My first day started with breakfast. Mom and Dad took me out to a cafe in Rainier on the way to Fort Stevens State Park. The trail starts at the South Jetty in Fort Stevens. According to the Encyclopedia Mom and Dad, Fort Stevens is the only location in the mainland US that was bombed during Worls War II. With no worry of bombs today and a full belly I hugged my parents good bye and set off on my journey at 9:23am.
The first 16 miles are on one long stretch of beach. In this stretch I saw two bald eagles and 2 whole sand dollars. I feel lile you never find them whole. Then again, I never walk 16 miles of beach at once.
I was fortunate to have a wonderfully sunny day for my first day. The heat did bring up one of my concerns, water. Although you walk with a sea of water to your right, it is kind of hard to come by the fresh stuff from the left. I was able to stop in the park half way through and fill up for both Xena and I.
Beach walking is fast walking. No ups or downs or bumps to keep your eyes on the ground. Just look to the horizon and go. I was doing just that when I underestimated how far I had gone and overshot the beach entrance to Gearhart that I was supposed to take. I followed the beach to the point around Del Rey. I walked to the mouth of the creek to see about fixing my mistake but fording the creek was not an option. It was way too deep. So I decided to walk up the creek bank to the bridge instead of back tracking to the correct beach entrance. I should have gone back to the entrance because I soon found myself sinking 6 inches in a sand mud mixture.
Eventually I made it to Hwy 101, crossed the creek, and continued onto Seaside. It was walking through Seaside that I started to realize how long this day might be. After 3 miles of walking the roads through town I still had about 4 miles once I got into Ecola State Park.
I got to the park entrance just before 7pm and started climbing the trail to Ecola point. The directions provided on the map were a little confusing. When at 8:30pm I had not reached my 2 mile marker I was worried about how slow I must be going. The trail was more difficult due to all the mud, roots, and a few down trees. Not so easy when you're already tired from a long day. Luckily, a few things had changed since the map directions and I was happy to pop out at the hiker biker camp about 8:45! I was actually moving faster than expected. Either the point was not marked or I completely missed it.
My second delightful surprise was to find that the SP had built shelters in this camp. There were 3 shelters. I wasn't going to have to pitch my tent.
At camp I met two other hikers. For the sake of identity we will call them Ms. J and Mr. E. Ms. J is attempting to hike the entire OCT minus the road walks on 101 which she is having her husband shuttle her around. Mr. E just moved to Oregon from New Jersey. He is new to the backpacking world and was using this hike through Ecola SP as a beginner hike to begin figuring out how it all works. The three of us sat outside the shelters and talked trail and other stuff until 10 to 11. I was suprised I was able to make it so late!
My body didn't feel too bad for a 23 mile day, but I had a feeling I might be a little stiff in the morning. I crawled into my shelter next to Sleeping Dragon (who hadn't moved since we arrived) and went to bed for my first night.
Happy Trails,
Midnight Chocolate
and Sleeping Dragon
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