Harris Ranch Trail and Seal Rock Beaches 05-28-17
Harris Ranch Trail and Seal Rock Beaches 05-28-17
We stayed in Newport for the umpteenth time on Memorial Day weekend, a 30-degree drop in temperatures with a summer cloud bank sitting over the ocean side of the Coast Range. On Sunday, we motored down to Waldport, and then took forest roads up to the easiest trail into the little Drift Creek Wilderness - it was a brisk 55 degrees at the trailhead. The Harris Ranch Trail begins on an old logging road and then drops down through lush old growth forest to Drift Creek itself. The trailhead was fully occupied with vehicles, and there were a number of campers down by the creek, some backpackers perhaps escaping the inland heat at the last minute. We talked to a family that comes here every Memorial Day weekend, and they said usually there is only one other camping group. They pointed out the bright orange crawdads in the creek and told about the one-foot-long giant salamander that will creep out and digest their cooked remains if you toss them in the water in front of its dark and secret hideout. There are no remains of the Harris "Ranch", once a homestead shack that has long rotted into the substrate, or indeed the "meadow" that is mentioned in earlier guidebooks. A user trail rambles about a half mile down the creek until the brush and the fallen trees thwart any further ambitions.
On Memorial Day itself, we ventured south before heading back, our major excursion to take to the beaches south of Elephant Rock at the very lowest of the tide. Hill Creek fans out along the beach and then splashes over several mini-waterfalls as it negotiates the exposed and intricately carved bench of Yaquina Formation sandstone. Elephant Rock itself is the southernmost manifestation of the Columbia River Basalts and, like all the islands/outcrops in the vicinity, is part of the Oregon Islands Wilderness and National Wildlife Refuge. Both red and green algae flourish in the tide pools here, which also support extensive mussel beds. We walked as far as Smith Point, sighting guillemots, oystercatchers, and harbor seals, as well as curious congregations of hundreds of little mole crabs in sandy pools.
On Memorial Day itself, we ventured south before heading back, our major excursion to take to the beaches south of Elephant Rock at the very lowest of the tide. Hill Creek fans out along the beach and then splashes over several mini-waterfalls as it negotiates the exposed and intricately carved bench of Yaquina Formation sandstone. Elephant Rock itself is the southernmost manifestation of the Columbia River Basalts and, like all the islands/outcrops in the vicinity, is part of the Oregon Islands Wilderness and National Wildlife Refuge. Both red and green algae flourish in the tide pools here, which also support extensive mussel beds. We walked as far as Smith Point, sighting guillemots, oystercatchers, and harbor seals, as well as curious congregations of hundreds of little mole crabs in sandy pools.