Girls Gone Wildwood

We ran the inaugural Oregon Coast 50k two years ago, in 2014. The weather was bad to start, but got better, and the course was stunning. So it wasn't too difficult for my friend Leslie to convince me that we should run it this year. Ann's sister, Courtney, and my husband and child joined us in a house on the beach in Yachats for the weekend. Race day morning from our rental house Courtney dropped us off at the Adobe, where we picked up our races numbers and talked to Leslie and her bestie, Erin, who both decided not to run due to injuries. Ann and I boarded one of the buses and we were all driven six miles north to the start. The casual beach start line

Great views and a perfect day for a run I spent the long, Fourth of July holiday weekend in Manzanita with family. Usually I run Cape Falcon , but this time I decided to switch things up a bit and run up Tillamook Head in Ecola State Park. My husband, his brother and his father came along to hike, and my brother-in-law's wife, Shetha, joined me for a run. Tillamook Lighthouse in the distance Sea stacks and an arch The problem is that the tons of other people at the coast for the same reason had the same idea. The park was packed. So full, in fact, that we had to park at Ecola Point instead of Indian Beach, where I normally start. Because of that, we ran a mile and a half of the Coast Trail I had never been on before-- up and down bluffs, through forest and past amazing sea stack views. Gorgeous coastal views Oregon Coast Trail Once at the Indian Beach picnic area, we (accidentally) took the old road up. It's not exactly scenic, but it's shady an...

My family was due for a weekend in Manzanita. Coincidentally, Ann's husband, John, wanted to check on his land nearby. It was the perfect opportunity for a shorter run along the coast! Usually when I'm there I run a 10 mile out-and-back to Cape Falcon, but with an additional car we were able to do a much more satisfying point-to-point route. Hidden trailhead off E Shingle Mill Ln Suspension bridge across Arch Cape Creek The  Oregon Coast Trail  runs 382 miles along the entire state in a vast network of trails and beaches, and connects some of the shorter destination hikes I've done many times. While it sounds simple to just run a segment, you still have to piece together some parts, and it becomes complicated in popular parks like  Oswald West , where the many short trails can quickly leave you lost and wondering which is the official OCT (answer: unclear). A rough-skinned newt sharing the trail Roof shingles add a charming and non-slip touch Arc...

I spent the first weekend of the new year with family, in Manzanita on the Oregon coast. It was gorgeously sunny, with attendant cold temperatures. I had planned to run 15 miles on my own while Ann was up in Seattle, but once I knew I would be at the coast, that plan was sunk-- it's much more difficult there, for some reason, to find the time and trails to run more than about 10 miles at a time within an hour's drive. "Do NOT take a picture of this." I had resigned myself to Cape Falcon, the same lovely run I always do out here (poor me!) when Chris, my brother-in-law, suggested Neakahnie Mountain, which he, my husband and their dad were about to hike. It's a great trail and some nice uphill (see, Ann, I can enjoy elevation gain!) but pretty short, round-trip. I hemmed and hawed, and that's when he offered to take me on the endless logging roads. Sign at the gate We parked at a nondescript gravel pull-off along Highway 101, walked around a gate, and...

Manzanita Beach is known for being one of the longest beaches on the Oregon coast, at seven miles long. On a weekend visit to Manzanita, I decided to run part of the beach instead of my usual Cape Falcon route. Usually I head south, where the bulk of the beach lies. This time, however, I ran north towards Neahkahnie Mountain and into the headwind, thinking that I'd have a nice tailwind on my way back. Manzanita Beach at the base of Neahkahnie Mountain I ran as far as possible to the north, which felt quite tough against the wind, then turned around and headed south. That part of the run felt good. I was speedy, not out of breath, and it was easy to enjoy the gorgeous scenery. Then I had to turn around again to head back to my starting point. The wind was so strong that I felt like I was standing still. My clothes and gear flapped, threatening to fly off me. I laughed, because the run was as flat as could be, but here was something approximating elevation gain: a strong he...

View south from Cape Falcon A few weeks ago (it's May 13 as I write this, but I've back-dated the post to reflect the date I ran) I was at the coast for the weekend, so I did the spectacular Cape Falcon trail and continued north until I hit the very top of the hill, then turned around for about 10 miles out and back. An inaccessible black beach While the trail to Cape Falcon is gorgeous, north past the cape the trail gets even better. There are fewer people and more stunning views of tiny, empty crescent beaches, distant headlands and dense, craggy forests. More craggy coastline The trail is soft and narrow, passing over creeks and climbing up and down some good hills. With a high point of about 1,000 ft, I say the elevation gain of this route is somewhere around 1,500 ft. Striking red rock and black sea arches At one point I caught sight of the most massive tree I have ever seen outside of the Redwoods in northern California. It was so shockingly huge th...