Tidepools and (Another) Lighthouse

Today's weather forecast called for rain after 11 a.m., so we thought we were safe in planning a tidepooling trip for the morning. Low tide was at 9:52 at the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area in the Siuslaw National Forest, so we left home at 8:30 and drove up the coast. When we got to the visitor center it was closed, but we were lucky enough to run into some rangers who told us where the trail to the tidepools was.

Called the Captain Cook Trail, it led under the highway to a rocky shore, full of pools among the rocks. We had a minus tide--the low tide mark was -0.4 ft., so lots of shoreline was exposed. We used our hiking poles to stabilize ourselves as we scrambled among the rocks. And by the way, the rain didn't hold off for the after 11 forecast time, so it was sprinkling on us, and there was a chill breeze, but we were somewhat prepared with our warmest layers.

At first we didn't see much, but then as we got nearer the ocean, the rocks and pools were full of life. Thousands of mussels and barnacles clung to the rocks, and we saw blue green anemones by the hundreds in the pools. Everywhere we looked, something was growing. The starfish were huge. As I was picking my way around the first pool where Ken had spotted a starfish, there was a sudden whooshing sound that surprised me. We finally figured out that it must be a small spout, formed when waves force water through a narrow opening.

Lee's looking for a good tide pool.

Ready to head back to our truck.

The starfish we saw were purple, blue, or orange.

We saw green sea anemones open in the tide pools and closed up above the water line.

Chilled but happy, we headed up to the now-open visitor center, where we watched a short video on the tidal area. Then we went back down the coast to Heceta Head Lightstation, a half mile uphill hike from the parking area. The lighthouse is very similar to Umpqua, since it was built at the same time and from the same plans, but it has an English made Fresnel lens, which is accessed from the side instead of below, so we couldn't climb up into the lens. Ken got a shot from below. A few years ago some of the crystals fell during a routine cleaning, and it cost $25,000 to replace them. The signature of this lighthouse is white flashes at 10 second intervals.

This lighthouse uses a lens of the same design as that of the Umqua Lighthouse that we visited a couple of days ago, except that all the lens elements are clear instead of a combination of clear and red.

When we got back home, we turned up the heat and made hot veggie soup for lunch with cheesy bread and hot drinks.