Hike Coordinator: Lane Harris
Narration by Lane Harris
I must admit, whenever the weather calls for extreme wet skies, I will typically forgo walking through rain and mud with my fellow club members on our scheduled hikes. It’s nothing personal, I’d just rather stay home and catch up on my favorite tv shows gathering dust on the dvr. But that’s an impossibility when it’s a hike that I’m scheduled to lead. And so it was when the day finally arrived to drive nearly 3 hours to take my turn walking through the aforementioned rain and mud.
To my amazement, a dozen’sh rain-loving hikers decided to join me at Cape Perpetua on what could probably rank as one of the wetter hikes the club has gone on. But then again, what would I know, since I typically avoid these wet hikes!
Starting at the visitor center, the plan was to hike up to the top of Cape Perpetua and enjoy the views, then return and explore the lower trails that lead to all the extraordinary water features this area has to offer. With names like Spouting Horn, Thor’s Well, and Devil’s Churn, this place is very enticing! But first, we must make the climb to the top!
So off we went, heading up the hillside, dodging the streams of water flowing down the center of the trail. We soon saw a sign that said “Trail Party,” which prompted several remarks from the group about food, drinks, and some cool music. We knew, however, that it really meant there were some dedicated people conducting some trail maintenance ahead. Sure enough, we encountered about a half dozen of them, tools in hand, soaked to the bone, and with smiles on their faces. I made a point to verbalize our group’s appreciation for their hard work in these adverse conditions. I hope that seeing all of us hikers using the trail on this rainy day made them feel that their efforts were not in vain. Us hikers are grateful for all the hard work that volunteers put in on each and every trail that we use.
Reaching the top, we all met up at the 1933-built stone shelter that overlooks Cape Perpetua. The views from up here are truly amazing! That is, when the weather is clear. On this day, just imagine sitting in the middle of a wet, grey raincloud, and you’ll see what we saw. Yeah, it was like that. Quite disappointing. Although the shelter provided some dryness, the wind was fairly intense, so we decided to head back down the hill to the visitor center to have lunch.
Making our way down the muddy hillside, we gave another hello and thank you to the trail crew as we passed them by. When we reached the visitor center, the staff were very gracious to us, allowing us to drop our wet packs near the doorway, and to come in and get warm for a while.
Ahh, and now time for lunch! Oh, wait, what’s that? We aren’t allowed to eat inside the building? But, it’s so warm and dry in here! Ok, so where can we go? Outside? Really?? Fine. So, like a pack of wet dogs being told to go outside before we ruin the fine furniture, we picked up our things and stepped outside. At least there was a long bench under the eaves that was dry, so that’s where this hike’s lunch took place. It was during this meal that I had concluded, through conversation and the general demeanor of the crowd, that no one was really interested in getting more miles in. Or, to be more accurate, interested in getting more wet than they already were. I was sympathetic to their decision and on the same page. Thor’s Well and Spouting Horn would have to wait until another day, hopefully a dry one! It’s amazing how much the rain can dampen the enthusiasm of hikers they exhibited just hours earlier.
After lunch, a few hikers decided to depart. The rest of us were invited by our kind hosts into the visitor center to watch a short movie about whale watching in the little theater they have there. As I started watching the short documentary, I could tell immediately, mostly due to the poor picture quality, that it was old! The topic of whale watching doesn’t thrill me, so to keep myself entertained, I studied all the little details that might give me clues as to what year it might have been produced. I observed hairstyles, clothing, etc. and was able to deduce that it was made sometime in the mid-80’s. I told Rheo my guess as the credits started rolling. And then there it was: 1988! I’ve always been good at 80’s trivia, so I was not surprised that I was just about spot-on.
To sum it all up, this was a scant 3-mile hike in the rain with nary a scenic view. I vow to get the club over here again during nicer weather, as it is quite spectacular. There may be more tourists then, but I doubt they will prevent us from hiking over 3 miles. For now, only the coastal rain can make that claim.
