The daily Astorian., August 27, 2015, Image 22

FAVORITE WALKS
Coast Weekend contributors put their feet to pavement (or sand), sharing
their prized picks for the best places around to stroll, wander and walk
Port of Ilwaco, Washington
Submitted photo courtesy Walt Covert
Manzanita’s beach stretches 7 glorious miles from the base of Neahkahnie Moun-
tain at the north end to the Nehalem jetty at the south.
Manzanita Beach
By DAN HAAG
A lot has been written over the years about the bene¿ ts
of walking Oregon’s beaches. It’s a subject that begs to be
described in the most poetic terms possible. How can one set
foot on the soft sands of Oregon’s beaches and not feel some
cosmic connection to a force greater than themselves?
No greater case can be made for the existence of a higher
power than walking the beach at Manzanita.
Manzanita’s beach stretches 7 glorious miles from the base
of Neahkahnie Mountain at the north end to the Nehalem jetty
at the south.
In between lies a À at expanse of beach bordered by dunes
that’s willing to mold to the moods of its visitors; serene and
peaceful, blustery and breezy, somber and contemplative,
joyous and exuberant. A walk from end to end can take a few
hours or a whole day, depending on your state of mind or level
of enthusiasm.
Summer is, of course, the most popular time to walk here,
but it also offers sharp contrasts. Early morning is cool and
monastery-quiet, and the sand sparkles like a wet constel-
lation. You can often walk the length of the beach and never
see another soul. Dogs often outnumber people up and down
the stretch before 9 a.m. If you let your mind wander a little
far a¿ eld, you can picture the wreck of the *lenesslin being
battered against the unforgiving base of the mountain in 1913.
A summer afternoon is a different matter, as crowds de-
scend on the beach to splash in the waves, À y kites or build
sandcastles.
Winter is for the hearty adventurer. Walking the beach bent
forward while agitated surf crashes and foam licks at your feet
is a cleansing experience.
There is no right or wrong time of day or year to walk
Manzanita beach. Just let down your hair and put one foot
in front of the other. The beach is not there to judge you.
By LYNETTE RAE McADAMS
It’s a pleasant stroll most any time of year, but here at
the height of summer, this working port is at its best.
Start at Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish Co. and head east, follow-
ing the curve of the marina out and around to the break-
water that shoulders the boat launch. It’s roughly a mile,
there and back, and under clear skies there’s a bonus view
of Saddle Mountain and the city of Astoria. Shops and
galleries line Waterfront Way, mixing with the maritime
businesses that remain the heart of this sleepy ¿ shing vil-
lage — but the main allure is always the boats.
A À oating catalogue of dreams and desires, held fast
in tidy rows: +ere, a stout and scaly ¿ shing boat, forever
working for its living; there, a sleek pleasure craft, glisten-
ing with leisure. It’s a diverse world, where rusty hulls and
peeling varnish mix equally with shipshape brightwork,
and the diminutive Coho Sally shares a watery dance with
the buxom and beautiful Anita D.
Meander the docks and take in their collective remind-
er: It’s one thing to gaze out and dream about that endless
horizon, but it’s something else entirely to take to the sea
and chase it down.
Photo by Lynette Rae McAdams
Seaside’s Prom:
the jewel of the city
By MARILYN GILBAUGH
Seaside’s main street, Broadway, culmi-
nates at the landmark Turnaround. Lewis
and Clark were here in 1805-06 taking in
the sights. So too are thousands of sightse-
ers who continue to use the same area. To-
day we call it the Prom. At the Turnaround,
look south for three-quarters of a mile.
That’s where the Prom ends (or begins) at
Avenue U. Look north an equal distance to
where it ends (or begins) at 12th Avenue.
Photo by Joshua Bessex
On sunny days, the Prom in Seaside can be fi lled with peo-
ple enjoying views of the beach.
The 15-foot-wide Prom was construct-
ed in 1920 to replace wooden planks. The
walkway — with a low balustrade, ample
benches and several easy-to-use beach en-
tries and street accesses for close-up park-
ing — boarders the Paci¿ c’s sandy shore,
framed by Tillamook Head.
Families, dogs, friends, lovers, people of
all ages and languages both foreign and fa-
miliar use the Prom. On foot, wheelchairs,
bikes, strollers, scooters and skateboards
they appreciate all that it offers throughout
the year. Whatever the weather or time of
day, the Prom has something interesting to
see, photograph, overhear and/or contem-
plate.
An evening walk is lit by Prom lights
that mirror gas lamps of yesteryear. With a
background of twinkling lights from down-
town Seaside, a clear moonlit night sky, the
stars and shimmering white-capped waves,
well, it just can’t get any better.
Short Sand Beach Trail
By DWIGHT CASWELL
Ten miles south of Cannon Beach is the parking
lot for Short Sand Beach Trail. A sloping half-mile
path leads through mature forest to a picnic area
that overlooks Short Sand Beach, over half a mile
of sand along Smuggler Cove. There’s a waterfall at
the north end of the beach, and mist from breakers
drifts past volcanic basalt and sandstone cliffs.
Arrive early on summer days; crowds can make park-
ing dif¿ cult by noon. Short Sand is a Mecca for those with
surfboards, paddleboards, kayaks and ¿ shing rods.
One of the advantages of Short Sand Beach is
the moderate gradient. As the tide goes out there are
pools and shallows far enough back from the waves
to be perfect for small children who want to build
sandcastles and splash in the water. And there’s
plenty of driftwood just waiting to be turned into
forts.
Side trails take you through dense old-growth
forest, and a trail of slightly more than two miles
takes you to Cape Falcon. A half-mile walk takes
you to a monument that memorializes Matt Kramer,
the journalist who was instrumental in preserving
Oregon beaches. It has a beautiful view of Short
Sand Beach.
Photos by Dwight Caswell
Walking Short Sand Beach in Oswald West State Park
You’ll fi nd surfers and fi shermen at Short Sand Beach.
The South Jetty
By MATT LOVE
Astoria’s 11th Street Stairs
By RYAN HUME
One of the magical things I like about walking Astoria is the
number of stairwells that vein the hillside neighborhoods cocked
above the river and bay.
Probably the Mount Everest of these public Astoria stairwells
is the lark of 11th Street, where the road terminates at Irving Av-
enue. It looks pretty daunting from the Riverwalk, if you cast an
eye up 11th to where the hill snaps vertical and the stairs ascend,
sTuee]ed by those manicured, symmetrical shrubs the ¿ rst time I
saw it from afar I saw my own Exorcist-style ending in the future.
On closer inspection, this is one of Astoria’s greatest mirages: It
is not a stairwell at all, but a paved path, upset by little berms about
a plank’s length apart, slimmer than an adult human’s natural gait.
I’ve read that this kind of illusory stairing might be referred to as
“pigeon steps,” but it could just as well be called “No skateboards
ever.”
When you top out on Jerome Avenue, you may wonder,
“Why did I do that?” Turn around. No matter the weather, it’s a
view that will crush any sel¿ e.
Photo by Ryan Hume
The view down 11th Street from the top of the stairs is worth the climb up.
Whenever the world feels heavy upon my shoulders,
such as reading about an American dentist beheading an
African lion to decorate his soulless man cave, I head
to the South Jetty at Fort Stevens State Park and take a
walk. If I didn’t have this walk at my daily disposal, I
just might go insane.
There, a few minutes along the sandy path that be-
gins the Oregon Coast Trail, with Saddle Mountain
looming in the distance, all the weight starts to lift off
like the way barn swallows À y in the early morning. My
rallying has commenced.
I used to take my husky with me, but she’s too old
these days, so it’s just me and my thoughts.
My walk parallels the might jetty until it breaks off into
the dunes and then down to the beach and then as far as I
want to go south. Along the way, I might encounter deer, coy-
ote, bald eagles, fishermen, crabbers, pelicans, gulls, surfers,
elk, driftwood forts, rock hounds, joggers, dreamers.
And of course, I always encounter the ocean on my
right, washing ashore at so many angles and in so many
different colors. At the South Jetty, the ocean teaches the
wonderful variety in life. This is perhaps the most im-
portant lesson in life. Sometimes you have to walk to
learn it.
Photos by Matt Love
Walking by the South Jetty in Fort Stevens State Park can lift the world’s
worries from your shoulders.
I’ve taken my South Jetty walk close to 200 times
since moving to Astoria in 2013. During all those
times, I think I’ve said two dozen words to human
beings.
Matt Love lives in Astoria and is the author/editor of 14
books about Oregon, including A Nice Piece of Astoria:
A Narrative Guide and The Great Birthright: An Oregon
Novel. They are available at coastal bookstores and
through www.nestuccaspitpress.com.
A view of the Port of Ilwaco, Washington, from Waterfront Way.
12 | August 27, 2015 | coastweekend.com
August 27, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 13