood Elves.

          Every time I rounded a bend there was another scene just begging to be photographed, so come on a walk though this realm with us, I hope that you get at least half of what we did.

          One of the best parts about Sitka Sedge Natural State Area is the diverse zones that it spans. We started out with Tidal Flats keeping us company until they handed us off to grassy forests on our way to the dunes.

The grassy forests gave way to those deep lush areas that you just experienced. This zone is in the natural valley that gets formed on the lee side of the dunes. Down here the moisture level is critically different than the Tidelands or the dunes themselves. It allows for what you have seen in the photos. We emerged out of “Elvenland”, climbing out of the dim interior of that area, into the bright sunshine of the grassy sedges, still on the lee side of the dunes.

These grasses help preserve the dunes and protect the interior of the area from being washed over when Pacific storms roll in. Finally, the sedge grass petered out at the top of the broad dunes as we strode over them to the windward side. These important shore protectors eventually flattened out to a fine, long, sandy beach.

          The whole journey made for a perfect example of zone transition and the best part was that we were able to experience it all again as we were only halfway through our hike!

          We sat on a huge log of driftwood for quite a while, both resting and admiring the absolutely pristine and vacant beach that lay before us. One of the best things about Oregon and her Coast is that there is no shortage of spectacular scenes for you to explore.

          There is, however, a shortage of crowds.

          Come to Oregon.