May Hiking and Beach Goals

In May, we got out quite a bit. Lots of short hikes were taken on the logging roads nearby.

"Two roads diverge in a wood"

These trails are beautiful, but it can be easy to end up going down the wrong trail, and then hiking down, down, down, down, and reaching a dead end, only to have to turn around and go back up. Every time I come to a fork in the road out here, I think of that Frost poem, but my own version. "Two roads diverge in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and I went down and down and down a really steep road until I reached a dead end and then had to haul myself all the way back up it again." That is the country version of that poem. Seriously. (Don't worry, I know my way around out here really well, I just occasionally deliberately take the wrong turn just to see where it goes- and it is always a huge downhill hike that ends in a dead end. Every time.)

Exploring

I also met up with Pallo's mom and we went for a hike at Beazell forest.

Posing

Ptera and Pallo get along well, and both of them love hiking.

Trail map

Beazell has two main loops of trails, and some smaller additional loops. I always end up climbing the ridge trail, and then regretting the decision the entire time as it kicks my ass both going up and coming back down.

Bird info sign

We even took the easy loop first, then decided it wasn't a long enough hike, and went and did the ridge trail anyway. Pallo's mom is never going to go hiking with me again, I think, after I made her hike all the way up there and back down.

We did make it to the beach a few times as well, though I didn't always bring my camera or get a picture with the sign. The neatest thing on the beach was seeing the bald eagle fighting with a seagull, which I posted about a few weeks ago.

Lost Creek State Park

One of the trips, there was a storm coming in fast from the ocean. We went for our walk on the beach, then took a break for dinner, then went back out afterwards to see what the storm may have washed onto the beach.

You can see the storm coming in on the right side of this photo.

Spring weather on the Oregon coast is strange.

Puffy white clouds and a clear blue sky after the storm passed through

When I go to the beach with my mom, her goal is always to look for cool things on the beach, be it glass floats, fossils, or any other nifty things. We always pick up floats and rope and such to bring home if we find it.

Finding floats

The key to finding good stuff is often timing and knowing the right weather patterns. I just kind of go along for the ride most of the time. I haven't found anything really awesome, though I have found some regular floats a few times, and I did find a tin of ovaltine that was made in Taiwan, which was kind of cool.

Brian Booth State Park

How much did you get out this month? Go anywhere cool? Find anything awesome?