Cape Lookout (Second and Third Day)
I arrived at Cape Lookout around 8:40 took a quick stroll up the beach, sat around the campfire for a couple of hours, then turned in. The next morning I was up early (around 5:25 am), showered and shaved, then worked on my journal for a few hours. Around 10:30am I started calling the place in Manzanita (Oregon Coast Cyber Cafe) but kept getting some very irritating Verizon wireless messages which have thwarted my efforts to check my voice mail also. I tried the pay phone near the park entrance, dialed the number, inserted my 50 cents as instructed by a mechanical voice, then heard another mechanical voice inform me I needed to dial one first and to pleas hang up now as my 2 quarters made a plunking sound insided the phone's belly. Apparently the two mechanical voices don't talk to each other.
With some luck I was able to make it to the cafe and upload my journal entries. Read the story at Manzanita.
I got back to camp around 1:30pm and suited up for a hike to the cape. I put on my fanny pack with two water bottles, long sleeve shirt, shorts, hiking boots and wool socks, and my famous hat that everyone loves from my self-timer pictures. The song from one of "The Critic" episodes, "Beauty and King Dork", was running through my head.
The hike was 10 miles round trip. It was a well maintained trail in dense rain forest with lots of steep climbs up and down. The disappointments in the trail was there was little or no markings and what markings there were, were confusing. Also, I could here traffic from the nearby highway and had to walk through a parking lot halfway through. The view was great though and I believe I was the last one there since I got kind of a late start.
I returned to camp around 6pm. That is about my normal hiking speeds, 2.5 mph. I put on my trunks behind the door of my car, accidentally setting off my car alarm as I did. It was a warm sunny day. The water was the usual Oregon Pacific temperature, subfreezing. I soaked up to my knees long after my calves were numb, then lay on the beach to relax for a change. I had pushed myself all the way up the trail, just like I had been pushing myself this whole trip. I was hoping to change that for the rest of the trip as a three-legged dog hopped by.
I spent the rest of the night emptying my car and reorganizing to see if I could find out what that smell was. I think it was the dirty clothes. I relaxed around the campfire, then turned in.
The next morning I woke to a very sad dream which I documented in my written journal. At 8am I was up, had breakfast and working on my journal. By 10 am I was ready for a bike ride up the Three Capes Scenic Route. I estimated it would be about 15 miles, it was 20. I made it in 2 hours despite the strong headwind on the way back and a mile or so ride on the beach with strong side winds. By 1pm I had broken camp, not sure where I would stay the night.