Tillamook Forest Center and Bayocean Spit

The weather forecast had predicted that Sunday and Monday would be nice. Since Sami and I had Monday off for Veterans Day we made tentative plans with Aaron to go to the beach. (His parents have a house in Tillamook.)

Saturday morning was beautiful so Sami and I decided we better take advantage of it. We headed down Hwy 6 towards the coast and stopped at the impressive new Tillamook Forest Center.

This replica lookout tower is not very tall or on a hill so the view wasn't as nice as I'd hoped, but it's set up with a bed and stove and all the other things the real towers had back in the 50's and there are very informative signs explaining everything.

One of the most interesting things in the tower was this insulated stool made by putting glass insulators on the feet of a regular wooden stool. The people who lived in these towers had to stand on the stool during electrical storms so they wouldn't be electrocuted. (Fortunately there aren't too many of those in this part of the country.)

View of the Forest Center from the Tower.

This doesn't look like much from the outside, but the center is actually very pretty on the inside with vaulted ceilings and large windows and beautiful views of the forest.

The pool in front of the center is reclaimed rainwater to be used in case of fire.

The Wilson River runs right past the Forest Center. Salmon are common in this river. There was a free lecture shortly after we arrived, so we learned a little about the life cycle of Salmon and how to identify the 5 types that we have in Oregon.

After the lecture we went to the large suspension bridge behind the building to see if we could see some Salmon in the river. Our guide had a couple of dead ones that had washed ashore after mating that morning, but we didn't manage to see any live ones.

While on the bridge, we saw the very cute American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) diving in the water to eat bugs. He's very small and fast though, so I didn't get a photo.

This picture is a boat ramp on the Wilson River. We found a geocache there and couldn't believe how steep the ramp was. I think you'd need a winch on your truck to get a boat up (or down) this thing and it still would be a bit scary. Another view here.

Orange Peel Fungus - Aleuria aurantia

Just outside the Forest center we saw this interesting orange fungus, and another wrinkly brain-like brown one.

After visiting the Forest center, we did a couple more geocaches in the area, where we saw more mushrooms including some that looked like little umbrellas, and others shaped like seashells.

Shore Pine - Pinus contorta var. contorta

In its regular upright form, pinus contorta is called Lodgepole pine.

When we arrived in the Town of Tillamook, home of the famous cheese factory, we decided to drive south around the bay and ended up on the Oceanbay Spit.

We'd never been there before, but the GPSr showed 3 caches on the spit, and we decided to hike down the path towards them.

Young Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

The first part of the hike was flat and level, with views of the bay on one side and the ocean on the other. (Map)

We learned from the description on one of the geocaches that during the early 1900s there was a resort town on the spit called Bayocean (story here), but it fell into the ocean and was never rebuilt.

As the path headed north, we hiked though a heavily forested area where Sami found mushrooms that looked like a kind he used to pick in Finland.

We happened to have plastic bag with us, and he picked a gallon to take home. After we got home, he started to worry that they were not the kind he knew and so they're just sitting in our fridge while he tries to identify them.

When we came out of the forest we saw the eagle pictured above. At the time, we thought he was a different sort of eagle since the feathers on his head are not very white. After trying to ID the bird, I learned that the young Bald Eagles are brownish all over.

Elk - Cervus canadensis

On the beach we somehow took the wrong trail and couldn't get to the cache. Thick forests of shorepine and salal kept prevented us from getting any closer than 500ft.

We turned a corner and were surprised by a herd of elk. Since it was getting dark and the sun was setting, we decided we better head back to the car. Even though we didn't get close to any of the caches, it was a nice hike and we saw some cool animals.