New Territory

We got started a little late yesterday, but we ended up taking about 32 pictures of our first trip north of Lincoln City. Our plan was to take the Three Capes Loop, which is a shoreline route of about 25 miles that veers away from Highway 101 to stay on the coast. It is a winding, twisting road that goes through several small towns along another spectacular section of shoreline. Our first stop was Winema Wayfinding Point, which was located just before the turnoff to the loop road. The 2 shots below were taken at this location:

We then turned onto the Loop Road and the first town was Pacific City. The most famous sight and landmark in Pacific City is of Haystack Rock, which is just off the shore:

We also stopped at the Thousand Trails Campground that we stayed in for a week back in 1997 during the 4th of July week. It looked a lot different than when we were here last. We do recall taking the long walks from the campground to the beach area though and we also remember that it was pretty cool the entire week and couldn't spend much time on the beach.

Our next stop was Cape Lookout, which is a nice place to spend a day hiking several different trails that come out to different locations along the shore, all with great views. We were not prepared to hike, so we continued down the road and came upon a turnout that had a spectacular view of the shoreline:

That is Netarts Bay and the City of Oceanside in the distance. The day became very interesting at this point. We came upon a guy (and his wife) that were preparing a hangglider to sail off the cliff we were standing on:

If you read the link above about Cape Lookout, it mentioned that this area was good for gliders and hanggliders.

We spent about an hour talking to the wife while this guy prepared his hangglider for take-off. She said he was a retired fireman from Bellevue Washington (since February) and he has been doing this for 30 years. She told us about one flight he took in Washington, beginning at Lake Chelan, and he flew all the way to Idaho - 144 miles. He catches the wind thermals and can stay in the air for hours and hours before landing. His plan was to land somewhere near their campground, just off the beach in the picture above, about halfway to Oceanside. A crowd of curious onlookers was growing as he prepared to launch, and his friend - a local that also enjoys the sport - came to help him launch. Below are the pictures of his launch:

READY:

SET:

GO!:

His wife also told us that this was the latest in hanggliding technology and is made of a different material and shapped more like wings instead of a kite. This supposedly provided a more controlled flight and was safer than the old kite technology. The last shots are of part of his flight that we took just before leaving this area. It looks like a hawk that just caught a fish:

We drove the rest of the Loop and came out in Tillamook. It was a fascinating drive through some really neat towns and past some spectacular shoreline. We will return to Tillamook again and do the cheese factory tour that we also did when we were at Pacific City in '97. We're sure that has changed since then.

This morning is not very clear as we have marine layer clouds that haven't burned off yet. We're not sure what the plan will be, but I know that there are some things we need to get done around here. Until tomorrow...