After much debate over a coffee at Starbucks in re which hike to tackle, we finally headed west towards Cannon Beach in a chilly drizzle with a plan to hike in Oswald West State Park – from the beach at Short Sand to the peak of Mt Neahkanhie. We believe we’ve done the hike from this same beach to Cape Falcon before, possibly the first trip we made to Oregon in 2010.
The light rain abated fairly soon into the hike, but the steady climb did not! What turned out to be only @ 4.5 miles to the summit, felt like 10. The old growth forest was indeed beautiful and the views from the overlooks and peak were worth the effort! We found a perch at the rather crowded peak and had our wraps and some cherries before heading back down. The hike down went remarkably fast. We stopped off at the beach to soak our fatigued feet in the chilly pacific, before heading back to the car for the drive home.
http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Neahkahnie_Mountain_from_North_Hike
Home, showered and hungry – we head out for the Muddy Rudder, but only make it as far as Reverend’s BBQ. Still not sure what the fascination is with this restaurant, but we do find it to be good for comfort food + the service is great and the atmosphere always lively! Maybe that IS the draw – certainly worked for us.
Ended the night with a lovely bottle of Colene Clemens 2014 Rose and some mindless television while we massaged our feet and legs hoping to be in good shape to enjoy our day off – Memorial Day.