With overcast skies, we headed to Umpqua Lighthouse.
Our first impression was the sounds. Nope, not the ocean sounds. This location overlooks the “recreation” part
of Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.
Large parts of the park are designated areas for all-terrain vehicle (ATV)
use and Dune Fest was this weekend. So the
dunes between the lighthouse and the ocean were a sea of ATVs
with snarling engines bouncing over the sand.
We aimed for a letterbox, so Barbara could pick up her first
Oregon box. On the way we found a private little lakeside
beach for lunch. Here’s our view.
Later, the Oregon
Dunes Visitor
Center pointed us to the
non-ATV areas and told us about an elk viewing area nearby. So we got to see some Roosevelt
elk.
The Oregon Dunes Trail went over dunes, through dense
vegetation, along the ocean, and then circled back. Bill did the entire hike, while Barbara went
out to the ocean and back. Hiking on
soft sand is surprisingly slow and tiring (even for Bill). Here are the dunes.
Way in the distance we saw kids sliding down the dunes
(reminded us of our girls sliding at White Sands). In this next picture you might be able to
make out people hiking below and the ocean beyond the vegetation.
It was almost like skiing as we slid down the bank where we
took this picture. See the posts? That’s how the trail is marked in the dune
areas.
The beach walk limited access to walking just on wet sand to
protect the Western Snowy Plover. We’re
wondering if these shore birds were the plovers.
The ocean never gets old, even on a cloudy day.
