Trip Report:
Group Leader: Mark Hougardy | Organization: Eugene-based Hiking Club | Date: May 2021 | Duration: 2 days | Distance: 6 miles | Participants: 4 | Type: Hiking & Camping | Trip leader and participants were fully vaccinated against Covid-19
After a long delay from Covid-19, I was glad to again be leading trips. Our vaccinated small group made our way to Oregon’s Coast to begin a patchwork of hikes along Oregon’s Coast Trail (OCT). Although windy, our hike along Baker Beach was beautiful. The wind did create numerous little sand sculptures that provided endless fascination. Later, at the group campsite next to the creek at Sutton Campground we set up our tents and rested a bit. In the late afternoon, we enjoyed a walk through the woods to the Holman Day Use Area for a view of the dunes. In the evening, the wind quieted and we enjoyed a campfire and saw the stars. The next morning, we car shuttled between the North Jetty (mouth of the Siuslaw River near Florence) and Heceta Beach County Park. Our beach walk was north to Sutton Creek to link up where we left off the day before then south to the North Jetty. The total beach distance was about 7 miles, but we hiked about 11 miles in total exploring other trails. Returning to the Heceta Beach County Park parking area we saw the send-off for Shawn Cheshire, a blind athlete who is biking 3,800 miles to the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia.
