Hug Point History and some Elk at Ecola: 4-5-14

[Sean Thomas]

About 12 or 13 Elk were enjoying some breakfast on the south end of Ecola State Park yesterday morning. Joie and I were lucky enough to witness some of the action before we took the pooches down to the beach. Here are a bunch of pics:


























Entering the park:











First up after the Elk was the beach and a chance for Nemo to do his favorite activity despite the rain:











And Jack too of course








Beach Pea in bloom?





Our next stop was at Hug Point to take a more in-depth look at the old stage coach road that traversed around the base of the point. Before the road was put in around the early 1900's wagons and stagecoaches were forced to travel on the beach at low tide. Only a natural break in the cliffs allowed for crossing above the sand before the road was put in and that probably meant a pretty good scramble by today's standards. In this photo from the book Arch Cape Chronicles two women are seen on the southern end of the point getting ready to scale up to the break in the cliffs with their dog. The photo was said to be taken in 1907 and if true means the road must have been put in just after that, as it is clear the road grade hadn't been created yet when looking at this picture:





In the picture above, the woman on the right is making good use of some hand holds that were carved into the sandstone cliffs well over a hundred years ago. In the picture below(also from the chronicles) a woman is seen next to the very same hand holds that were present on the south side of the cliffs in the 1907 picture. This pic was taken i n1992:





Eager to find the handholds and confident we had seen them on earlier visits without knowing what they were, we set off for the old road just before low tide. Most of the natural break in the cliff was destroyed when the road was put in but the holds on the southern side just off the edge of the road grade are still in great condition. Amazing the little bits of history that exist out there:





A closer look:





Its interesting to think that just a little more than a century ago one had to practically climb around a rock face to reach the beach on the south side and eventually Arch Cape. So much has changed in that relatively short period of time yet the road, and the old holds that were carved into the rock still stand strong as the wind and waves slowly work to dismantle any previous signs of their existence. Back to the falls and it was clear the dogs had more important matters on their mind:








We had to be home early so we called it a day after Hug Point and drove back to the city. Jack was happy to catch a little pre-nap before his extra big nap back at home

[pdxgene]

Nice how the elk head off the road back into the forest just before they hit the payment spot for day use fee..

[BrianEdwards]

Nice little Bull elk in the mix. If those people ever think about planting roses or a garden, it won't last the night with them elk foraging in their back yard.

[chiefWright]

Wow! There's something kinda eerie discovering artifacts like that. Thanks for finding and sharing.

[Roy]

Nice TR Sean I to am amazed at the changes in a hundred years at my age I remember half of them

Nice catch on the hand/foot holds I will look for them on my next stop there.

I was going to post a tr from Nehalem Bay and Neahkahnie Mt so I will tag on a little south of you.

We spent a few days at Nehalem bay state park and came home on 4/3.





Went up Neahkahnie from the south.







My wife the pyro burnt near a pick up load of drift wood one night. I went in to watch the news at eleven and she woke me at near two. She loves camp fires and drift wood is the best . At least at the boat launch there was tons more and we reloaded to supply her addiction.



One thing I enjoyed most was walking up to the dune and seeing all the stars with almost no moon. I always forget what the metro area lights and haze do to them.

I love the North coast so many different places to explore.

[vibramhead]

Those carved handholds are very cool. Thanks for the history lesson. They bring to mind the moki steps you can find in southern Utah, carved by the ancient peoples:

[Sean Thomas]

The elk seem to mow through just about anything people don't want them to eat And thanks guys! It was a lot of fun to see them in person after reading about/seeing them in a book and going "I've seen those" lol.