Newport area walkabout

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miah66
Posts: 2039
Joined: July 6th, 2009, 8:00 pm

Newport area walkabout

Post by miah66 » January 25th, 2017, 9:41 am

Opening Pic:

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Thanks so much to bobcat for his contributions to the field guide! So much fun to explore some of the lesser known edges to popular areas.

Last week, the wife and I escaped the winter storm ravaged city of Portland and struck out for Newport for a long weekend. It was our 9 year anniversary, but we had no real agenda, save for being tourists. We visited the historic bayfront;

Hand painted cockroaches @ Ripley's Believe it or Not:

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Became the Emperor from Star Wars:

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Failed to save this diver at Undersea Gardens:

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and spotted a Penguin:

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The next day we visited Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. This area contains a lighthouse and some history. It used to be a rock quarry for decades before it was turned into visitor center and now nature is taking back the land and the sea. It is home to many seabirds and harbor seals. Several trails encompass the area and we took most of them, save for a trip to a communication tower that we'll do some other time. Thanks again to bobcat for this write-up in the field guide.

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Needless to say the lighthouse is fun to take pictures of. There were some park employees with a spotting scope trained on some sea lions and their pup on the rocks off shore. He was awfully cute, like this guy:

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(not my photo)

Afterwards we had some time before sunset, so we took the opportunity to visit another bobcat entry, Mike Miller Nature Park. This is a small spot, but it's cool because it's in the trees and not ocean centric so it's a different kind of coast hike.

We had some lovely scenes.

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Cool reflections in the almost black tannic water:

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Just a real nice walk, about a mile, through some nice big trees and not a soul in sight.

Next we decided to hurry down to South Beach to see the sunset. We got there just in time, perhaps a bit late even, but still managed some great light.

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It's so great that we have all this within a day's drive and it's mostly free! If only I had more free time.

The last day we did another bobcat entry, the Bayfront hike. This took in most of the historic waterfront, and then a stroll along the rocks towards the big bridge and the ocean.

A beautiful Coast Guard outpost:

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the Yaquina Bay bridge:

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the huge jetty:

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the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse:

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We made a trip to the Rogue World Headquarters for a post hike beer.

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We then visited Nye Beach. Anyone who has been there is familiar with this common sight:

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Then the 3 hour drive to Portland. Going over the pass in the coast range west of Corvalis was no real problem. They have straightened and expanded US-20 out there and that really made the trip much easier. It must've been a MASSIVE project, it's very impressive. The roads nearing Portland were terrible, even I-5 still had large patches of ice once we got to Nyberg Rd area. We had mix of clouds and sun and mostly in the 40's to mid 50's. It was shocking to return to Portland where it was below freezing and the roads were still a disaster!
"The top...is not the top" - Mile...Mile & a Half

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bobcat
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Joined: August 1st, 2011, 7:51 am
Location: SW Portland

Re: Newport area walkabout

Post by bobcat » January 26th, 2017, 8:23 am

Great photos - I especially like your shots of the trees at Mike Miller. And the grueling hikes to the painted cockroaches and the Rogue Nation - still have to get those in the Field Guide.

I like to visit up and down the coast, but we usually stay in Newport a couple of times a year: it's my wife's favorite place, and there's lots to do north and south of there. We also spent part of our honeymoon there - when we were much younger and poorer and Hawaii, or God forbid, Paris, were out of the question.

We were there just after New Year's but couldn't return via Highway 20 because it had been blocked by a landslide. The straightening project was a major and very expensive effort that, I believe, began over a decade ago!

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miah66
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Re: Newport area walkabout

Post by miah66 » January 26th, 2017, 8:36 am

Thanks bobcat! We stayed @ Elizabeth St Inn near Nye beach. Where do you guys stay when you go down there? Mike Miller was awesome. Reminds me of some of the pocket parks like Woods or Camassia Natural Areas in SW in that they are tiny islands of nature in a developed area. I love places like that. Have you guys been to the Hatfield Marine Science Center? It must be new(ish) b/c I hadn't been there before or even heard of it. It's been a few years since I spent some time in Newport. I recommend it. We walked in about 30 mins before it closed, and while that wasn't really enough time, we were able to browse the highlights. While it's clearly aimed at kids, there are some really neat exhibits, like a digital lidar mapped sandbox that you can alter and the map moves in realtime. That thing was amazing.
"The top...is not the top" - Mile...Mile & a Half

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sgyoung
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Location: Seattle

Re: Newport area walkabout

Post by sgyoung » January 26th, 2017, 10:37 am

miah66 wrote:... there are some really neat exhibits, like a digital lidar mapped sandbox that you can alter and the map moves in realtime. That thing was amazing.
I would lose hours of my life playing with that. Getting to watch the seal colony sounds like a lot of fun too. My wife and I haven't been to the coast on our last few trips out west, but we should get back there sometime. Thanks for pointing out some fun things to check out.

Out of curiosity, who is better, Rogue or Full Sail?

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miah66
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Re: Newport area walkabout

Post by miah66 » January 26th, 2017, 10:48 am

sgyoung wrote: Out of curiosity, who is better, Rogue or Full Sail?
I'm not a huge fan of either, but Rogue has hands down more "interesting" selection of beers and alot of experimental stuff, which is one of the reasons I will go there when I'm nearby. Full Sail i find to be too generic for a special trip. I will say, that I highly enjoy their "Session" series IPA and I buy it to have around the house as my go-to beer.
"The top...is not the top" - Mile...Mile & a Half

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sgyoung
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Re: Newport area walkabout

Post by sgyoung » January 26th, 2017, 12:52 pm

miah66 wrote:
sgyoung wrote: Out of curiosity, who is better, Rogue or Full Sail?
I'm not a huge fan of either, but Rogue has hands down more "interesting" selection of beers and alot of experimental stuff, which is one of the reasons I will go there when I'm nearby. Full Sail i find to be too generic for a special trip. I will say, that I highly enjoy their "Session" series IPA and I buy it to have around the house as my go-to beer.
Good to know. Thanks. I'm not a big IPA fan myself, but have otherwise found Full Sail to be at least decent. They have a killer veggie burger too so that made me like them too. I'll definitely try Rogue sometime though just to check out the more interesting options.

Sorry for the thread drift. :)

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miah66
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Re: Newport area walkabout

Post by miah66 » January 26th, 2017, 1:31 pm

sgyoung wrote: I'm not a big IPA fan myself...
Me either! That's why I like the Session IPA. It's the most un-IPA I've tried.
"The top...is not the top" - Mile...Mile & a Half

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bobcat
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Re: Newport area walkabout

Post by bobcat » January 29th, 2017, 2:08 pm

miah66 wrote:Where do you guys stay when you go down there?
Sylvia Beach Hotel: not for everyone. No wifi or TVs, designed for bookworms with each room done up after a different author. My wife likes the Oscar Wilde; I took a fancy to J.K. Rowling (which used to be the Edgar Alan Poe room). We stayed in Amy Tan this last time, though. Great restaurant.
miah66 wrote:Have you guys been to the Hatfield Marine Science Center?
A couple of times. One of my short walks leads out of there: http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide ... tuary_Hike . They've been there a while: their 50th anniversary was in 2015.

On the important, hiking-related subject of IPAs, I am a fan. Current preferences are Sunriver's Vicious Mosquito and 10 Barrel's Apocalypse.

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