Another day of exploration
Despite popular belief, sleeping in our camper is very restful, especially after a full and fun day of sightseeing. We give the fur children treats in the morning so we can drink our coffee in peace.
Midway on the Oregon Coast, a few miles north of Florence, is the Sea Lion Cave. Oregon owns most of the land on the coast except for the Sea Lion Cave property. The Saubert Family owns the cave and runs the business as a wildlife preserve, bird sanctuary, and tourist attraction. The Guinness Book of World Records identifies this as America’s largest sea cave.
We usually focus our explorations on national, historical, or state attractions. However, this one has such a long and consistent history that we decided to visit.
History
In 1880, a sea captain, William Cox, discovered the cave when he moored a small boat through the rocks. He raised goats and sheep on 114 acres of the rugged coastline. Captain Cox had to use the beaches and his sea vessels to transport to the cities along the coastline. In 1887, he purchased the land from the state and established a trail as an alternative to sea transport. He owned the land until 1926. Locals used the path to shoot the sea lions for sport.
R.E. Clanton, a conservationist, wanted to open the caves as an attraction. He purchased the property from the Cox estate in 1927. In 1930, Highway 101, a gravel road punctuated by ferry crossings, was completed.
It was challenging to get to the caves from the hillside above. So, Clanton and his partners built a quarter-mile staircase with 248 steps to the cave. Still, it took a lot of work to access the cave, and impossible for some potential visitors.
Roy Saubert bought the business in the 1930s; however, it got little attention until the 1950s. In 1958, Saubert and his partners hired an engineer to install an elevator. After a few years of troubleshooting problems, the elevator was completed and opened to the public in June 1961.
Today, descendants of Roy Saubert still run the business with the mission of conservation and sustaining the preservation of the cave for the many kinds of animals who call it home. The cave is home to Stellar sea lions, California sea lions, bats, pigeon guillemots, cormorants, and gulls. In the vicinity surrounding the cave, other animals make their home – bald eagles, mountain lions, black bears, elk, deer, puffins, marbled murrelet, sandpipers, osprey, killdeer, ducks, geese and many more.
Mike and I entered the gift shop and bought tickets for the cave. From there, we descended the stairs down to the darkened room about 50 feet above sea level that houses a large observation window to view the cave. Visitors watch the birds and seals bask on the rocks or frolic in the water without disturbing them.
I chuckled as I watched the antics of a bird and a sea lion. One of the birds was taunting the only sea lion frolicking in the water. Every time the sea lion surfaced; the bird would swoop in over the sea lion.
A refuge for birds.
The observation room also had informative storyboards and informative exhibits.
The lady at the ticket counter told us that if we went outside to the South Lookout after visiting the cave, we could see many sea lions sitting on rocks above the ocean. This was the time of year and their spot for breeding and birds to roost. And maybe we could spot a whale!
The elevator ascends and descends 208 feet, so we took advantage of the years of effort to build it and rode up. Plus, we didn’t want to walk up all those steps. 😊
Heceta Head is the most photographed lighthouse in the world. It was built in 1894 and is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. The beacon flashes every 10 seconds and can be seen 21 miles at sea.
Beautiful views, but no whales.
Thor’s Well, Spouting Hole, and Devil’s Punchbowl.
Many areas we travel to, Mike or I, have something special we look forward to seeing. I was looking forward to visiting Thor’s Well and Devil’s Punchbowl. We parked in the state parking lot off Highway 101. Off the lot is easy access to moss and fern trails leading to views of fierce waves pounding against lava rocks along the coast.
There are two trails in the Cape Perpetua area: the Oregon Coast Trail and the Captain Cook’s Trail. Both are easy to walk along. We concentrated on Captain Cook’s Trail, about a mile long, to see the tidepools. During low tide, visitors can see tidepool animals up close.
According to researchers, Thor’s Well probably began as a sea cave whose roof caved in. Thor’s Well seems to drain water from the ocean; however, what happens is the ocean sprays fill in from the top and the bottom.
Spouting Horn
We were fortunate to witness the spectacular sight of the Spouting Horn, which performs during high tide.
The Spouting Horn is an ocean geyser that erupts from a large crevice in the volcanic rock of Cook’s Chasm. It explodes when waves crash, and the water rushes through the hole, creating a water spray.
Devil’s Punchbowl
We continued up the trail to Devil’s Punchbowl.
Devil’s Punchbowl is a hollow rock formation open to the Pacific Ocean. Like Thor’s Well, in its origins, Devil’s Punchbowl was a sea cave in which the roof collapsed due to the pummeling waves. Now, the ocean water slams into the formed punch bowl. The trail leads to a fenced walk from which visitors look down into the bowl.
There are two tunnels in the bowl’s rock formation. Water plunges into the bowl, pounding the walls, and swirls around the basin.
At low tide, visitors can explore the cave. However, this, too, is a dangerous albeit unique area to sightsee. Unfortunately, our visiting time was on a cold day at high tide, so we only viewed from above. Otherwise, I would have relished checking it out!
Three Unexpected Finds
1. Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center
Sometimes, wandering down a trail (highway) and needing help figuring out where to go next, we stumble upon attention-grabbing surprises. On this day, we came upon the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center. We didn’t know what it entailed, so we stopped at the visitor center. What a find!
The center was filled with hands-on exhibits directed at children but informative and interesting for adults. As you enter, the first attraction is the Tidepool Touch Tank, filled with coastal marine animals. The volunteer standing near the pond encouraged visitors to experience the animals with light touches while providing information about the creatures.
Unfortunately, this picture does not show the tiny sea shrimp among the sea anemones. They were too small. The volunteer shined a flashlight over some of the shrimp that were pregnant. The size of these shrimp was not much bigger than a pinpoint – not a pinhead. We could distinguish the tiny creatures by seeing them move.
Other exhibits in the museum included a reality sandbox rainmaker. We passed our hands over the screen to move the sand. It showed how the contours of the sand are reflected in colors that correspond to the colors of the terrain and elevations shown on maps. Then, we held our hands over the landscape to create rainfall, exemplifying how rivers and lakes form.
Exhibit of a fossil was found on Santa Cruz Island off the California Coast.
I was glad to have a chance to see a whale’s baleen. Since I hadn’t seen a picture before, the image in my imagination was wrong.
A brilliant white sea anemone spotlighted in its own aquarium.
Mussel farming
2. The Fishermen’s Memorial Sanctuary at Yaquina Bay State Park
3. Oceanside Beach
To recap on how we find great places to visit besides watching YouTube and Google searches:
- Talk to National Park and National Forest Rangers.
- Be inquisitive and visit places that look interesting along the way.
- Talk to locals or other adventurers.
Number three is how we discovered Oceanside Beach.
Snoopy, Sarj, Mike, and I were hiking up a mountain road near our campsite on Hebo Mountain.
No one was on the road until a black car approached us. The dogs were off-leash, and the driver stopped until we rounded them up. She rolled down her window and struck up a conversation. A local from the nearby town of Terra del Mar, she was riding up Hebo Mountain to see if the radar station remnant stood at the top. She and her friends would hang out there in the 1970s, and she had yet to return in years. The radar station was established during World War II to watch for incoming enemy planes approaching the Pacific Coast.
She recommended that we visit Whalen Island and Oceanside Beach, which we did the next day.
These are near Tillamook, Oregon, with a creamery producing Tillamook butter, cheeses, and other products. Whalen Island is an estuary, but we stayed briefly. We can stay longer another time. We did get to enjoy Oceanside Beach.
Walking along the beach, I found these sapphire-colored disks about the size of a half-dollar coin lying in the sand. Thinking they were stones or rocks, I touched one.
I told my daughter what I found, and she prompted me to check them on Google.
These jellyfish are commonly found on Oregon beaches in the spring. Some people mistakenly think they are Portuguese man-of-war. Man-of-war lives in warm coastal waters, such as in Texas. Oregon’s coastal waters are cold. These beauties are called Velella velella, commonly known as “by-the-wind sailors” or “purple sailors.” Notice the white translucent flap on the purple sailor in the picture.
Gentle winds blow on these sails to keep the purple sailors off the shores. However, when the wind is strong, the purple sailors begin spinning and moving toward the wind, sending them ashore.
I also read that holding or touching them is not harmful, but the information gave caution that putting fingers in the mouth or touching eyes after handling will cause pain.
We went in.
Part of the cave/tunnel was lined in concrete.
Imaginative artists painted a mural depicting mythical sea creatures on the concrete walls.
