Ups And Downs

Up early and on the trail about 6 to hike the rest of the way to the point of land that is Cape Falcon. My stealth camp of last night was pleasant and undiscovered by anyone and I got a good nights sleep. Since I was camped near the high point of the cape much of my trip over to the cliffs of the ocean side of the cape this AM was down hill though old second growth forest. Some spectacular views and very cliff edge trail segments.

I finally reached Smugglers Cove and Short Sand Beach and had to cross a bridge over Necarney Creek. But when I got to the bridge the trail was blocked with giant Hazard Signs. There was a way around by backtracking about half a mile and then wading the creek, and taking a secondary trail, but I decided to at least look at the Hazard myself.

Well, the bridge was completely gone. A giant tree had fallen and obliterated it. The bridge had been a short suspension type over a small ten foot deep ravine. But Necarney Creek at the bottom was only about 6 feet wide with a good set of large stepping stones. The ravine had a sort steep trail leading to the creek on both sides. The only Hazard I saw was that you might get a foot wet in the 6 inch deep creek if you slipped off a rock. I took the chance and was over and on my way with dry feet in less time than it took to tell this story.

Next I was on my way to climb Neahkahnie Mtn. At about 1,700 feet it commands one of the best views along the coast, and the OCT goes up one side and down the other. It is a PUD (Pointless Up & Down) but I decided to do it anyway.

The trail was mostly in the forest and therefore in the shade, which was important as the temp hit 88 degrees today. I did very well going up and was almost to the top when my right foot stepped on a crumbly edge of the trail that completely gave way. Although the slope dropped straight down for a couple of feet, it then leveled out so there was no danger of falling off the mountain or anything. The problem was that I came down hard on my left knee and then slid sideways on it. This resulted in some sharp pain to the middle side of the knee. I got up with out a problem and continued along the trail without further incident nor further pain.

After 4.5 more miles I was in the town of Manzanita eating a pint of Cherry Garcia and drinking a Gatorade. I was in time for the town’s July 4th parade and there were hundreds of people in the streets.

As I was walking down the road toward the campground at the state park these people came out of a house and asked if I was a thru-hiker. Turns out that Twig, who is a bit of a celebrity in Thu-hiker circles, was one of the folks that stopped me. She was with the trail angle parents of a hiking friend of hers. We had a nice chat and a sparkling water then I bid farewell and walked the few remaining blocks to the park. Tom and Angie, from two night ago were camped here, so I chatted with them.

Unfortunately, as I was standing around, I was realizing that my knee, may not be alright. It is slightly swollen and now hurts to bend it. Not a good situation for a hiker. I will see how it is in the morning, but I may have torn something.

More tomorrow.

Happy Trails!