I'm dusting off this trip report from the HikersNetwork board that I posted back in May of this year, and adding some photos.
OREGON COAST TREK - 2006
Last weekend Shari and I hiked a 30-mile stretch of the Oregon Coast with the Mazamas. Here's a day-by-day account of our trek:
FRIDAY
Morning clouds obscured Tillamook Head as our group of 14 met at the Seaside Visitor Center to shuttle to the trail head at the south end of Seaside, where Mazama leader John Davis briefed the group before setting out.
We began our multi day through-trek of the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) up and over Tillamook Head. We stopped for lunch at a picnic ramada at the Hiker's Camp which is a campground including several well-maintained sleeping shelters.
After a chilly lunch, we sidetracked to a nearby coastal viewpoint passing World War II radar bunkers along the way.
The viewpoints along the trail provided a somewhat foggy glimpse of Tillamook Lighthouse (aka "Terrible Tilly") which sits atop a rock about a mile off the coast.
By mid-day coastal skies started to clear and as we hiked into Ecola State Park we enjoyed mostly sunny skies for the remainder of the day.
 
The OCT though Ecola is very scenic as it passes around Indian Beach, over Ecola Point (with its famous picture post-card view of Cannon Beach), and above secluded Crescent Beach.
 
We hiked right into Cannon Beach for dinner at the Lumberyard Rotisserie & Grill and our overnight accommodations at the Ecola Creek Lodge. Friday's trek was about 9 miles, and this section of the OCT was very well maintained - virtually no mud and all blow down removed from the trail. Well, almost all!
SATURDAY
We had morning fog and drizzle on the coast, but because we had planned on hiking around Hug Point at low tide in mid-afternoon, we didn't begin day two of our trek until noon. After brunch at the Pig and Pancake, we walked down to Cannon Beach and began our beach hike under partly sunny skies.
Looking back toward Tillamook Head you can see Tillamook Lighthouse on top of the rock (far left) about a mile off the coast.
We trekked by Haystack Rock and several other seas stacks as we headed south along Tolovana Beach and Humbug Point, passing tide pools along the way.
  
The most interesting part of today's beach hike was the passing around Hug Point on the historic wagon road. This section of old roadway "hugs" the rocky headland and is essentially a blasted ledge to provide passage during low tide.
   
As we came around Hug Point at low tide, we were greeted by a caves and a waterfall right onto the beach!!
A couple was just finishing up a wedding ceremony at the base of the falls as we arrived. As is typical with weather along the Oregon Coast, after a dreary morning we enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous afternoon.
During today's hike, we encountered numerous creek crossings on the beach, all of which were easily "fordable".
After about 7 miles of beach trekking, we hiked right into our beach rental at Arch Cape where we spent the next two nights. After getting some provisions at a nearby deli/grocery, we returned to the beach house where our leader, John, prepared a big spaghetti dinner for our entire group! We also celebrated Jean's birthday.
SUNDAY
Rain, rain, go away, come back some other day  Sunday was our only bad weather day of the four and we knew it was coming from earlier forecasts. About half of the group decided to hike anyways so we headed out into the coastal dampness after suiting up in full rain gear. After shuttling a couple cars, including an early bailout car, we began our trek at Arch Cape Creek where we crossed the suspension footbridge and continued our trek on the OCT. The rain was relentless as we hiked up and over Cape Falcon to Short Sands Beach in Oswald West State Park.
Along the way we passed by occasional old growth and through some pretty dark areas of the forest, not to mention lots of slugs. The trail was soupy with running streams in the cupped tread. Despite all the rain, the trail was muddy in only a few areas so the boots stayed pretty clean. From the Cape Falcon viewpoint, we watched three sea gulls repeatedly attack a bald eagle, and it looked like the gulls were winning. Cape Falcon is a very rugged headland and we thought we spotted some floats in the inaccessible coves and hidden beaches. We continued on hiking in the rain above Smugglers Cove and down onto Short Sands Beach where we decided to end our hike about 1.5 miles short of the originally planned destination due to the inclement weather.
 
Even so, we hiked about 8 miles in Sunday's rain. Today's section of the OCT was also very well maintained with virtually all blow down cleared from the trail. While our contingent was out hiking the soupy rails, the rest of the group went for Cannon Beach shopping and/or the Tillamook Cheese Factory tour. Upon reconvening at the Arch Cape beach house, our leader John prepared a tuna casserole dinner for the group. The rain finally gave way to clearing skies late Saturday afternoon, so before dinner John and I attempted to walk around Arch Cape.
However, the Arch Cape Creek was too high to cross without getting our boots flooded so chose not to proceed around the cape. After dinner and marionberry pie desert, most of the group went for a sunset beach walk on Arch Cape beach.
MONDAY
On Monday morning under clearing skies, John led our group up to a viewpoint on Angora Peak which towers behind nearby Neahkahnie Mountain. The hike was mostly along a logging road with many intersections.
Fortunately, John had scouted out the route in advance so we scooted right up the mountain without any wrong turns. From the viewpoint we could see from Cape Lookout to the south all the way to Seaside Beach to the north, with Cannon Beach-Tillamook Head in between.
We also discovered what appeared to be a hunter's cabin near the viewpoint.
The sun finally came out for good and lit up the coastal town of Arch Cape.
On the descent, several of us spotted an elk in an area that had been clear cut. After our 5-6 mile hike of Angora Peak, the group headed over to Mo's at Tolovana Beach for clam chowder and to celebrate co-leader Billie Goodwin's birthday.
After saying goodbye to the rest of the group at Mo's, Shari and I went back to Oswald West State Park to enjoy the sunny coastal afternoon. Here's a few shots from Short Sands Beach, the rugged coastline below Neahkahnie Mountain, and the often-photographed Oswald West viewpoint.
    
Needlesslss to say, this Oregon Coast trek was an awesome and memorable outing for all. A special thanks goes out to Mazama leaders John Davis and Billie Goodwin who made it all happen. John spent countless hours planning the logistics of this trek right down to hiking around Hug Point at low tide; and Billie sacrificed a lot of personal time in shuttling our overnight gear and daily provisions from Seaside to Cannon Beach to Arch Cape. Thanks again to John, Billie, and the rest of the group for making this a most enjoyable trek!
In closing, here's a couple group shots that I "stole" from John's camera.
 
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