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By Karin Thomas & Zoe Sweet Our first hike of the year was at Sunset Bay walking along the Oregon Coast Trail to Shore Acres. About 15 hikers arrived for the scenic hike on trails along the mostly level terrain and coastal bluffs. Everyone had a few comments about the weather but we decided to go on as the skies were clear with only a few dark clouds far in the distance. Earlier in the morning a fierce storm had hit at about 4:00 a.m. with winds that shook the homes rousing each of us from our slumber! Lucky for us we had purchased rain gear for this hike just in case it rained. We talked with the other hikers about tree limbs falling and hazardous driving conditions. Everyone had to dodge tree parts and pieces while traveling to Sunset Bay. John Bragg, with the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, was our hike leader. He let us know that we would be traveling approximately 4 miles round trip to Shore Acres and back. We took to the hill trail, climbing mostly up through the forest to the bluffs that overlook the ocean at the cliffs edge. At the top, the wind was stiff and strong and the sights that greeted us were spectacular! It was high tide and the ocean was wild. As one hiker put it, "the ocean was cranky." As we walked along, the spray of the waves carried on the wind to gently sprinkle on our faces. We watched sea foam swirl up above us in a rotating motion. The foam looked like large chunks of snow going in the wrong direction. At one point, several of us stopped to observe a gigantic wave. It towered over the ocean water level crashing into the cliffs sending a spray of water 30 or more feet into the air above the cliff top! The power of the ocean is so very humbling. We were lucky because the rain held out for most of the hike and we returned to Sunset Bay with happy thoughts and muddy feet. Each month the South Coast Striders invite you to participate in our hiking adventure with low impact outdoor exercise to support a healthy lifestyle and to meet new and interesting people from our area.
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