Cape Lookout State Park

My best hike yet!!!  I went to Cape Lookout State Park which is 12 miles south of Tillamook on the coast.  It took me about two hours to get there (it would probably have been less but there was construction) but was totally worth the drive.  The state park had three main trails, the South, North and Cape trail.  I decided to do the Cape trail since it followed a rock out into the ocean rather than the North or South trail since they went parallel to the coast.  It was stunning!  The trail was 2.5 miles to the lookout and then a return.  It was well maintained but was extremely muddy so make sure you wear shoes and pants you don't care about.  The trail began with a descent to a midpoint and then an ascent to the lookout. That was nice because you got to go up and down both ways, rather than a 2.5 mile uphill.

The trail was surrounded by old growth trees until you drop into the little midpoint and then it became a beautiful rainforest!  I guess this particular cape is one of the wettest in Oregon (100 or more inches of rain a year) so the flora is extremely vibrant.  Today was a clear day with temperatures between 65 and 70 degrees.  It was perfect.  One of the reasons I chose to drive out there today was because I knew the weather, and therefore the view, would be marvelous.

The cape sits between two bays that both had a magnificent stretch of unobstructed beachline.  To the north was Tillamook bay with a beautiful sand bar, and to the south was a beach I don't know the name of which appeared to have dunes.  I think the Oregon Dunes start much farther south but these may be a glimpse of what's to come.  The view was stunning and of course... I saw a Bald Eagle!  It flew out of nowhere.  Perhaps my friend was right when he called me the "eagle whisperer" since I tend to see them all the time.  Ha!

Speaking of birds there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of coastal Murres sitting on the water.  Murres are related to Puffins and were very beautiful.  Black wings with white heads and bellies.  They made a very melodious sound that at first reminded me of a distant train but then I realized it had a distinct almost Mourning Dove "coo".  Mix that with a distant train sound and you get the sounds of thousands of shore birds!  There were also tons of Blue-Green Swallows and I got a pretty good picture of one sitting on a rock.

I hiked out the end of that rock

All of those little dots are Murres

Do you see the Swallow?  He's so cute!

This hike I would recommend to everyone! It wasn't too difficult (except for the mud was pretty slick) and the view was amazing.  Not only at the lookout but at various points along the trail.  I have way too many pictures to post here but I'll post some so you can all get an idea of how awesome it was!