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Odds and Ends From the Oregon Shore

The Octopus Tree

One of the most remarkable Sitka spruce trees in Oregon is the Octopus Tree. Rather than a single central trunk, its trunk-like spires are arranged radially and extend out, then skyward over 100 feet tall, giving the Octopus Tree a vase-like shape. On the cape the Octopus Tree has inhabited for over 200 years, the sounds of the surf are ever-present. And there are more than surf sounds.

When I last visited the Octopus Tree, in February 2018, above the crashing surf, I could hear the distant roar of Steller’s sea lions. I believe they had hauled out on Finley Rock, a nearby sea stack. That’s Shag behind, further offshore.

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View from Cape Meares out to Three Arch Rocks, Finley closest, Shag behind. A layer of clouds and some blue sky. The image is framed up with salad across the bottom and Sitka spruce on both sides.


A washed up whale bone

I missed a young humpback washed up in December 2021, but on February 1, 2022, a bit of it found me. It has the look of a bone from the upper jaw.

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Something special in an ordinary beachscape

A sea-green boulder stands out on a beach dimpled with drab yellowish sandstone boulders (though can they look dark green in their seaweed coats, like those in the mid-ground).

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View is to the south down a sandy beach with plenty of rounded boulders. In the foreground and interesting sea green boulder. the surf zone and Hug Point in the distance.


Darlingtonia

If you’ve got a botanical bucket list, Darlingtonia californica is probably on it. It’s endemic to wet places overlying serpentine soils. The Wayside in Florence is a great place to see Darlingtonia. I needn’t have worried the plants would be past their prime in September when I visited.

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Interpretive sign, explaining this unusual plant which traps and digests insect. It's also known as cobra-lily
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Fairly close look at 30 or so Darlingtonia stems. Salal and forest behind.

Odds and Ends


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