Mile 154 Report
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
June 13, 2018
Hiked the Three Mile Lake - ocean beach - Tahkenitch Dune Loop Trail (6 miles) today.
Report Details
Hiked the Three Mile Lake - ocean beach - Tahkenitch Dune Loop Trail (6 miles) today. The beach portion of the loop covers Mile 154 and the south half of Mile 155. Met only two other hikers all day and had the entire ocean beach all to myself! Very clean beach trash-wise. Major portions of the upper dry sand beach have been roped off by the Forest Service for snowy plover restoration. Observed several osprey and a bald eagel fishing in the surf. A single sea lion was just off-shore heading south. Remains (casts) of Vella vellela were along the entire beach, mixed in with lots of dead mole crabs - which I have not observed on this beach before. The Forest Service has relocated the west 1/3 mile of the Tahkenitch Dune/Beach trail several hundred feet further inland from the Tahkenitch Creek estuary due to high water damage on the old trail. Nice trail!The Forest Service has aggressively roped off any hiker access to the Tahkenitch estuary sands at the west end of the Tahkenitch Dune/Beach trail, forcing hikers to use the rather steep but do-able drop-off down to/up from the beach (photo). Fortunately, the access didn't get washed away by winter storms/high tides like last year.To make my stroll on the beach an absolutely perfect day, a formation of WWII heavy bombers - a Boeing B-17 and a B-24 - flew up the beach apparently heading to an airshow somewhere up north. What a glorious sound for this old Navy pilot!
Conditions
Temperature: 65 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: W.
Human Activities
Number of people: 1. Walking or running: 1.
Vehicles
Notable Wildlife
Osprey, rough-skinned newts, western tree frogs, red-legged frogs.
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt).
New Development
Western 1/3 mile of the Tahkenitch Dune/Beach Trail has been relocated by the Forest Service.
Report Images
All Mile 154 Reports
Mile 154
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
Eugene Hikers parked at Tahkenitch Campground parking lot, noting 2 other cars.
Eugene Hikers
Mile 154
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
Six Eugene Hikers parked at Tahkenitch Campground parking lot, hiked Dunes Trail, and entered beach at Emergency Sign #115.
Eugene Hikers
Mile 154
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
Four Eugene Hikers parked in Tahkenitch Campground parking lot (4 other cars present), hiked Dunes Trail, and accessed beach at Emergency Sign #115.
Eugene Hikers
Mile 154
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
9 Eugene Hikers parked (2 cars) at Tahkenitch Campground parking lot - 3 other cars were there.
Eugene Hikers
Mile 154
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
Hikers parked at Tahkenitch CG lot, where there were 2 other cars, and accessed beach on Dunes Trail at Emergency Sign #115.
Eugene Hikers
Mile 154
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
I hiked the 3-Mile Lake - Tahkenitch Dune Loop Trail today, starting and ending in the Tahkenitch Dune Campground trailhead parking lot.
oldMGguy
Mile 154
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
8 Eugene Hikers ("Hikers") parked at Tahkenitch Campground day area and accessed the beach on Tahkenitch Dunes trail.
Eugene Hikers
Mile 154
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Butterfly Lake
Four Eugene Hikers parked in Tahkenitch Campground parking lot, hiked Dunes Trail, and entered beach at Emergency Sign #115.
Eugene Hikers