There was just the slightest break in the clouds on the webcams at the beach this morning so I figured it was worth a shot and was rewarded with a day of nothing but full out sunshine. The Netarts Spit hike is basically a walk up the beach side of the spit that covers 5 miles from the parking lot at the Cape Lookout State Park day use site. Enter beach, head north. Even I can figure that one out. And way off in the distance was today's goal..
The sun sparkled in the bubbles of sea foam..
And combined with the wind in the shallows..
Not enjoying the day quite as much was this molting elephant seal..
I had seen a ranger coming back from checking on him about 15 minutes earlier so I knew he would be there. She said he had been there a couple days and just to give him space. But that it was ok to take a few pictures.
More on him on the homeward leg.. There were bright colored crab shells sctattered across the beach. A little white barnacle was attached to this one.
And literally thousands of broken sand dollar shells before...
After about 5 miles and 2 hours the sand comes to an end as the ocean meets the bay. Looking across to what I'd imagine is Netarts..
Netarts Bay and the Pacific Ocean..
Coming back the clouds hover over Cape Lookout...
I was coming back at low tide and at least a good 30 yards farther from shore than the outward leg. And the seal must have figured it was time to go also as in the couple hours since I had last seen him he had moved below the high tide line and was awaiting the incoming tide.
I had timed it just about right. Soon he'd be on his way..
In a couple hours these and the rest will be in higher res at
http://picasaweb.google.com/pdxgne/NetartsSpit
What a great day. After the first mile there wasn't another soul on the beach until about a mile out coming back. If you want a long beach hike to yourself, it certainly did not appear much traffic heads out there. There were no other prints than mine today.. Yay!
