The weather, for a change, became warmer and the skies cleared. No rain! No wind! Temperatures from 38F to 53F. Cool!
Excellent dry weather for a solo walker to roam the lovely loud beaches and lush forest trails.
I ate breakfast at the Fern Restaurant in Tillamook on 101. Enjoyed the hot hash browns.
Toured the new (2008-), three story, beautiful, spacious, and inviting Tillamook County Library in the downtown area next to a new large Safeway Supermarket. There is a Fred Meyer superstore at the north end of town, many fast food restaurants on US 101, and numerous stores and services in Tillamook. I drove around Tillamook. Shopped at Ace hardware and the Nectar Cannabis stores. A nice food cart court with covered courtyard in downtown.
Drove around Netarts Bay, the village of Netarts, and stopped at the beach and at the cliffside resort village of Oceanside with its many new expensive homes facing the Three Arches Rocks. These huge rocks in the ocean near the sandy shore are very impressive. I drove out to Cape Meares lighthouse. The dangerous cliffside road from Netarts to Ocenside gives me the willies.
Hung out at various places along the east shore of Netarts Bay. Watched people digging clams at low tide, and fishing from small boats and roadside rocks at high tide. The tide changes rules some aspects of life here.
Enjoyed a codfish dinner at the Schooner Restaurant.
During my last three monthly trips to coastal Yurt campsites (i.e., Grayland Beach, Cape Disappointment, and Nehalem Bay) it was raining, drizzling, foggy, windy, and wet. Under these weather conditions, I don't start a campfire. In fact, I seldom start a campfire. In the dry months, May to September, campfires in coastal State Parks are often not permitted so as to prevent forest fires. Or, I often just don't want to tend a smoky campfire; and, don't.
However, on this trip, I did light a campfire some evenings and some mornings. It was cold, a little foggy at times, other Yurt campers were having campfires, and the setting at my Yurt campsite was very beautiful. The Sitka Spruce forest was enchanting for me.
Here are some photographs by me from this Cape Lookout Trip:
My Campfire at the Yurt Campground
Cape Lookout State Park
Tillamook Valley
Thee Arch Rocks
Netarts Bay at Low Tide
Sitka Spruce Forest
Cape Lookout
Here are some aerial photographs of Netarts Bay found on the Internet:
Looking South
Looking North
Clamming and Crabbing in Netarts Bay
Looking South
Looking to the Northwest
Here is some additional information about Netarts Bay
Netarts,
Oregon Population 744
Images
Unincorporated community.
"Netarts is a small community situated at the mouth of Netarts
Bay, just south of Oceanside. Found amid lush coastal rainforest, Netarts, in
the language of the local Tillamook tribe, means “near the water.” On the
shore of Netarts Bay, the town is separated from the Pacific Ocean by a long,
club-shaped stretch of forested sand called Netarts Spit. This was once the
earliest settlement site of the Tillamook Indians. Inside the bay, at low tide,
many search for different varieties of clam, and a nearby marina offers boat and
crab pot rentals. Nearby Cape Lookout State Park, on the opposite shore of
Netarts Bay, has tent camping, yurts, cabins, and a rewarding hike to a great,
panoramic vista for whale watching."
- Netarts Bay
Travel
Netarts - Cafes
Netarts Bay
Netarts Bay Trip Advisor
Netarts Bay Travel
General History of the Netarts Bay Area, By William Hawkins, 1994 PDF
Where to Clam
and Crab in Netarts Bay By Oregon Fish and Game Department
Includes Map
Netarts Travel
Naveen's Bayside Market and Deli in Netarts
Netarts - Tillamook Coast
The Schooner
Restaurant and Lounge in Netarts
Oceanside
Netarts
Bay Geology
Netarts Bay, at maximum high tide, is 9 feet deep on the
average.
Beach
Sand Composition Geology
Zeolites of
Tillamook Seashore
Northwest Coast: A Natural History. By Stewart T. Schultz.
Portland, Timber Press, 1990, index, bibliography, 389 pages. VSCL.
"Netarts Bay is an estuarine bay on
the northern Oregon
Coast of the U.S.
state of Oregon,
located about 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Tillamook.
The unincorporated community of Netarts is
located on the north end of the bay and Netarts Bay Shellfish Preserve, managed
by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, is located on the south side of the
bay.[1] The
sand spit on the west side of Netarts bay is part of Cape
Lookout State Park. The bay is approximately 5 by 1.5 miles (8.0 by
2.4 km) and totals 2,325 acres (9.41 km2) in area, making it Oregon's seventh
largest bay.[2] Of
that, 812 acres (3.29 km2) are permanently submerged—the balance of 1,513 acres
(6.12 km2) is intertidal land.[2] It
experiences a maximum tidal range of 9 feet (3 m). The bay is part of a
watershed of 13 square miles (34 km2)[2] that
is fed by at least 16 small creeks. From north to south, there is Fall Creek,
Hodgdon Creek, O'Hara Creek, Rice Creek, two unnamed creeks, Yager Creek, three
unnamed creeks, Whiskey Creek, an unnamed creek, Austin Creek, two unnamed
creeks, and Jackson Creek."
- Netarts Bay
"Oregon is blessed with the vision of former Governor
Oswald West who legislated that all of Oregon’s coastline be accessible to
everyone. This was remarkable foresight given the state’s sparse population in
1911. More than 150 years later we appreciate his commitment to beauty beholden
to all."
"Another common question about our sandy beach is, “Why
does sand squeak when you walk on it?” The answer is that the music is caused by
friction from the sand grains rubbing against each other as we apply weight
through our footsteps as we scoot our feet through the sand. However, there are
certain conditions to be met. The type of sand that squeaks is usually a
silicate, a feldspar, or a carbonate, the grains must be rounded (no sharp
corners or edges), they should be around 300 micrometers in diameter, and they
squeak best when they are dry (moisture on the grains acts as a lubricant,
decreasing the friction)."
- Jim Young,
Oceanside, Oregon
