Oregon, Washington coasts

borderbrae

If my plans work out I will be in OR early in June, plan on spending at least June & July on the OR & WA coasts. I've got a book about photographing in OR by Greg Vaughn, getting all sorts of literature from various places on the OR & WA coasts so I'm getting some ideas about places to go, etc. Will be camping, either state parks, BLM or wherever I can in my small trailer. Just trying to give some background info.

What I'd really like to know is stuff about photographing on the beaches. I understand it will probably be windy and cold (or colder than here in FL). But should I plan on wearing waterproof boots (with warm socks)? In other words is it likely to be wet underfoot a good part of the time?

I haven't done much photographing moving water but I'm getting the filters and will practice here a bit on a couple of small waterfalls. Hoping to be somewhat prepared for the ocean moving around the sea stacks.

Does anyone do anything special to protect camera gear, tripods etc? I've done a lot of photography in the West, but that is to different, being so dry and dusty. I do have rain covers for the lens & camera body (very handy when I was in AK!).

Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated!

David_S85

We visited Cannon Beach at dawn last year. Just normal walking shoes and there was no mist getting on the lenses. Wind was minimal. It was a bit foggy though, and that was good for the mood. Pics in my Vacations/Workshops gallery.

borderbrae

David_S85 wrote: »

We visited Cannon Beach at dawn last year. Just normal walking shoes and there was no mist getting on the lenses. Wind was minimal. It was a bit foggy though, and that was good for the mood. Pics in my Vacations/Workshops gallery.

Thanks for the response, Dave! Great photos!! I'm looking forward to the trip. Noticed the lady wearing the Cape Cod sweatshirt, I grew up on the Cape. Small world, huh?!

David_S85

borderbrae wrote: »

Thanks for the response, Dave! Great photos!! I'm looking forward to the trip. Noticed the lady wearing the Cape Cod sweatshirt, I grew up on the Cape. Small world, huh?!

Thanks! That was my wife in the Cheese Van @ Tillamook. Don't miss Tillamook Cheese for any reason. And Cape Cod was another of those galleries in there!

EDIT: This post must have made me hungry. When I was at Costco today, I spotted a 2lb. brick of Tillamook Extra Sharp White Cheddar. We don't sell that where I work, so the memory of the free tastings came up and I put that in my bag. Can't wait to dig into that one.

borderbrae

I thought that might be your wife, looks like she was having a good time! I'll be sure to have Tillamook Cheese on my list of places to visit.

Wiren

Jean... unless you plan to get extremely close to the shoreline/waves, regular shoes and a windbreaker should be just fine.

I usually use the Columbia brand hiking/walking style shoe.... any brand of sturdy shoe will work, it's nice to have support for the ankles for the few beaches with rocky shorelines (Newport and Seaside)

I have an extensive list of tips and points of interest for you, places to be sure to hit and places that aren't worth the time expenditure.

I will work that up tonight when I get time and send it along.... meanwhile, look at my website.. the images on my Artography and Photography pages show several beach scenes... with the exception of Battery Point LH, all of the coastal scenes are from the Oregon Coast

Cheers

Lee

bham

I have only done the Washington coast, but have done it about 3 times in the last 5 years. Its cold. Like windy 55 degrees, and that was late July early August. Some of the coast can be foggy all day, like near Rialto and La Push. I think I have shot there on 7 or 8 different days, and thick fog almost every time. Like could see 40 feet type fog. Bring a tripod.

Ruby Beach is also a nice location.

I went as far south as Ocean Shores (interesting little area) but nothing really seemed to photo worthy there, compared to the other locations farther north.

If you have time, travel up the Columbia River Gorge a ways.

Wiren

Highlights of the Oregon Coast.
Ok Jean.... this will be a looooong post, so grab a biscuit and a cup of tea, here we go.

Most of these photo's are from my trip along the Coast last summer on a trip with my wife. Some are older, many I have processed in an alternative style. I live in Oregon and make it to the coast at least twice annually if not half a dozen times......, if you have questions I don't cover let me know, call or send a message.

I will be taking you from the southern tip to the northern tip of the Oregon Coast, not sure what your plans are, but I will also try to tell you must see's and places that while nice, are not worth the expenditure of time.... unfortunately, some suggestions I will make will be blind ones as the hikes would have been too much for my wife to have participated on with me :cry But some day I plan to get to those.....

We stayed in the larger beach towns for 2 nights each, which gave me a chance to photograph stuff around those towns while enjoying the trip with my spouse as well. She did get tired of lighthouses.... dunno

Also note... there are a ton of nooks and crannies that can be breathtaking... I will not try to fit in all the minutia in this narrative... there is a wealth of information here.....

1. Brookings area... Thunder Cove & the Secret Beaches - I did not make this stop...

Between Brookings and Gold Beach there are several pull out Capes that are nice to look at....
This is Cape Ferello....


2. Gold Beach (I recommend the Motel 6, it has had a makeover, affordable but very nice and we fed a family of deer in the parking lot ) - You can take a Jet Boat Ride up the Rogue River! Also, you can catch some other nice views.....

A Sinking Ship in the mouth of the Rogue River....


3. Over Humbug Mountain, through Port Oford & on to Cape Blanco Lighthouse. Beautiful area.



4. Bandon... the Wildlife Safari is fun...., Sea Stacks like Face Rock and Wizards Hat... and the Coquille River Lighthouse on Bullards Beach... Also... go to the Face Rock Creamery... you can get a small Cone for $1.75 where they put more ice cream on it that you should eat! This is well worth 2 or 3 days of exploration!

If you do the Wildlife Safari, hang out by the cats at feeding time!


Wizards Hat


Coquille River Light - During Day & During the Evening....







While you are in Bandon... take about a 40 minute drive inland to the town of Coquille... the drive is very beautiful, relaxing and fun with the slow long, gentle curves.

Coquille Farm


5. Cape Arago... This is a hard to find lighthouse that is quite a drive off of the 101. You cannot get up close to it and there is only one decent viewpoint. I would bypass this.....unless you are determined to capture the whole set along the coast....


6. Coos Bay does not offer much and I have always thought of it as a dirty seabord town.... YMMV - I saw nothing of interest.

7. Umpqua River LH... do NOT waste your time. This one also is pretty inaccessible.. it is on Coast Guard property and you need an escort to get in... for as long and pretty as the drive to Winchester Bay is... it really isn't worth it... unless of course you are trying to get all the LH's


8. Florence.. this is a really nice town.. a really nice old-town area... A clipper ship in the small harbor on the Siuslaw River.... this image was an Instagram shot since I didn't take my camera with me to the area....


There are dunes also.... , and north of Florence about 16 miles is the beautiful Heceta Head LH
(best view point is to drive down near the parking lot entrance and on the side of the 101 is a huge gravel pull out... park here and carefully walk the shoulder back to the bridge overpass.... the sidewalk on the bridge gives you this view and not many folks deal with the trouble, so your view will be better than the standard fare)

Also, while you are in this area, look a couple miles north for Cooks Chasm and Thor's Well (do NOT get too close to Thor's Well, it is easy to fall and get caught in the tide!) Also Devi'ls Churn is worth looking at.


Across the Hwy from Cook Chasm/Thor's Well is an entrance to the right for Cape Perpetua Lookout... this is a FANTASTIC view!


And Historical also... side note... your's truly is the fellow on the left in the brown hat....


WHEW... that covers a lot in just a few miles!

9. Newport & the Oregon Coast Aquarium... hit or miss... not much in the town proper... lot of homelessness.. the Aquarium somedays can show lots and others not (think about a zoo on no animal day ) The only redeeming thing about this stop is the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse... $7 cash at the gate for a 48 hour pass.... be sure to go down to the rocky beach


Look right up at the LH....


Or take a hike up the hill trail and get a wider view.....


10. Depot Bay is a cute little town to stop and stretch your legs... watch the boats come into the worlds smallest navigable harbor....maybe see a whale spout....

11. Lincoln City... MUST eat at Mo's.. and take a walk along the boardwalk and beach here, very nice.
The rest of Lincoln City is useless, unless you want to golf (decent course) or Gamble... stay away from Tony.. he's a bad dealer and always takes my money

12. Moving up north... be sure to look for the 3 capes route and Sand Lake Road / Pacific City. Pretty drive and in Pacific City, you can look at the Prudential Rock and watch Dory Boats launch off the beach in the morning. This happens usually about an hour after sunrise....give or take an hour



While you wait for them to come back (no set times) you can watch the surfers.....



Also, there is Cape Lookout... I have not hiked to the end of the point, which can be dicey if it's windy (so be careful)... but there is a great side trail that takes you to a fairly abandoned beach on the south side of the lookout.


You can drive the rest of the Cape route back up to 101 and on into Tillamook..Be sure to look for Cape Meare's LH... it's small but the view is pretty.

13. Tillamook (and the Cheese Factory) where the worlds best cheese and Ice Cream is made.... as David stated, get a shot in the Tillamook Bus

14. The drive north will take you through Garibaldi where you can catch a train ride into Rockaway Beach where you can see the iconic Twin Rocks


Moving north will take you through some interesting little towns that are worth some looks.... but pretty much a drive through....

15. After Oswald State Park you will want to look for Arch Cape and Hug Point (beach waterfall)


Depending on the weather and time of year, this can be a stormy area!


16. Cannon Beach is verry popular but verrrry worth it. Good restaurants, great art galleries and shops, Haystack Rock and the Needles.....


There is also Ecola Park where you can find Tillamook Rock Lighthouse (I know... it's a long ways north of Tillamook.... ). May I suggest driving the road past the guardshack before you leave towards Indian Beach... it's a narrow, windy road with Elk in residence, so drive careful, but it is paved and leads to Indian Beach where surfers hang out and act cool like they are at a secret enclave for surfers and there is a trail that leads to the Lewis & Clark overlook for a much better view of the LH... it is a 1.7 (?) mile long trail that is steep so take your time... paved trail by the way...or there is also a dirt trail through forests that give an even better view in my opinion......the LH sits a mile out in the ocean....


17. Seaside.... There are two beaches here... a rocky one (where my shoe suggestion really comes in handy) and a sandy one where the crowds go. Lots of games, shops, college kids hangout beach town......






18. Wreck of the Peter Iredale....

19. Astoria... boats


And the Astoria Column...
There is also a "River Walk" that is about a 5 mile round trip along the river....you'll see epic views of the Megler Bridge....


20. Drive over the Megler Bridge, you'll find that Cape Disappointment is anything but... somedays you can be looking at the lighthouse and catch the Coast Guard practicing Chopper rescue drills here! I have images of that somewhere..... maybe another time.

Anything north of here I haven't yet explored..... Have a great trip, drop a dime if I can be of assistance in your planning.

Lee

borderbrae

Bham, thanks for the info. I've just been researching the OP and made reservations for 2 nights at Kalaloch and 2 at a campground between Forks & LaPush. Am really hoping I get a break in the weather. I'm also leaving some nights free, so I'll be checking out the NFS and state campgrounds. Hoping if the weather is bad I can get back to a place when it is nice.

Yes, the Columbia gorge is another place I'd like to see, not sure about fitting it in this trip, though.

borderbrae

Lee, thanks so much! what a fantastic response!! I'll have nearly 7 weeks on the OR coast. Will start at Nehalem SP, then down to South Beach, then hitting some Casinos(free or cheap camping) and maybe a NFs campground or state park down near Gold Beach and Brookings, then 2 weeks in Bandon. I figure if I have a base for a few days I can work up and down the coast from it without too much trouble. After Bandon I head north to the Olympic Peninsula. A lot of the places you mention are on my list of places to go, and your comments about them will make it all so much easier I'm sure.

Thanks for the link to that Oregon Coast Magazine!! A friend was cleaning out stuff and gave me some copies from the late 1990s so I picked themes recent one (1998 I think it was) and have been really studying that. I'm going to have to make sure I get all the links I've accumulated for the trip form this mac mini into my MBP soon!