Twig Adventures

Saturday, July 8th, 2023, 0930-1915Manzanita to Bayocean Spit16 miles, Gain 200′, Loss 200′, elevation 30 Not surprisingly, I felt pretty trashed when I woke up. I was sore and just felt like taking it easy. Luckily that’s exactly what I had planned for this day…if you count walking 16 miles on the beach as easy. It certainly was compared to the day before. I had a relaxing morning drinking coffee and doing normal things one does when starting out from their house. I definitely felt like I was on vacation this day. I locked up and bid a temporary farewell to Manzanita…I knew I’d be seeing it again soon…more on that later. I hit the beach under perfect conditions again.[…]

Friday, July 7th, 2023, 0645-2100Tillamook Head Backpacker Camp to Manzanita 26 miles, Gain 3500′, Loss 4300′, elevation 30 The reason for such a short day yesterday and a long one this day had everything to do with tides and where to sleep. I needed to hit a low tide for the upcoming stretch of beach, which was in the morning. Because of the waning full moon, the tides were also rather extreme, meaning one of the lows each day was at a negative level, 1-2 feet below the average low. This was significant, since it meant I might be able to walk the beach farther than the official route. It’s mentioned in the guidebook and also was reported by a[…]

Thursday, July 6th, 2023, 0715-1900Sunset beach to Tillamook Head Backpacker Camp.16 miles, Gain 1365′, Loss 600′, elevation 780 I slept like a total rock, it was so amazing. I was finally on trail, so my mind was at peace. The distant hum of the surf drowned out all else. I heard nothing until the lovely birdsong in the morning. I noted some thick fog right away, but it didn’t feel very moist or clammy. In fact, I thought I was completely dry until I felt my tent walls. Yep, it was condensation nation, but mostly just on the outside. This was not surprising to me, given my location on this notoriously moist coast. But I was hoping for a miracle[…]

Wednesday, July 5th, 2023, 0615-2000Columbia River, Fort Stevens State Park (Northern Terminus of the Oregon Coast Trail) to Sunset Beach9 miles, Gain 30′, Loss 30′, elevation 30′ This was one of the best first trail days I’ve ever had. That’s because for most of the day, I got to be a tourist as we enjoyed the sights around Astoria and celebrated a birthday. But first I had to recover from a night of restless sleep (mostly of my own doing) and a subsequent migraine. Coffee and a breakfast with some delicious mango snapped me out of it (along with my prescription Sumatriptan). I know it worried my hosts that I was feeling bad, but I dealt with migraines all the[…]

July 3-4th, 2023Miami FL to Portland OR To Manzanita ORDistance: 2,700 miles (by airplane), 60 by car Sometimes traveling to a trail can be very stressful and difficult. Fortunately, I’d been blessed with very good luck over the years and I was happy to find that my serendipitous streak persevered through all my logistics and connections again with this trail. In fact, it was one of the most auspicious beginnings yet, leaving me with a sense of awe about how everything came together so perfectly. I owe all of this to my auspicious beginnings/connections on the PCT and the generosity of some long-time trail angels, the Skybird Family. My travels began with a 7 am flight from Miami to Los[…]