Threading the film…
Threading the film…
Many of the trails we use today started off as wildlife trails and were then established by Native Americans and later by Euro-American explorers and pioneers. Many of the routes we use today were established Native American trails that Euro-American explorers and pioneers used. (Many such routes started out as wildlife trails.) Here, the Oregon Coast Trail winds up and over mighty Tillamook Head, following the Native American route taken by Lewis and Clark more than 200 years ago when they went to see a beached whale at Ecola. When word reached Fort Clatsop that a whale had beached, Sacagawea was determined to see it and the Ocean. “She observed that she had traveled a long way to with us to see the great waters,” wrote William Clark,” and that now that monstrous fish was also to be seen, she thought it verry hard that she could not be permitted to see either….” Clark thought it a modest request and let her join the expedition to the whale. In early January 1806 William Clark and at least 12 others, including Sacagawea trekked south along this shoreline and climbed over Tillamook Head. They were heading to today’s cannon beach to purchase the meat of a beached whale for food “Of the view from the top,” Captain Clark wrote, “I behold the grandest and most pleasing prospect which my eyes ever surveyed.” It was the first of June and I was bursting with energy and joy following a 2 night stay at Reehers camp in the coastal mountain range of Northern Oregon. The south entrance to Tillamook Head is a well-trodden tourist destination so I decided to approach it from the north for a change. I pulled up to a nondescript parking lot and made my way up over 1,200 feet to the top of Clark's Mountain and beyond. On the way up, I passed a middle-aged man and his dog drinking a beer (the dog wasn't drinking beer though.) He said he just walked up there to get out of the wind, but told me that the hike was well-worth the view. The trail is muddy and covered in large entangled roots of the Sitka Spruce trees which dominate the forest canopy. The filtered sunshine combined with the lush coastal landscape nearly caused me to swoon with enjoyment of the natural environment. At the top of Clark's mountain, I saw an eagle. I then watched one of them glide out to sea toward the horizon. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed. The sun set at 8:58 PM as I was gazing west out to sea from an open viewpoint. The wind was incredibly strong at the top. I plan to return one day to explore more of this incredible natural landmark.