i saw my first whales in a cove. it was the perfect beach. there were 6 other people there. mostly i think this is b/c it's a 2-mile hike, which really isn't so far, but it's steep. either way, it keeps the place isolated & pristine. the whales were likely migrating gray whales, on their way up to Alaskan waters. my guess is that we saw a mother & calf, but since i was on the beach, i don't know the size of either of them. i watched for quite a while. it's kind of funny to think that the spouting every so often and the glimpse of fins & backs can be so appealing.
i was extremely excited to finally arrive at the beach after driving overnight for countless hours. it was windy but the sun was coming out. this is seaside, or. it was just a stop along the way.
haystack rock at cannon beach, or. this is probably the sea stack you've seen as desktop pictures & in photog books. but this is my photo b/c i was there! the tide was coming in but i'm not sure i could've gone out to the rock at low tide. something about minus tides... i don't know what those are.
i also saw harbor seals & sea lions, and starfish & anemones in tide pools. it was an exciting trip w/plenty of new sights. this portion of the coast seems to be littered with miles of beaches separated by looming cliffs. sea stacks were at nearly every beach to which i went. sunset was always great, and the atmosphere was enhanced with bonfires being lit and vehicles driving on the sand. definitely a different experience from the east coast beaches.
i did go in the ocean one day, a few times, but never for more than 30 seconds. it hurts b/c it's so frigid!
there was so much hiking to be done. we spent so much time on the beaches, climbing rocks, looking through tide pools, hiking on trails. the landscape changes so quickly. there were also sand dunes which i would've liked to ride 4-wheelers on. maybe another time...
