We took a drive in the CR-V north on Sandlake Road and Cape Meares Loop up to the Cape Meares Lighthouse. Not Highway 101, but the curvier, tighter, I-don't-want-to-drive-the-motorhome-here, scenic road. Of course it was a little rainy (when does it NOT rain in Oregon?) and there weren't many other people out driving in the rain. When we got to the big, empty parking lot at the end of the road there was only one other car.
There are a couple vista balconies built right at the edge of the parking lot that took my breath away! Yep, I'm a little bit afraid of heights, but the views are fantastic looking north and south at the Cape Meares coastline. You could see the waves crashing against the rocks. We walked down the paved path to the beautiful lighthouse and the ocean.
After spending time at the lighthouse we made our way back to the parking area and then we took the muddy path to the Octopus Tree. Tradition handed down by the Indians is that the eerie giant, a Sitka Spruce, is a burial tree shaped when it was young to hold canoes of a chief's family. Archaeologists have found evidence that the Indians who lived along these shores placed their dead in the trees in canoes.
Branches of a forest tree normally reach straight upward, toward the light, but those on a burial tree were forced, when young and pliable, into a horizontal position beyond which they grew upward. Once the pattern was set, the tree might grow to a great size but always kept the shape, as did the Octopus Tree. Burial trees for many years could be spotted here and there in the virgin forest. The Octopus Tree is more than 60 feet at its base. No one can tell its age without counting the rings. Some theorize it could have been a young tree at about the time of Christ, but no matter how old it is, the prehistoric tree is amazing to see.
(Details of the Octopus Tree from capemeareslighthouse.org)
After spending time at the lighthouse we made our way back to the parking area and then we took the muddy path to the Octopus Tree. Tradition handed down by the Indians is that the eerie giant, a Sitka Spruce, is a burial tree shaped when it was young to hold canoes of a chief's family. Archaeologists have found evidence that the Indians who lived along these shores placed their dead in the trees in canoes.
Branches of a forest tree normally reach straight upward, toward the light, but those on a burial tree were forced, when young and pliable, into a horizontal position beyond which they grew upward. Once the pattern was set, the tree might grow to a great size but always kept the shape, as did the Octopus Tree. Burial trees for many years could be spotted here and there in the virgin forest. The Octopus Tree is more than 60 feet at its base. No one can tell its age without counting the rings. Some theorize it could have been a young tree at about the time of Christ, but no matter how old it is, the prehistoric tree is amazing to see.
(Details of the Octopus Tree from capemeareslighthouse.org)
Pretty neat! And more scenic vistas.
A very nice way to spend a Sunday.
The Cape Meares Lighthouse has been closed for awhile and I'll tell you why in the next post.
A very nice way to spend a Sunday.The Cape Meares Lighthouse has been closed for awhile and I'll tell you why in the next post.
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