The Vast, Immortal Sea. July 4. Day 13. Part 2

Continued from: The Vast, Immortal Sea. July 4. Day 13. Part 1. 

The walk beyond Rocky Creek was on Otter Crest Loop, a coast road much less travelled than 101, some of it one-way and with a generous bike (and hike) lane. 

I never expected a roadwalk to be so extravagantly beautiful and restful. Photo 8 attempts to collage a few of the beauties that appeared around every corner. It was nice in a way to walk on asphalt. No roots, rocks, mud, but still quiet and surrounded by beauty. I did miss being close to and breathing the ocean air. I don't think the collage gives a sense of how often I was gazing down on beautiful rocky shorelines through wildflowers. It was so relaxing and peaceful to walk slowly along and just be there. 

 

Toward the end of that section of the walk I noticed a lot of trees with their trunks lushly covered with ivy. I thought of how schools like Harvard and Yale used to be referred to as the "ivy league" because (I believe) of all the ivy grown around the old brick dormitory buildings. But when I saw the lushness of the ivy wrapped around these trunks (photo 9) all I could think was that Harvard and Yale are just not in the same league. 

 

I had glimpsed a long sandy beach in the distanc ahead and was excited at the prospect of hiking a beach again. At Devils Punch Bowl I stopped to eat lunch sitting on the grass. I have always loved sitting on grass, feeling the earth under me. After lunch I curled up and slept in the sun for more than an hour. I woke up - as I often do from afternoon naps - feeling dopey and off balance. Going down the long stairway to the beach felt precarious and when I got there - though I was surprised by how uncrowded it was - I felt no beach magic. Pristine boring sand without pebbles or shells. I wasn't even aware of the sea air that I had been missing all day. I was mostly aware of wanting to keep my shoes on, appreciating their support and wanting to avoid the ordeal of taking them off and attaching shoes and socks and gaiters to my pack, and especially the ordeal of trying to dust all the sand off and put them back on. So I concentrated on all the little streams into the ocean and how to get through them with my shoes on. At the very end I walked across some logs (photo 10), as I made my way to the campground. 

 

Maybe I did enjoy - just a little - watching a family play together on the beach. I liked that they were building their castle where the waves were already washing it away. Powerful metaphor. And when I looked back at them, everything was sparkling and it was one of those everything is illuminated moments. Only with people in it. 

 

Enough for tonight. Tomorrow we (I mean we in the sense that you will be walking with me) walk to Newport to meet Chris. 

Happy Independence Day. May you walk in beauty - whether you are in the mood to appreciate it, or not. See you on the beach. 

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 6, 2017 at 10:40 PM

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    1. UnknownJuly 6, 2017 at 10:46 PM

      This is Emily Weiner (not sure if I will show up again as "Unknown," or with my name).

      Thank you for your beautiful blog posts, which have brought me back to a part of the world I love: I lived in Cannon Beach the summer of 1984, and played on the beaches and in the woods as far south as Wheeler. Every photo and your insightful words make me want to return. The places I feel as sexiest are the beaches where fresh water from the hills meets salt water from the ocean. And I love Hug Point, where I would think about the stagecoaches that drove around it at low tide.

      And I invite you and your readers to raise a hearty cheer to former governor Oswald West (as in Oswald West State Park, which you walked through between Arch Cape and Neahkahnie Beach) and the people of Oregon for protecting the entire coast from private ownership.

      Delete
    2. River MalcolmJuly 8, 2017 at 9:53 AM

      Three cheers for Gov. Oswald West! I would love to learn more about him - clearly his vision helped to shape Oregon with respect to many of the things I most appreciate here. The accessible coasts are number one.

      Delete

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