Cascade Head Hike

During our recent trips to the Oregon Coast I would look up to the bare grassy slopes of Cascade Head and recall the many hikes in years past, and dream of being brave enough to attempt hiking there again.  Yesterday morning, while coming up with a destination that was warmer than our immediate area in the Willamette Valley, I zeroed in on Cascade Head.  We drove to the familiar parking lot at Knight Park, and this is what we found. "TRAIL CLOSED". Jeanette noticed  a Lincoln County Parks vehicle, and much to her credit, went to ask the driver, who said the trail was actually open, they had just not taken down the sign yet.   

Big sigh of relief! We put on our hiking boots, added our birding gear, and grabbed our hiking sticks. Our goal was to hike as far as we were comfortable, and then we would agree to turn around. We were nervous because we have not gone on a serious hike in many years, in fact I looked it up, and we hadn't hiked this trail in 17 years!
 

This is the view across the Salmon River estuary to the Pacific Ocean from the road at the Sitka Center area.  We discovered further down Savage Road that the actual Nature Conservancy Trail has a trail closed sign. Although our intent was to concentrate on hiking not birding, we soon found ourselves drawn to identifying calls and bird sightings. Back to the van we enjoyed the lunch in the warmth and comfort of the van.