Hop on over to Sitka Sedge
Daves’ Detours
By Dave Powell
When I came to the Oregon Coast from Ohio I was told there were several indicators of healthy environments. The weird thing was they seemed wrong. The foam on the ocean was good, not bad, because it was caused by diatoms. The lichen hanging on trees was also good, not bad. The air off the ocean I knew was good — suffering from allergy-induced asthma, when I first visited to see about moving out here, the very first morning my first words were, “I can breathe!” One of my indicators of a healthy environment was seeing rabbits. Like those who continue to remember the days before the sea star die off, a return to the old normal is eagerly awaited.
Rabbit, no rabbit.
For the last year there has been an absence of rabbits. There were news articles about a deadly disease spreading. In my neighborhood, where I used to see rabbits several times a month, I saw none after April last year. Along the Oregon Coast Trail I can usually spot several rabbits each hike around Cannon Beach — again no rabbits there or anywhere on the trail. At Whalen Island (another place I usually see numerous rabbits) I barely got one photo of a single rabbit for my article last year. That was April 23, 2021. And even though I made another trip to Whalen Island wanting a better photo, no luck.
Rabbit, no rabbit, until
I was hiking the Oregon Coast Trail through Sitka Sedge on May 11 and also checking out the roses I know are along the Dike Trail. There was a little bunny, one that others had spotted the day before. I walked my neighborhood on May 21 and there was a rabbit; and it showed itself again the next day. I drove down to Washburne State Park on May 23, north of Heceta Head, to hike the Hobbit Trail and not one or two, but three rabbit sightings.
Sitka Sedge
This is my favorite state park. It is the place I stop after Trailkeepers of Oregon work days at Cape Lookout and Cape Meares. There is no cell phone coverage, so the thinking bench on Elk Knoll Viewpoint isn’t interrupted by the world.
It has an estuary view of kayakers (if you time the tide right) between it and Whalen Island.
It also has several hundred yards of old (as in only five petal) roses, that only bloom for about 2 weeks. Since they aren’t modern hybrids, and the flowers are not cut, they form rose hips.
To find the roses is easy. Enter the park, and at the kiosk take the trail — you are on the Beltz Dike Trail. On the estuary side of the Beltz Dike trail you will notice Salal bushes — they started blooming about two weeks ago. The roses start at near the bend, where trail shifts from west to north. They do not have as many petals, but the odor is unmistakable. As Shakespeare wrote: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Sitka Sedge is located about a mile south of Whalen Island and three miles north of Pacific City. Sitka Sedge is classified as a state natural area, a designation for protecting outstanding, or important portions of Oregon's ecosystems. I really like the fact that the parking lot is only big enough for about 25 vehicles, and the trails seem empty — so more back to nature.
It is hard to call this a detour anymore. The new Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) maps released this spring put Sitka Sedge now on the Trail. The previous OCT maps were done before Sitka Sedge became a state park in 2018. Still, Sitka Sedge has more than the trail to the ocean. AllTrails has listed a 3.5 miles hike (basically the outside perimeter). It has the estuary viewpoint (map #1) re-opened when Trailkeepers of Oregon removed fallen trees in the spring of 2021. Also, their “camera” logo is at the Elk Knoll Viewpoint — with one of my favorite “thinking” benches.
Final Tally:
If you walk the 3.5-mile hike around the perimeter of the park listed by AllTrails, and then still headed out to the Ocean to continue the Oregon Coast Trail you have added about three miles, since Beltz Dike is now OCT.
Get outside and enjoy! Remember there is no cellphone coverage. Take time to look around.