One of my very favorite places along the Oregon coast is Ecola State Park. It covers a relatively small area, but it features both a beach and a deep dark forest with a rich variety of vegetation.
The thimbleberries above were ripening when I visited Ecola last summer. I generally encounter them above 9,000 feet in New Mexico and usually see only the leaves, seldom the berries. As it happens, I absolutely love the leaves, which are some of the most colorful in New Mexico come fall. The yellow leaves below are New Mexican thimbleberry leaves; I’m pretty sure the red ones are fireweed.
Another reason I love Ecola State Park is that I can see the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, aka “Terrible Tillie,” from several points there. I wrote a post about the lighthouse almost exactly two years ago, partially explaining my morbid fascination with it. It’s recently been painted and looked positively placid last summer.1
Terrible Tillie is about a mile offshore. Let’s just say that I simply cannot imagine being stuck stationed there.2
Ecola State Park is also the first place I ever saw foxglove up close. Even though it’s poisonous, it’s one of my very favorite wildflowers.3
Salal berries mostly grow only on the West Coast; I’d never seen them before my first trip to the Pacific Northwest. I especially love the way the leaves look on the bush below.
There are many more photos of the Pacific Northwest that I want to share, but I couldn’t figure out how to get them all into a single post, at least not in a coherent way. Please stay tuned.
You can learn more about the cleanup expedition here. (Best quote from the piece in my humble opinion: “This cannot be a bed and breakfast.”)
Terrible Tillie was decommissioned in 1957. Here’s a 2017 video featuring an interview with one of the last folks who worked there. (I linked to it two years ago also.)
Seeing the Pacific Ocean that calm is so surprising.Tthe terrible lighthouse had 'nothing to do' that day, needing to warn no sailors!
The flora is magnificent - foxgloves being one of my favorites also! Thanks Lisa!
Fantastic & so colorful! Thanks Lisa for continuing to share your keen eyed photos!