Neahkahnie Mountain

Place of the gods; buried treasure; Spanish galleons; beeswax. They are all attributed to Neahkahnie Mountain's lore. After decades of driving over this headland I purposed to explore it on foot this year. Positioned at the north end of the miles-long Manzanita beach area this hike takes you to the spectacular but singular view to the south. Driving south on Highway 101 between mileposts 41 and 42 is a small, brown hiker sign on the east side of the road. Take that rutted course past two private driveways until a gate blocks any further travel. The trailhead sign is on the north side of the parking area.

Ancient Douglas fir

Before even starting the trek I noticed an ancient Douglas fir tree in a nearby ravine. Its girth suggested an age into 200 years or more - possibly a little seedling when Lewis and Clark arrived in 1805. Coastal hikes often take hikers past these remnants of earlier times. Heading up the trail with the dog scouting the way we made steady elevation gain over a series of switchbacks. The soft trail was edged all the way with bright spring green foliage of various woodland plants such as oxalis, wild ginger with its delicate white plumage, yellow snowpatch buttercups, columbine, orange-red Indian paintbrush, starburst golden desert parsley, delicate nodding pink fawn lilies, tiny pink clarkia and blue iris. Salal was blooming with clusters of pearl-like pink bells that will turn to deep purple berries later in the summer.

Turn after turn took us higher on the back side of the mountain. An open forest filled with fir and hemlock trees of varying ages housed the unseen birds that twittered and chirped above us. Rustling undergrowth gave away the whereabouts of ground creatures of the slithering and hopping kind. Snail and slugs made their slow and steady way at the side of the trail. Warm air carried the scents of new growth and blooms to our nostrils. The absence of other hikers gave us time to pause and gaze through the trees and imagine ourselves as early explorers seeing this great scene for the first time. Questions about how they found the trails and where did they camp bounced through my mind.

view from the summit

Reaching 1600 feet above the sea we came to a craggy basalt pile that made us carefully climb to its summit to capture the best view. Although the trail below opens to the southern beaches, the nearby trees impair the entire scene. Atop the rocks we had an unencumbered panorama of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the beaches around Manzanita and Nehalem Bay to the south. Fog rolled by from time to time, obscuring the otherwise bright sunny seascape, but with snacks to munch we waited out the delays. Another hiker-blogger arrived on the scene and we traded hiking and writing tidbits before heading back down the trail.

This three mile in and out hike could be a longer one-way shuttle type if you want to meander through the coastal forest for another four miles without a view until you reach Short Sands beach. The Oregon Coast trail isn't always right at the beach edge. If  you've always wanted to be on this mountain instead of just driving over it, this hike is one you should put on your list for summer fun. On your way home add a flat walk along the sands of Arcadia State Park to Hug Point or continue the OCT north to Cape Falcon from Short Sands. There's always more to see on the Oregon coast!

the road to trailhead

heading up the trail

iris

view on the way up

almost there

Nehalem Bay

trail challenges

wild ginger carpet

open forest

trail splitters

Sophie checking back with hikers

final off-trail scramble to top

fawn lilies

at 1600 ' horizon is 49 miles

desert parsley

salal blooms

Indian paintbrush

new growth; so soft!

viewpoint bench

view to Haystack Rock

Tiarella or foam flower

buttercup

Arcadia Beach

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/weird-blue-jellyfish-are-washing-up-on-oregons-beaches

blue jellyfish cover beaches

Lewis and Clark National Park in Warrenton

camas bloom

arty bridge rail

alder woods

Saddle Mountain from Warrenton trail

more ancient firs

attentive Sophie

boardwalk through skunk cabbage

always something strange at the beach

pausing on the boardwalk

paws on the boardwalk