Best of...For the best vista, escape to the cape.Byline: The Register-Guard BEST EASY-TO-ACCESS VIEWPOINT Cape Perpetua overlook Where: Two miles south of Yachats on Highway 101, about a 90-minute drive from Eugene. Cost: Day-use fee $5, five-day pass $10, annual pass $30; www.fs .fed.us/r6/passespermits/ index.shtml Let's be clear about this from the get-go. Team Best of ... is no shirker when it comes to hiking. We'll lace up lace up Verb to fasten (clothes or footwear) with laces Adjective lace-up (of footwear) to be fastened with laces Noun lace-up the boots and dig out the walking stick any day. Flat land? No worries. Uphill? We can hack it. Downhill? Bring it on. All we ask is a little payoff in the scenery or wildlife department, and we're good to go, rain (like we have a choice) or shine. However, there are times when we need the payoff without the sweat. We want a fabulous vista and we don't want to have to work for it. That happens most often when we want to share the view with someone who can't actually work for it - our 8 3/4 months pregnant colleague, say, or our 101-year-old grandmother, or even our go-getter sister who is also packin' around a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old. That's why we love Cape Perpetua. Just 30 minutes north of Florence on Highway 101, the cape abounds with hiking trails for every level. We've done the Cummins Creek Loop - an excellent six miles or so through old growth with fine ocean views. We've done the Captain Cook Trail, a scant mile down to tide pools tide pool n. See tidal pool. tide pool See tidal pool. for a close-up experience with slammin' waves and water spouts. But when we have a willing but not-so-able-bodied pal along, we take the road that winds just two miles from Highway 101 to the top of the cape, about 800 feet above the ocean. From the parking lot, there's access to a wide gravel path with railing that skirts the cape for a quarter of a mile, with occasional benches along the way to a stone shelter constructed during the 1930s. It's an excellent place to be on a hot summer day. And the gravel trail is passable pass·a·ble adj. 1. That can be passed, traversed, or crossed; navigable: a passable road. 2. Acceptable for general circulation: passable currency. 3. , though not easy, for wheelchair users. For those who don't want to risk the gravel path, there are benches and picnic tables A picnic table (or sometimes a picnic bench) is a modified table with benches expressly for the purpose of eating a meal outdoors (picnicking). In the past, picnic tables were typically made of wood, but modern tables can be made out of anything from recycled plastic to a few steps from the parking lot offering fine views south and west. Also important for those with little ones young children. See also: Little who can't wait: There's a restroom at the parking lot. Park staff say you can see 75 miles of coastline on clear days. The stunning view includes the picturesque Heceta Lighthouse just a little to the south. Take a snack and linger lin·ger v. lin·gered, lin·ger·ing, lin·gers v.intr. 1. To be slow in leaving, especially out of reluctance; tarry. See Synonyms at stay1. 2. . Although it isn't whale migrating season, there are some juvenile grays that hang around the Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a geographical term that is used to describe the coast of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. Stretching 362 miles from Astoria to the California border, the Oregon Coast is unique in that the whole coastline is public land. year-round. Take binoculars and you just might see the rolling back or spouting spout·ing n. Chiefly Pennsylvania & New Jersey See gutter. See Regional Note at gutter. spouting Noun NZ a. breath, or, if you're hugely lucky, the whole shebang Noun 1. whole shebang - everything available; usually preceded by `the'; "we saw the whole shebang"; "a hotdog with the works"; "we took on the whole caboodle"; "for $10 you get the full treatment" of a whale breaching and slamming back down into the water. Worth a drive any day. Best of ... is happy to be your tour guide to beautiful places. For other fine vistas, visit the archive at www.registerguard.com/bestof. |
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