The Oregon Dunes

Greetings my friends. I hope your holidays were phenomenal and I hope this new year will be wonderously joyful. This week I would like to tell you of our trip to The Oregon Dunes.

The Oregon Dunes stretch for 40 miles along the Oregon coast. It is the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America. They have been forming for over 100,000 years! The youngest dunes are 7,000 years old! So much of this state is OLD.

The sand is formed as the rivers flow down from the Costal Mountain Range. The water brakes down rocks, grinds the pieces into sand, and washes the sand down to the coast. Tides, waves, and wind form the granules into these massive dunes. They can get quite tall with some being 500 feet above sea level. (That is about as tall as a 50 story building!) 

Another cool thing about the dunes is that it is a Western Snowy Plover nesting area. These birds nest upon the dry sand dunes. Some years ago, European grasses were planted in the dunes as an effort to slow erosion. However this grass is not native to the area. The plovers like to nest in dry open sand so they can see in all directions. As a result of the introduction of the grasses, the numbers of plovers plummeted. They are now listed as endangered. Once this was recognized, people went in and removed much of the non-native grasses. Certain areas are off limits during the nesting season from March through Sept. (No worries though. There is still plenty of beach areas open to the public to play in.) Because of these efforts, the numbers of Western Snowy Plovers has gone up! Yea conservation! Keep those bird numbers up for us cats!!!

The area is quite diverse, with desert like landscapes, forests, grasses, rivers, barrage lakes (lakes formed when rivers are dammed by the dunes), and, of course, the ocean. This creates quite a few different types of ecosystems. Lots of things to see and experience. It has all the normal outdoorsy stuff like bird watching, hiking, bike trails, fishing, canoeing, camping, along with areas where you can go 4-wheeling! OK, you humans might like that, but you will NEVER catch me on one of those things. 

NOT.

EVER.

The first place we visited was the Oregon Dunes Day Use Area. This area has a handicapped accessible half mile boardwalk leading up to a lookout point.

 

The boardwalk cuts through a forest of pines, then the lookout opens up to a view of the dunes and the ocean. Truly beautiful. 

There is a trail at the lookout point that starts going into the forest, but soon turns to take you out over the dunes.

We took the trail through the trees where we discovered a variety of mushrooms.

I thought it would be very Greatful Deadish to try some, but my human said no. What a party pooper! 

Once we reached the dunes, it got more difficult for my human. Her walker won't roll through the sand. She went about 10 yards, but it was not only deep, dry sand, but also uphill (remember the dunes can get quite tall). I wanted to continue. I discovered cats like sand. Who knew? I enjoyed digging in it. But she really couldn't go much further. Going back downhill was a little precarious for her in the shifting sand, but we did fine. We can both say we've walked in the sands of the Oregon Dunes! Cool!

On the way back down the boardwalk. I decided to walk the rails.

(Going up I stayed at ground level, so I decided mix it up a little.) This brought me closer to the trees, and what do trees have? BIRDS! Oh, I loved the birds! One bird must have been an adrenaline junkie, or lost a drunken bet, not sure which. It flew done onto the railing directly across from me, just so I would know it was there. Then, when it knew it had my attention, it flew directly in front of me, missing me by only about 6 inches. I was just so surprised at how close it flew to me, that I was caught off guard. Otherwise I would have had it. So close. So. Close.

I sat and watched one bird eat insects from a tree for about 15 minutes.

I was hoping it would wander close to me, but alas, it did not. This bird was not as daring as the other one.

I was ready this time too, but it stayed just out of reach. Stupid bird.

Next we traveled over to the Siltcoos River Area. This area has a trail next to a marsh and lagoon with a board walk over part of it.

It couldn't have looked more different from the dunes we say earlier. I'm sure it would have a LOT of mosquitoes in the summer, but when we were there, it was mosquito free. The water was lovely and the vegetation was beautiful. And to think, not a quarter of a mile away was the beach and that massive ocean. Mind blowing. 

My human and I really enjoyed The Oregon Dunes. If you are ever on the Oregon coast, it is a MUST see. Really. A must see.

With that, I will take my leave and again wish you a very happy new year. And may this year lend you many opportunities to wander!!! Keep Wandering!!!