Lincoln City Retreat

While now isn't exactly the time of year one expects to spend a weekend on the beech, that's exactly what I did to say sayonara to January. I was just there for a full day, but I got to see the sun rise over the beech and an inland waterfall, as the weather was surprisingly pleasant along the Oregon coast.

Before I show pictures of Drift Creek Falls, I want to include directions for how to get there. There aren't very good directions online and sources are conflicting about what to do, as I discovered. Here's what you do:

- From Lincoln City, head east on S Schooner Creek Road. You can get there by turning east onto SE 48th pl. which turns into Schooner after about a mile.

- After a few miles, turn right (south) on S Anderson Creek Road.

- You should come to signs for Drift Creek Falls Trailhead in a couple of miles, telling you to turn inland (east) onto S Drift Creek Road. Take that road and follow it and the signs for 10 miles.

Okay, on to photos!

Drift Creek Falls stands at 80 feet tall, and the flow was so high that the small opening was barely enough to contain the falls. You can see the results of a recent avalanche due to a similarly roaring flow.

Dawn on the coast

Drift Creek Falls blows blue with power. Perhaps it was the mist in the air reflecting light, but it was still pretty cool. Down below, a couple of guys get as close to the falls. Later they went swimming in a nearby pool and one lost his wallet. Don't worry - he found it eventually.

Sandy beeches

I took this picture entirely by accident on the trail to Drift Creek Falls. I think my hand must have slipped and I took the shot by accident. Good thing my lens cap was off! It has a really cool watercolor feel to it.

A suspension bridge hangs about 240 feet above the ground, passing above the 80-foot falls. It results in some interesting views of the falls.

The river rages on.

The weather was so beautiful that on my first night I went down to the water and tried taking pictures of the stars. Stars! Stars I haven't seen since moving to Portland due to cloud cover, and yet here I could see the Milky Way. I figured I'd try some super long exposure shots that show how the earth moves and makes star swirls. This one was supposed to be for 20 minutes but camera ran out of batteries after 15, so this is the only one of its kind I managed.