Calendar

Past Activity

Nye Beach to Yaquina Head

  • Start date: 01/29/2023

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 01/29/2023

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

Midweek update - Wed PM, Jan 25: The weather is looking better and better. It will be sunny but chilly, so bring layers. Bikinis not recommended at this time, but it should be a lovely walk on the beach!

We'll park at the Nye Beach turnaround for a 3.6 mile beach stroll north to Yaquina Head for lunch. Low tide is at 1:14 PM so we'll have plenty of time to explore the lighthouse, the views, and the tidepools at the Yaquina Head Marine Gardens.

So far, the weather looks good - some clouds, some sun peeking out, no rain. If a storm comes up I may cancel, so CHECK YOUR EMAIL!

Meet on the RIGHT-hand side of the Jerry's parking lot (that's your right as you drive into the parking lot from 99)

  • Event Leader: Carpenter Kathie

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type: Coastal

  • Departure Location: Jerry's Home Improvement 2600 Hwy 99

  • Rating: Moderate

  • Roundtrip total drive miles: 192

  • Season: 2023

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: Footwear that is good for both hiking on the sand as well as scrambling on the rocks, lunch, water, layers so you're ready for whatever the elements decide to throw at us.

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 8.8

  • Member Fees: —

  • Elevation Gain:

  • Non-Member Fees: 5

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

Seven hardy arctic explor- oops, I mean Obsidians braved the bitter cold for an 8.8 mile trek along an iceberg-strewn stretch of Nye Beach. (Only one small part of that sentence is an exaggeration - although we did have to cross a treacherous ice sheet on the access road to the beach.) Temperatures in the 30's kept us moving fast, and we got to the Yaquina Lighthouse well before low tide.

After a hasty, windswept lunch, we had over an hour of free time to visit the interpretive center, climb the bluffs for the splendid view, and/or explore the tidepools, which were the best they've been in years. We saw a gumshoe chiton, a yellow nudibranch, a couple of different species of crabs, a sea cucumber, shrimps and two kinds of urchins, in addition of course to many clusters of mussels, barnacles and anemones. And, best of all, the sea stars seem to have recovered from the wasting disease plague, and we saw them everywhere, in many different sizes and colors. There was also a nice pile of smooth gray stones that turned out to be seals.

Despite the cold, it was beautiful, clear and sunny, and the temperature on the way back reached the mid-40's. After taking our shoes off for the creek crossing, several of us even decided not to put them back on and we walked back barefoot, reveling in the beauty of the Oregon coast in the winter.

Members & Guests signed-up & waitlisted

  • Number of spots on trip: 12
  • Number of spots available: 3
No. Status Full name Phone Transportation Needed? Trip Fee # Can Take?
1 Signed-Up Carpenter, Kathie 541-505-2370 N —
2 Signed-Up Iredale, Gwyneth 541-505-0055 N —
3 Signed-Up Nagy, Evelyn 541-514-4110 N —
4 Signed-Up Otterstedt, Janet 541-954-1510 N —
5 Signed-Up Gould, Whitney 510-368-8941 N —
6 Signed-Up Rolfe, Jorry 541-206-9501 N —
7 Signed-Up Cooney, Marguerite 541-600-0217 N —
8 Signed-Up Lipton, Becky 541-736-7498 N —
9 Signed-Up Orsi, Barbara 541-515-9665 N —