A Day at Cannon Beach

Well today started out with what can only be described as Snow on the Coast. You could actually see the rain which was kind of slushy. The wind was blowing and blew in the sunshine and then the rain and then the slush and then the rain and then the sun. It was like this all day.

It was also the coldest temperatures that we had the whole vacation but since we stayed in most of yesterday we decided to go check out Garabaldi and Cannon Beach. Garabaldi is where we saw the crab races, not much going on in town today but Len did get some pictures of some of rolling stock for the Oregon Coast Scenic Railway. In the summer the railway travels between Tillamook and Wheeler.

We also got to see the coast guard helicopter and rescue boat practicing out in the bay.

We explored Cannon beach and Len got to see Haystack Rock up close and personal.

We then headed to Ecola State Park, which has a great view of Tillamook Head and the Tillamook Lighthouse (Terrible Tilly).  This lighthouse was the only lighthouse on the coast that was not accessible by land, you had to get to it by boat which did not prove to be very easy. It was also plagued by storms with high waves. It did not stay in commission that long. It was used as a Columbarium for people’s ashes for awhile but now it has gone back to a protected birding area for sea birds.

Unfortunately the view point trail was closed off as it looked like there were slides all over the area. We did see a small herd of elk as well. Some were out in plain sight, while the others were hiding in the woods.