I drove from Vancouver, through Portland, out west by Beaverton and Hillsboro, and out into the farmlands and vineyards near Banks, Oregon. From Banks, on Oregon Road 26, I drove the 50 miles through the coastal mountains and the Tillamook State Forest. The road has many small homes along its course west up along Gales Creek up to the 1,500 foot summit, and then down the rugged Wilson River Canyon to the Tillamook Valley. There are an astounding number white trunked deciduous trees (alders, poplars) along this impressive Wilson River Canyon.
It is 100 miles from my home in Vancouver to Cape Lookout State Park.
I drove 6 miles west out on Bayocean Road to where it dead ends because of rock slides. The road goes along the southwest side of Tillamook Bay. I did not drive out on the gravel Bayocean Dike Road all the way to the south jetty of Tillamook Bay. It was very foggy at this time. Dramatic!! Nobody out and about today ... deserted foggy Bay waters rising and falling twice a day.
The State Park campground is 6 miles from the village of Netarts, and 11 miles from downtown Tillamook.
In the last two decades, I have camped in a Yurt at Cape Lookout State Park twice before, and once in a tent. There are 210 campsites and 13 Yurts here. Check in at 4:00 pm, and checkout at 10 am. Most of the campground was closed, only Loop C was open. All the Yurts were used, and about 15 trailers/RVs were in the campground.
There are many hiking trails in the Park in the Sitka Spruce forest. Also, nice roads for bicycling and walking (especially since so few people were here). There are many miles of sandy beach and surf to walk along because the Park is on the long sand spit that creates the west side of shallow Netarts Bay. All the steep hills to the east of the Park are heavily forested.
There is considerable logging in the mountains surrounding the Tillamook Valley. As is true for all the Oregon and Washington coastal mountain ranges.
Looking North
From the Internet
Since there will be lots of darkness and probably some rain, a winter coastal solo camper needs books to read, DVDs or CDs to use on a laptop, ebooks. There was decent smart cellphone T-Mobile access to the Internet.
I brought my Kindle ebook reader, my HP laptop computer with software such as my laptop Kindle ebook reader, Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop, and the Microsoft 365 Suite. Brought my Canon SX740 camera and cellphone.
In the next two weeks I will be reading the two following books.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic For Dummies. By Rob Sylvan. VSCL, my book.Cape Lookout State Park Images Many options for walking and hiking in this part of the rugged Oregon coastline.
Four Days in Grayland By Michael P. Garofalo. Camping and travel adventures in the Pacific Northwest.
Yurt Camping in the Coastal Northwest By Michael P. Garofalo
Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint
Tillamook Coast Visitors Guide
Munson Creek Falls State Natural Site
Pacific City Population 1,000
Northwest Coastal Oregon Travel Guide: Astoria to Cape Lookout. By Mike Garofalo.
Netarts, Oregon Population 744 Images Unincorporated community. On Oregon 131, Trees to the Sea Highway. Off of US 101.
"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
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
Naveen's Bayside Market and Deli in Netarts
The Schooner Restaurant and Lounge in Netarts Very good meals!
Netarts Bay, at maximum high tide, is 9 feet deep on the average.
Beach Sand Composition Geology
Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge
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
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