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CoastWatch Mile 305 County Tillamook Description Oswald West SP, Cape Falcon N Boundaries N 45° 46.549', W 123° 58.43' to N 45° 45.995', W 123° 58.952' Google Maps Nearby Roads, Directions to/from, Google photos, Satellite image, Terrain overlay OPRD Map Arch Cape to Neahkahnie Mountain Vehicles • Motor vehicle travel is prohibited from the Clatsop County-Tillamook County line (45° 46.9902', Mile 306), southerly to the south line of Oswald West State Park (45° 44.4000', Mile 301). Weather Current Weather Conditions at nearby stations (may take a minute or two on a dialup connection) Tides The NOAA Tide Predictions site may be found here. Click on the station nearest to your location to see predicted tides in graphical and tabular formats. Photo Cape Falcon Cleanup crew   6/17/07 Phil Blanton, Steve Bauer, Vivi Tallman, Jaxon Clanton (in rear), and Bill O'Brien. skyhar8000

29 REPORTS FOR MILE 305: skyhar8000 Feb 8, 2013 4:30 PM   Virtually nothing to be seen! The trees that I mentioned were the big news. The cove floors are all very flat, meaning it's easier for the ocean to take back whatever it brings in. I found only one plastic buoy of any decent size, and only a couple of small tangles of rope and crab pot type floats. No large birds, seals, sea lions, or any evidence of them. This is probably one of my first winter visits, so the area may look like this every year at this time. A nice walk, but I expected more flotsam and jetsam. The neighbors that had the NO TRESPASSING sign on the wood gate where I drive in have taken it down. Nice folks.   MORE  skyhar8000 Jul 2, 2012 6:00 AM   Uneventful hike. No tsunami debris -- if it was, I couldn't tell. A lot more general stuff for this time of year than is usually seen. More plastic floats tossed high onto the rocks than I have ever seen. The access is progressively more hazardous, and I fling these back into the sea, and they come ashore elsewhere. There is no way to get them out safely on the trail up the hill. The rock and gravel in the coves is constantly on the move, but it's always hard to say whether it has been in the state I see it (when I see it) for a long time, or whether the formations are from the previous higher sets of tides! But all in all, a good outing -- any outing where you come back covered only in sweat and dirt, and not blood or bruises, is a good outing on Mile 305.   MORE  skyhar8000 May 7, 2012 7:30 AM   Great hike to very end of possible area to walk in due to extremely low tide. One seal skeleton with no way to identify cause of death. One big (BIG!) boat or ship bumper that I will report to the tsunami information folks. Moderate amount of round plastic buoys washed ashore by recent higher tides and strong west winds. No concerns of note. Great time to take photos of an area that is accessible only once or twice per year.   MORE  skyhar8000 Apr 7, 2012 6:00 AM   Four of us arrived 0600 hours and left about 0900 hours. We spent three pleasant hours @ Mile 305 and left in good shape. Only two pieces of trash with Japanese characters were observed, and these very probably are NOT tsunami debris. Much less manmade debris than usual. Also, for the first time in a few years, the amount of natural debris (small bits of wood and vegetation) was quite low which could have been due to long-term winter storm action or just a good cleansing high tide shortly before our arrival! The areas where the seals are normally observed was very much tracked up with body drag marks and waste material, so the local population appears to be thriving AOK. We hiked out some trash, especially golf balls, of which there were far more than usual. But all in all, a safe, easy, and enjoyable trip, with no unusual hazards or adverse conditions observed.   MORE  skyhar8000 Sep 3, 2011 10:50 AM   This was an interesting trip. Knowing that tides would prevent me from accessing any but just the first cove, I went there to retrieve my floats. Big surprise! Floats all gone!! Someone will make a haul somewhere. I had threaded all of the colorful cork floats, more than 20, into one long single batch, and put them where I thought ocean waters could not reach them. However, I'd also hauled a large quantity of crab pot rope, and it was still there. I walked the first cove as far as possible, which wasn't much, then returned to the access point with the rope, untangled it, and used it to provide additional handholds and security in the access area. Virtually all of the existing ropes appear to have been gathered from the sea, and a couple are looking iffy, so it is good to have better security out there. This is my last report for the year, as there are no more decent daylight minus tides until 2012.   MORE  skyhar8000 Aug 1, 2011 8:30 AM   Walked the mile from one end to the other -- bit risky because tide not out all that far. Was amazed to see very little human trash. I had stashed a large quantity of cork floats, and I carried them to the rock base near my in/out access point and secured them as best I could, for bringing up-cliff at a later date. Nice trip, but unremarkable, except for the fact that the ocean certainly pushes the loose shore rock into amazingly different formations from one visit to the next.   MORE  skyhar8000 Jun 17, 2011 8:00 AM   Significant amount of finely-chopped kelp and sea vegetation, as though someone ran it through some gigantic Salad Shooter! Very little trash -- the ocean has made a fairly clean sweep. More than 20 crab pot buoys tangled together, with hundreds of feet of rope, all in one lump. Cut off all of the buoys and dragged them to cliff base -- hope to haul them out soon. Cut off all the ODFW tags and will return those -- they like to have them. NO crab pots attached. I have a few larger bits of drift, including a fire extinguisher, up above the high tide lines -- hope to get them out if at all possible. One bald eagle, four adult seals. (Oh, and I'll try to get the rope out, too, if I can.) Continued landslides and scree descending from the old cuts used to make the quarry road a few decades ago. Nice day, uneventful, pleasant.   MORE  skyhar8000 Mar 23, 2011 9:15 AM   Able to access only the first four coves because tide was not ultra-low. Ocean has carved several cove floors into hills and valleys running east- west, so that hiking north-south requires some extra effort. Appears to be natural phenomenon. Floating wood and other natural debris pushed to eastern limits (bottom of cliff faces). Almost no place for manmade stuff to accumulate. There are a few loads that I may try to bring out later in the year when the tides are ultra-low. Just to avoid erosion from lifting trash bags, it is easier to toss the larger plastic floats back in the surf, as they will probably wash up where it is easier to remove them safely and without the loss of soil that up-the-cliff dragging causes. Abundance of marine life, both animal and lots of vegetation, clinging to rocks in intertidal area. Looked healthier and more natural than usual, and again, very little man-made stuff of any kind.   MORE  skyhar8000 Jun 12, 2010 6:30 AM   Found two seal pup corpses. One was headless and being eaten by five (yes, 5!) bald eagles. The other was intact and perhaps 1/4 mile away. No cause of death immediately apparent. No adult or pups on the shore. 8-10 adults offshore watching us, with 1 or 2 shadowing us. We hiked south as far as possible and collected trash all the way on back to the climb-out point. Hope to finish the trash picking and do a hoisting during the next few weeks. Because of the change in hoist location, and the (light) erosion in causes, we elected to toss large plastic floats back into the sea -- they will wash ashore elsewhere and be collected by someone. We picked up all garbage and other items unlikely to drift ashore in other locations. Good trip, but ground dampness made a lot of footing very treacherous, both during the ascent/descent and while hiking. Light wind, low waves, and a low tide made the tide "honest" -- a west wind and/or heavy surf can keep the waters from retreating as far as the tide table predicts they will go. Good trip, great to see so many eagles like that. One of the two seal pup bodies may have been the same as the one from my other trip a few weeks ago. Again, no cause of death apparent, but all corpses were lifeless prior to my/our arrival on the scene.   MORE  skyhar8000 May 15, 2010 7:00 AM   Threw 250-foot line down cliff to sea level. Had 1 person stay at top while I went down and got as many floats and as much debris as I could carry, and brought it to the rope. Hiked it up the hill and out to the truck. A good project. Two notes: found a recently deceased seal pup at about the low tide line. The rest of the colony scattered to the water, but one pup remained to apparently guard the corpse. Eventually two more pups came from the safety of the water to do the same. I took pix and left ASAP. Have contacted personnel from park to see if our ongoing litter removal method is AOK with them -- works well for us but causes a bit of erosion with every trash bag we lift up the cliff. Also had a bald eagle swoop through the cove when we first arrived. A good visit, and if our new method/manner for picking and raising trash is okay with the parks people, I hope to get in one more visit during upcoming low tides so that we can finish the cleanup job.   MORE  skyhar8000 May 1, 2010 8:30 AM   Went down to my mile with a reporter from the Tillamook Headlight-Herald. Lots of washed in marine stuff. Plastic and other kinds of floats galore. Unfortunately, unable to locate my bags from last fall. Hope they are buried in landfall and can be dug out and hoisted. Can't imagine a tide high enough to take them out. The reporter could not make the 300 foot climb out of the cove and required rescue from Search 'n' Rescue teams that roped him up a cliff. We're hoping to go back next set of low tides, and I'll tie stuff on a rope, and the reporter will stay up top and get it up that way. Another solution for the stuff that is very hard and very floatable is just to chuck it back in the ocean. Sounds very counter-intuitive, but it'll wash up on more accessible beaches and can be retrieved there. Anyway, we hope to complete our own project together, but it takes a pretty strong body to get up and down the 300 feet of difficult trails, rocks, cliffs, and the reporter just couldn't make it. Better that we had him shipped up alive on a rope, than that he make the attempt and injure himself. So all's well that ends well on Mile 305! Stephen Bauer   MORE  skyhar8000 Oct 28, 2009 9:00 AM   Roped down into "Cove 1" for litter control. The cliff trail 100 feet above sea level sustained a fall of scree, or loose rock, and roping garbage up from that point appear impossible now. I went down to sea level via the west route and picked minor trash from Cove 1 (all other coves were not accessible due to it being high tide). Secured all two dozen bags of litter -- they may have to winter over. Probability of successful wintering is high unless there is an incredible storm at high tide. Found an alternate place to lift the trash bags out, but probably cannot accomplish it until next spring -- will need longer ropes and more human participation -- we'll use a secure spot on the cliff trail and see whether it is possible to retrieve trash bags at that point. By "wintering over," I mean the placement of all bags as far from the ocean as possible in Cove 1 behind a large rock, in an area that appears to be relatively safe from wind-driven high tides, and also is an area that seems to sustain only a little natural erosion and rockfall from above.   MORE  skyhar8000 Jun 20, 2009 5:30 AM   Hiked the entire mile and picked up perhaps one or two bags of loose litter. Brought ALL of the stuff from my far cove to my near cove, where it needs to be hoisted and gotten out of there prior to winter's high tides. I will need to check in with Phil (or whoever) and perhaps get a note posted about this in order to recruit help. In the long run, this may no longer be feasible -- the cliff trail is slowly wearing away, so it may get to the point where we no longer are able to hoist litter out of the area. In that case, I'll either have to abandon this project, or have to find a new method of removal via airlift or sea, perhaps by kayaking.   MORE  skyhar8000 Apr 27, 2009 8:30 AM   Spent 2.5 hours doing litter pickup. Litter now in Coves 1 and 4 in sturdy bags above the high tide lines and ready for pickup. Will need to wait for another low tide to do this. Probably eight bags of litter, plus a few larger, lighter plastic objects. Three or four large crab traps washed in, but fairly deteriorated -- can't catch or kill sea life. Someone visited since I have been there last and tied a dozen buoys on one of the area access ropes. Also found a piece of metal perhaps 16 inches in diameter with a flange on the outer rim. Possible ancient piece of machinery for logging or quarrying.   MORE  skyhar8000 Dec 11, 2008 3:30 PM   Entered area 3:30pm as volunteer to look for the human and/or boat remains generated by the death of the NETWORK, a crabber that broke up out in Tillamook Bay. Very little trash washed in since my last trip. Took photos of debris found, but it did not appear to be from NETWORK, and Coast Guard confirmed this later. Low tide was 4:47, and I got up my rope and out of the area at dark and had to hike to my car without light. No fun. Rain, wind, cold. Would not have made the trip, except it was good to have someone eyeball all of the little coves, caves, and caverns, in case the area did have wreckage or human remains to bring to the attention of the Coast Guard.   MORE  skyhar8000 Aug 30, 2008 7:30 AM   A team of three, including myself, went to Black Sand Beach and removed the litter that I picked up over the course of the spring and summer. As before, litter was roped up the cliffs and hiked to our vehicles, then recycled in Manzanita, with all unrecyclables disposed of properly. Project was very exhausting but very rewarding. Left on the cove floor is a piece of garden hose buried by a landslide and a commercial crab trap frame that is too heavy to hoist. Frame has no netting and is incapable of detaining any creature. It was a great day. Mile 305 has been cleaned up!!   MORE  skyhar8000 Aug 9, 2008 11:00 AM   Dropped by the area but did not descend down to sea level, as tide was not low enough. Was there to look down and be sure litter gathered from my previous trips was still bagged and secured where I had left it. I am going to try to raise it in the next few weeks with the help of others.   MORE  skyhar8000 Jul 6, 2008 9:30 AM   I descended via the usual route. Someone has added a quality rope to it. I thought that it belonged to the folks from Seattle/Portland and that it would be gone when I returned, but it is still there. Don't know who else comes into the area. Nice to have that rope, though. All trash is now directly under the hoisting point in Cove 1, securely bagged with heavy rocks on it. I anticipate doing the lifting on Labor Day Weekend and am rounding up one or more other persons to help me with this project. I will try to get some publicity, too. Stuff seems to come in spurts. One trip will yield lots of golf balls, and then there will be none -- ditto the Aerobies, knotted clumps of rope, etc. I suppose it depends on wave and wind action. Certain stuff is driven ashore just at certain times, depending on conditions.    MORE  skyhar8000 Jul 4, 2008 6:00 AM   I managed to hike through all 10 coves due to extremely low tides. At the end of Cove 10, I changed into diving booties and waded through waist-deep tidal pools in order to round the corner to see what was there. At that point, it appears that the coves end and that there is a true headland -- I could see and hear breaking waves on the other side, and the grooves in the rock underfoot became long and deep. To my complete surprise, upon reaching Cove 4, I ran into 10 people from Seattle and Portland, hiking as a single group. Some of them had plastic trash bags and were wearing yellow rubber gloves. I told them there was no more trash south of our meeting point and showed them the stuff I'd stashed above the tide line from my previous visit. They hiked to some of the southern coves without me, then turned around and brought some sacks of my litter with them when they returned. I waited for them at Cove 1 right at the hoisting point for trash, and we stuffed the bags next to boulders and placed heavy rocks on them. This was a great trip, despite the rain. Getting to the extreme southern points was fun, and having the people help carry bag of trash was even better. I really think I can finish the retrieval on my next trip, and that everything can be hoisted before autumn arrives.   MORE  skyhar8000 May 6, 2008 8:00 AM   I was able to walk as far south as I have ever been. There were no seals, but plenty of body drag marks, so I assume that some of the far coves are regular hangouts for them. I met 3 men in Cove 1 who had hiked around the point to reach the area, and we all hiked south together. One of them has a website, www.seaturtlesforever.??? -- he lives in Seaside and has done some environmental work in Central America. Another was from Arch Cape. Nice guys, packed lightly and carried out all their own litter. At the top of the north cliff, someone has built a fire ring, and it appears to be in regular use -- there is even spare firewood with a tarp over it. I think it is within Oswald West boundaries, and I will contact the ranger and see if he wants to look at it. I am sure there are illegal fire areas all over, but at least this one appears carefully tended -- no trash, firewood under cover -- but the ranger may want to remove it and post a NO FIRES sign -- if a coast wind caught a fire at that point, it could grow quite a bit out there on the cliffs and bluffs.    MORE  skyhar8000 Aug 11, 2007 6:00 AM   Tide-wise, it continues to be the case that one should not attempt to slip around the south end of Cove 1 without a tide of at least a -1.0. I arrived at the area about 5am and had to wait for daylight. When twilight broke, I descended to sea level, arriving about 5:30, then hiked all eight coves south, returning about 6:30 with less than a half bag of trash. The ascent took over an hour, as I brought up 3 full bags of trash, a one-cubic-foot standard black plastic dairy crate, and the white barrel I found in Cove 4 a few months ago and recently dug out of the log and rocks in that cove. I packed everything in my car and drove to Cart 'M in Manzanita -- when it opened, I recycled what I could, and paid a $7 dumping fee for the "unrecyclables."    MORE  skyhar8000 Jul 28, 2007 6:00 AM   Wow! A normal, ordinary visit to my mile. Such a deal! I hiked out the white plastic drum I dug from the rocks and wood in Cove 4 a few visits back. It is lighter than the white drum that we took out during the big trash hoist awhile back. The rusty drum was indeed missing and has been taken out by the Coast Guard. I'd like to know how they did it! There is one more weekend of low tides suitable for cove access in 2007, and it occurs in two weeks. There was so little trash in the coves that I do not intend to visit them again in 2007. Instead I plan to hoist the three bags of garbage, the dairy crate, and the white drum. I may also dive in the lagoon where a crab buoy floats just to see what it is connected to. (The buoy afloat offshore has stopped moving in, and the trap (or whatever it's attached to) has probably come to an underwater barrier and can't go further east.) But I will investigate the lagoon and see what might be down there.    MORE  skyhar8000 Jul 15, 2007 7:00 AM   Saw several minor slides - had a good-sized rock fall between us - Allister had my hard hat on - I had nothing on my head - lucky me! This area REALLY is "HARDHAT-NEEDY"! Found and photographed tall thin columns of natural loose rock - no idea who built them or why - autumn winds will topple, I'm sure. We saw no seals except for one adult patrolling offshore in Cove 7; however, there have been large flocks of birds on sandy beaches to the south, with large schools of small fish in the shallows, and the seals may have been away feeding. By summer, they are not spotted in the cove as frequently as during the spring birthing season.    MORE  skyhar8000 Jun 30, 2007 6:00 AM   Lots of dead starfish and mussels, more than usual. The water is a murky color, observed from both far and near. Found 300 feet of crab pot rope plus one attached buoy left by the sea wrapped around two rock columns and hanging in the air. It was so odd-looking, I thought at first it had been hung by humans, but I think the ocean just left it that way. I took the buoy home, and I used the rope to improve the steep westside access cliff trail. The article about the big trash liftout that happened two weeks ago is supposed to be out within the next few days, and I will send one copy to CoastWatch if/when that happens.    MORE  skyhar8000 Jun 17, 2007 5:00 AM   On 6-16-07, I descended at the usual access point and proceeded for a half mile south to retrieve 16 bags of trash. While in the area, I saw a man and woman taking photos, and I was met by Vivi Tallman, and two or three of her friends. On 6-17-07, Bill, Jaxon Clanton (15 y/o) and I arrived... I remained below and secured bags to hoisting lines. Jaxon and Bill went on up above, and Jaxon pulled the bags up. Vivi Tallman arrived, accompanied by friend Phil Blanton, and Meghan McGuire arrived, representing the Tillamook Headlight-Herald newspaper. Everybody took turns moving trash to vehicles... We hoisted about three dozen full bags, plus a length of metal cable ..., a 55-gallon hard plastic drum, and the interior of a commercial crab pot. We left the exterior framework of the pot, and also a dented, rusted metal drum with Asian markings on it, as they were too heavy and awkward to deal with safely. All items were taken to Cart 'Em in Manzanita, where 75% - 80% could be directly recycled, and the rest could be disposed of safely. A $25 dumping fee was paid by Vivi. See also, the CoastWatch News article.   MORE    Cape Falcon Cleanup crew    Description: Phil Blanton, Steve Bauer, Vivi Tallman, Jaxon Clanton (in rear), and Bill O'Brien. skyhar8000 Jun 3, 2007 7:00 AM   This sheet supplements my report about my visits to Mile 305 on June 1, 2, and 3, 2007. On those dates, I arrived topside about 7:00 AM each morning, descended by my usual route near the boulder garden and hiked as far south as Cove 8 each time. It's really just impossible, or at least very inadvisable, to go past the south wall of Cove 8 (covered in a mass of anemones) unless the tide is ultra-low. On each visit I encountered a dozen seals on the beaches of Coves 6 to 8 and took several pictures. I observed some pups apparently nursing while resting next to their mothers. I took extreme care to stay as far from them as possible, but on June 3, I almost tripped over a seal pup concealed behind a rock! Of the two routes I have used in the past, the trail running across the cliff face to within 50 feet of sea level is too dangerous to use until someone with proper gear and know-how replaces its ropes and anchors. The makeshift zigzag trail marked by some else's old ropes is not much better, but I am able to use my own ropes in that area and can negotiate it fairly easily. (A hardhat, tough gloves, and familiarity with rope and knots is a must.)   MORE  skyhar8000 May 19, 2007 8:00 AM   On the above date, I drove past the end of Elk Flat Road and parked beyond the wooden swinging gate, at the turnaround circle at the very end of the vehicle-accessible roadway. The weather was dry, but overcast and threatening, with no wind, perhaps 50 degrees F. I descended the west cliff route using the synthetic ropes already in place, and also my own climbing rope, reaching the boulder field about 8:15 AM: good visibililty, low surf. ... Coves 7 and 8: Small, smooth floors, clean. I found a medium passage I could negotiate and made it into Cove 9 (first time!). Astounding rock formations, including a chimney, a unique cavern, and other features. I rounded the corner into Cove 10 (fairly small) and looked around. Bad idea! Returning to 9, an optical illlusion prevented me from finding the passageway. I decided (wrong!) the tide had turned prematurely, and I decided (also wrong!) I had to swim for my life. I waded and swam past the rock outcropping north of my position. Then I spread my coat with each incoming wave and let the sea push me in. It was the riskiest thing I have ever done. My camera is toast, but I saved my wet notes. If you value your life, then you need to read, understand and heed the following sentence: NEVER (EVER) ACCESS THIS AREA! IT IS DANGEROUS! YOU COULD DIE!!!   MORE  skyhar8000 Apr 20, 2007 8:00 AM   Beyond the turnaround, a trail leads south past the Oswald West State Park boundary line which is indicated by two signs, one fastened to a tree, the other on a metal ground stake. A short distance beyond the signs, one has the choice of continuing south or turning west. The former choice leads to an old eroded trail that can be negotiated to the beach only by using some old ropes and stakes left by other hikers. The latter choice leads to a cliff trail that features ropes but which is less hazardous than the eroded trail, and here I descend. [...See Comments section for 3 pages of fascinating details...] I call Cove 5 Seal Harbor. Last year, I found several pups in it, with the adults out in the surf, waiting for the pups to rest. Today I have found several DOZEN seals in it of all sizes, and I took as many pictures as possible, while they slid slowly across the rocks and into the ocean. I think the seals use this cove because the rocks on the beach are smooth and round. There are dozens of "seal trails" where it is evident they have maneuvered up to the cliff base itself. This cove is not very large.   MORE  Vivi Tallman Jan 27, 2007 1:00 PM   Black sand beach was splendid in the sunshine! One metal 50 gallon drum. No human impact. All as should be, best as I can see.   MORE