Forest Walk

The parking area was surprisingly crowded with cars scattered along the side of the pine needle-covered road. As I closed my door and started towards the trailhead, the wind rushed through the trees overhead, grinding branches together in a mournful symphony. I was on a tight timeline, with a scenic train ride ticket booked for later in the day, but figured by keeping a brisk pace I could knock out the four-mile round trip hike ahead of me out to the tip of land I was on and the apparently scenic view of the windswept Pacific Ocean I would find there.

Thirty minutes later my timeline was compressing rapidly and I was nowhere near the advertised scenic view of the ocean. Thick vegetation pushed in from all sides, and the path wandered back and forth and up and down through it. What had appeared like a mostly straight line of a trail on a map was turning out to be anything but. Weighing my options, I stopped for a drink of water in a slight clearing, the pine trees towering above me still gently dancing in the wind. Realizing there was no way to complete the hike and still make my scheduled departure on the rails, I pulled out my camera for a quick capture and then reversed course back to the car.

Oregon Coast 2020

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