Cape Blanco State Park

"Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost" as J.R.R. Tolkien stated in his poem.

However on our camping trip to Cape Blanco State Park, wandering and lost seemed to go together almost every time we hiked!

Our first adventure started well as we hiked from our campsite through the horse camp and onto the Coast Trail.  This trail took us through thickly wooded areas with a glimpse or two of the beautiful ocean.

View of North Beach from trail

View of North Beach looking back toward Cape Blanco

Eventually we came to a gate which directed us straight ahead to continue the Coast trail, but alas, there was no trail straight ahead!?  There was a trail (sort of) going right (uphill) and left (downhill).  We chose uphill first and ran into another fence, this one without a gate.  So it was downhill we went.  It didn't take long to run into the local residents of this trail, a good sized herd of sheep who were just as surprised to see us as we were to see them.  Since we had our dog Katie with us, the sheep were probably having flashbacks to their past "herding" days and began quickly moving down the trail ahead of us.

Part of the sheep herd making a run for it as we approach!

We eventually made it through the sheep (and their droppings) and continued our loop hike.  The next gate had a sign for the Castle Rock Trail which we took since it led to the beach.  With the river to our right, cliffs to our left and the ocean in front of us, we continued along and after passing through one last dune, came upon the North Shore beach of Cape Blanco.

North Beach and Cape Blanco in the distance.

We hiked along this long stretch of beach enjoying the sound of the ocean and the large pieces of driftwood on the shoreline.  Between the sun, wind and hiking in beach sand, we were pretty tired out when we arrived at the North Shore access trail and had to look UP to the  viewpoint we needed to hike to.

Some of the driftwood along the North Beach shoreline

Carol and Katie along North Beach

Sea Stack along North Beach 

Once we arrived at the viewpoint along the lighthouse road, we connected back with coast trail and hiked the trail through the dense thickets along the South Beach cliffs till we connected with a short trail back to the campground. Whew - for a two and a half hour hike, we were tired and proceeded to take an afternoon nap.  Yes, required naps are another benefit to hiking.

On the following day we took another hike that involved wandering and being lost.  We decided to hike a "horse" trail to the beach and then loop back around through the horse camp.  A 7 mile trek that didn't seem difficult on paper.  The fact that it was a horse trail should have raised some red flags.

The first part of the hike to the beach access was easy to follow and allowed for some great views of the South Beach coastline.

South Beach view from Horse trail

Another view of South Beach from Horse trail

What remains of the last person to attempt a hike of the Horse trail??

But once we connected to the trail back to the horse camp, the horse part of the trail took over.  You see horses are much taller than people, have 4 legs and their rider really doesn't care what they run into below the saddle.  We on the other hand were under six feet tall, had two legs and we do care about plants, bushes, mud and so forth on the ground. After an hour of bushwhacking and hiking this evidently seldom used trail, we turned around and backtracked to our starting point since where we were and what the map showed did not seem to match up.  Add to that the 30-40 mph winds whipping through the trees and all the branches along the trail from past winds storms and you get the picture of two hikers and a dog making a beeline back to the safety of the campground.  Time for another nap!!

So after those two adventures, our last hike was along the safe and well marked South Beach shoreline. Instead of hiking south along the beach, we hiked north back towards the end of the cape.  It was low tide, but not low enough to hike around the entire cape.

Hiking the road down to the South Beach

Sea Stack on South Beach

This hike was awesome as we got to see a large Sea Stack with nesting cormorants, tide pools with plenty of Sea Stars (starfish), and near the end of the cape we watched and heard a pair of Peregrine falcons, a first for both of us.

Sea Star in the tide pools

View of South Beach from inside one of many caverns

Cormorants on Sea Stack - can you see the young cormorants?

We enjoyed our 4-day stay at Cape Blanco State Park which is one of our favorite Oregon State Parks. Plus the temperature was in the 60's for our entire stay - sure beats the heat back in Medford.  Including all the hiking we did on this trip, we are now at 200 miles for the year.  Since our best yearly hiking miles is 226, we are excited that we have five months of hiking left in the year and have set our sights on the 300 mile mark.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Cadra Point Loop Trail

After our hike at Enderts Beach, we drove back into Crescent City and made a quick stop at the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center.  Although the gift shop was closed, we were able to view the various mammal rehabilitation enclosures & talk to a volunteer who took the time to tell us about the current occupants, answered our questions, and even took a picture for us.

One of the current occupants at the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center

The center is run entirely by volunteers and donations with 100% of those donations used to feed the animals. On their website there is a link which allows a percentage of any purchase on Amazon.com to be donated to their facility.

Driving northwest out of Crescent City, we soon arrived at the Lake Earl Wildlife Area.  Along with Tolowa Dunes State Park and Point St. George Heritage Area,  these three areas make up the Tolowa Coast Trails.

Besides the numerous trails available to hike, these areas feature a campground, canoe & kayaking access on some of the lagoons and lakes, and trails for horse riding or bicycling. Check out their website for more information and a map.

We hiked the Cadra Point Loop Trail, a 4.2 mile loop.

Although there were side trails to viewpoints along the Lake Earl Coastal Lagoon, most were overgrown with tall weeds/grass so we opted to stick with the main trail.  The trail itself is still being developed and currently consists of two tire ruts through the fields.

The Cadra Point Loop Trail

Since we stayed on the main loop trail, we did not get a real good view of Lake Earl or Lake Tolowa, but we did get great views of the McLaughlin Pond and Beaver Pond.

McLaughlin pond view from the trail

Beaver Pond covered with lilypads

It was a nice hike but very warm since the sunshine was still out in full force. As we finished the loop it brought to an end our hiking for this trip.  In three days we had hiked 7 different trails totaling almost 25 miles with countless incredible sights and views.  That's why we love to hike!!

Now it was time to head back into Crescent City for Dutch Bros iced coffee and more Jacuzzi time!  Yes hiking is rough but it does have benefits!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol (& Maggie too)

Enderts Beach/Coastal Trail

After spending two days hiking through some of the main areas of Redwood National Park, we decided on Day 3 to go coastal.  Just south of Crescent City we turned off Highway 101 on Enderts Beach Road and drove till it ended in a parking lot at the trailhead for the Coastal Trail.  This area is part of the Redwood National Park, specifically Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. If you are a backpacker, this trail might be for you since the Coastal Trail begins here and wanders south along the coast and through the redwoods for 70 miles.  Today though we were only hiking a short distance on the Coastal trail and then taking a side trail down to Enderts Beach.

The trail was an easy hike along a path lined with various wildflowers that provided us with spectacular views of the coast.

Oh what a view!!

Some portions of the trail were like hiking through a tunnel of undergrowth and trees.

The Coastal trail enters a living tunnel

It didn't take long for us to arrive at the side trail to the beach where we enjoyed the view atop a large rock formation.  A portion of the base of this rock formation had an opening which provided some great picture taking opportunities.

Enderts Beach is more like a cove than a beach, but we took time to walk along the shoreline to check out all of the various rocks washed up by the waves and enjoy the sights and sound of the ocean.  We did disturb a group of seagulls who were probably surprised to see people since this beach is often overlooked and not visited.

Our return to the car provided a second opportunity to view all of the wildflowers again as well as take in the views of the coast one last time.  Here are some of the wildflower pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Despite being a short hike, it was a nice change of pace after hiking among the redwood trees the last two days. Now it was on to our last hike & a visit to the Lake Earl Wildlife Refuge.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol (& Maggie too)