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A Day at the Pool!

A tidalpool that is. Being good Vermont kids we grew up playing in the woods, brooks, and ponds of our childhood. Well we recaptured that feeling today when we hit the Heceta tidepool at low tide and proceded to spend a couple of hours dodging waves, getting our feet wet, and peering into the tidepools for urchins, anemonies, and starfish.

Giant green anemone
Aggregating anemone
Giant green anemones closed and drooling and Ochre sea stars (starfish)
Ewwwwwww….

Tidbit: On our way back we stopped at an overlook and saw our first spout from a Gray Whale as they pass on their northward migration to Alaska. We hope to spot more in the coming days. Maybe by fluke and we’ll even get a fluke pic!

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Heceta Lighthouse

Today, we hiked the grueling 1/2 mile trail to the Heceta Lighthouse:) One of many lighthouses along the Oregon Coast, it is a beacon of warning for ships, and originally land travelers, as well. The lighthouse is just north of Florence and was built in 1894. It stands 205 feet above the ocean and is only 56 feet tall, but its light can be seen 21 miles away. Originally, the lighthouse was faithfully manned by 3 light keepers and their families who tended gardens, hunted, fished and oh, kept the lighthouse running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to warn sailors of the treacherous basalt ledges and cliffs.

Tidbit: In October of 1910 a disastrous fire struck downtown Florence destroying 10 buildings. The fire could have been much worse because stored in a nearby warehouse was 50 cases of coal oil for the Heceta Lighthouse. Because of someone’s quick thinking the coal oil was loaded on a steamer and moved away from the wharf.