Going downhill from the trailhead can lead to good things.
Poor kids. They thought they'd have a nice relaxing vacation on the Oregon coast. Suckers. I'm here. I don't take vacations. I go on adventures! (Perhaps that's why I've been uninvited from pool-time trips during the winter...)
I roused as many of the kids as would open their eyes when I entered the bunkroom. Two regulars and a cousin. We headed up the coast and found a trailhead surprisingly not empty. Come on. It was early on a Tuesday morning. We should have this to ourselves! Whatever.
We broke one of my most important rules by following the trail that started downhill. Why is it a rule? If you start downhill, you end going uphill. Not my favorite. As we dropped into the forest the sounds of the road faded. Down, down, down. Across a suspension bridge, down down down.
Then: BEACH! (See? I'm not 100% anti-beach. Just high 90s.)
This cove is cut off from the big sandy beaches north and south so it was pretty isolated. Except for the crazy surfers. If you think I'm nuts for some of the trips I do, remember I don't go into water that's so cold it requires a wetsuit.
We wandered down the beach to hopefully see a waterfall on the far end, but alas, the tide was in enough it would result in wet feet. So instead we pushed into a cave carved in the bluff and then headed back for breakfast.
As we got close to the trail into the woods we were treated to a lovely surprise. The sun was filtering through the trees and lighting up the mist in the most wonderful way. All the kids were stoked. I was close to forgiving the trail for the upcoming climb.
