North of the Lighthouse

We park the car in a grassy turnout,  across from the road leading to the Cape Blanco State Park Campground, and enter the North trails trailhead. It’s 11:30 in the morning.

Today we plan on hiking to the mouth of the Sixes River and then return along the beach just below the Lighthouse.

So, it’s over the meadow and through the woods, with viewpoints of the beach below along the way… the same beach on which we will return.

Can you find the Cape Blanco Lighthouse in the picture below?

Somewhere out there is the mouth of the Sixes River. The promontory jutting out to sea is Blacklock Point.

We return to the trail…

The tree below demonstrates how wickedly the winds blast through here.

Another short spur with an ocean view…

The pine forest greets us with a colorful display…

Jeff finds an unusual rock sitting on tree limbs…

We continue through the forest…

It’s 12:00 when we head toward the Sixes River…

Foxgloves are blooming…

We reach the Castle Beach Trailhead at 12:30. Free range cows graze here but we don’t see any as we make our way to the ocean.

Ten minutes later…

There’s Cape Blanco in the distance below. Can you find the Lighthouse?

Castle Rock and the mouth of the Sixes River are further north. We make our way through the driftwood-littered beach to see them up close.

We turn around and walk south along the beach toward the Lighthouse.

I take pictures of the amazing beach landscapes we encounter, far and near…

Note the rocks in the foreground below.

Now share my amazement of the same rocks, close up…

A mosaic of “glued” shells, barnacles, and smaller rocks…

I try to pry loose some limpet shells but they are unwilling.

Sprays from crashing waves…

And where did this come from?

Barnacles still line its crevices…

And challenge Jeff to climb…

It’s 1:00 now. The beach is mellow today, the winds are calm.

Sometimes we walk through a Zen-like garden of rocks and rippled sand…

And sometimes we crush through a colorful rough patch of sea stones waiting to be discovered…

I look up and recognize the forest…

The rocks below are covered with old barnacles and mussels that fascinate me and gross me out at the same time…

I look up and recognize the meadow…

The Lighthouse and a haystack rock…

The Lighthouse focuses into view…

Kelp attached to barnacles, or barnacles attached to kelp…?

Sea foam..

Kelp or seaweed? Or both?

Both…

Catching surf perch…

The Lighthouse looms closer overhead…

We approach the trail leading from the beach back up to the Lighthouse gate…

Can you see where all the barnacles and shells cling to the rocks below?

A tangle of mussel shells attached to kelp…

The rocks below are a beautiful shade of green…

At 1:35 we recognize the driftwood entrance to the trail leading up to the Lighthouse gate…

We walk another 1/4 mile along the road to our parked car.

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Some rocks and shells… including an agate, a tiny sand dollar, and blue sea glass.

Jeff posts the Oregon painted rock on Facebook but takes it down after he is deluged with comments.

He decides to hide it again…