Here Comes The Rain
Overnight, as we slept in our cabin at the Barview Jetty campground, the rains came. This, of course, meant we were going to get drenched over the next few days. Unfortunately, it also meant that we were going to have to improvise our route that day.
We could walk an extra 18 miles to get around the bay but we’d be exhausted before we even reached the cape. Instead, we’d have to call a taxi or take a bus. Unfortunately, there were no taxis that would come out to the campground to pick us up. We decided to take a bus to Tillamook and re-evaluate our options from there. So we packed up our stuff and walked to the bus stop.
That’s where our luck turned. While waiting for the bus, our resident hitchhiking expert, Jill, decided to take matters into her own hands. She hit paydirt when a Good Samaritan named Warren drove by in his blue van.
Warren had no idea where Cape Meares was but was traveling down the coast himself and would gladly take us there if we’d show him the way. He seemed genuine so we piled into his van and took off.
By the time we drove around the bay and back out to the beach north of Cape Meares, the rain was steady and the wind was picking up. Warren dropped us where we asked and wished us good luck. As we shuffled away, I think he was surprised we didn’t ask for a ride all the way to the end. Were we really going to hike over the cape in this storm?
Over Cape Meares
Weather be damned, we headed south, pushing through the driving rain and gusting winds. Thankfully, conditions improved a bit as we moved along but I then started to worry that I wouldn’t be able to find the trail we needed. I could see it on the map but there was no guarantee the tides would allow us to get to it.
There were a few obstacles in our path. As you can see below, we had to dust off our “slippery rock scaling” skills to get past them.
Here’s another view from the top.
Behind that, we had a river to cross.
And mud walls to scale. But eventually, we found the way up to the trail, even if it took a bit of scrambling.
On top of the bluff, our prospects seemed a lot brighter. With no other real way to get around the cape, the trail was our only real option.
We dove into the forest and climbed to the top of the trail.
Cape Meares to Netarts
Once at the top, we had a choice. We could take a quick detour and follow the Lighthouse trail around the cape to see the famous Octopus Tree. Or we could keep on our OCT track. With everyone drenched to the bone and tired, we decided to head down the road.
Looking back, we could see that the ocean wasn’t any calmer on this side of Cape Meares than it was on the oher.
The road led to Oceanside where we returned to the beach.
We walked down to the town of Netarts where we grabbed a late lunch at the Upstairs Bar and Grill. The Sunriver Viscous IPA looked pretty good at that point, so suddenly is was Beer:30 as well.
Netarts to Cape Lookout
From Netarts, we had to get around the bay and into Cape Lookout State Park where we were spending the night.
The rain visited us on and off while we shuffled down the road.
But eventually the sun came out and we arrived at Cape Lookout.
Day 5 mileage was 13.3 with 887 feet of climbing (over Cape Meares). Total distance to Cape Lookout — 85.8 miles.
Click HERE for the Strava link, if you’re interested.