Dadaversary - June 15, 2003

I guess many of you out there are wondering about the name "Dadaversary". Rocke and my wedding anniversary came on Father's Day this year. For our anniversary, we decided to take a ride out to the coast and go on a hike. On our way to the coast, two of Rocke's sons, Robin and Ross, called to wish him a "Happy Father's Day". We arrived on the coast and were taking our hike to Cape Lookout when the cell phone rang. Rocke's third son, Ryan, called to wish him and us a "Happy Dadaversary". Happy Father's Day and Happy Anniversary all rolled into one. Rocke and I really appreciated Ryan's clever quip!.

Now on to our Father's Day and Anniversary hike. We decided to take the Niagara Falls and Cape Lookout hikes. We arrived at the Niagara Falls trailhead to begin our first (small) hike of the day. On this particular hike, there are two 100-foot waterfalls that spill into Pheasant Creek's secluded box canyon. This was an easy 1 mile trail that decends along a wooded creek to viewpoints at the falls' base.

The trail starts downhill through a forest of Douglas Fir. It was a warm day, so the trees and shade along with a nice breeze were appreciated by Rocke and I. As we continued down the path, we came to a footbridge that crossed a splashing creek, then traversed down a canyon. We crossed two more footbridges over the creek before reaching the base of Pheasant Falls' lacy 100-foot fan. Another 100 yards past Pheasant Falls, we were surprised to see a picnic table at a view point of Niagara Falls. We continued beyond the picnic table to get an awesome view of Niagara Falls, a gauzy 130-foot ribbon launching off the lip of a vast amphitheater of sheer rock cliffs. The layers exposed here reveal that this rock was formed by a series of basalt lava flows. As we were hiking back up the trail, we passed a group of hikers that were carrying a picnic lunch down to the falls.

Our next stop was the Cape Lookout Trailhead. The cape itself dates back 15 million years, when lava flows from Eastern Oregon poured down the Columbia River and fanned out. All along the northern Oregon Coast, tough remnants of that massive basalt flood have survived to form headlands and islands.

The first thing Rocke and I saw at the trailhead was a notice of a Black Bear sighting on June 7, 2003. I guess we will have to keep an eye open for Black Bear! The trail started out through a dense forest of old spruce and hemlock trees. There were also a lot of pretty wildflowers along the trail. We had several spectacular views of the ocean as we hiked on the trail. The first view was south, where a B-17 bomber crashed into the cape's 800-foot cliffs on a foggy day in 1943. Also, south on the trail we were able to see Haystack Rock off Cape Kiwanda.

As we walked further down the trail, we came to a railed overlook with our first view north. Such an awesome view of the ocean. There were a lot of people on the trail since it was such a beautiful day. Once we reached the tip of the cape, there were several other hikers wandering around and enjoying the secenery. The clifftop at the tip of the cape is about 400 feet above the waves. There was a bench for hikers to sit and relax, while soaking in the awesome view of the ocean. Some hikers preferred to climb under the railing (which I do not recommend) to sit further out on the rocks to enjoy the view. Rocke and I had a snack while relaxing and enjoying the secenery. After the snack, it was time to head back down the trail and to our car.

We passed quite a few hikers coming in as we were going out. It looked like they had their blankets, snacks and wine to enjoy while watching the sunset out on the cape. What a wonderful idea . . . maybe next time!

Before arriving back home, Rocke and I enjoyed a Mexican dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant for our anniversary. Then home to enjoy an evening with our first year anniversary cake and some champagne. What a great day and evening to end our first year as husband and wife together.