Let’s move on from mountains, desert, and the Gorge to the Pacific Coast. Today’s photographs cover a range of places that I frequently go to: hiking at Ecola, hanging out at Manzanita, admiring the authenticity of Newport, still a working class town despite the seasonal tourism, visiting Lightbox Photographic Gallery in Astoria, and climbing down strawberry hill to find the seals. And, of course, Gearhardt for the elk herds that can be frequently found roaming the dunes.       Or not.

 

The coast is a jewel and offers astonishing variety depending on where you land. It is also under siege from climate change and reckless development. If you are interested in more information look at this book:

https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/3914974         

Paul Komar’s The Pacific Northwest Coast: Living with the Shores of Oregon and Washington teaches everything about natural hazards, coastal management, and coastal geomorphology.  It was published in 1998, and became a prescient, instant classic.

 

We moved from New York City to Portland in 1986. 30 years later I still cannot wrap my mind around the diversity of our environment and the luck that brought us here. We had one week to decide if we would come here, given a job offer from Reed College. I had never seen the West coast, had no prospects here, and come from Germany to the US only five years earlier. Was I ready for yet another big move? Exhausted from discussing the pro’s and con’s we went to a small movie house in Brooklyn, buying tickets for whatever played that evening to distract ourselves. It was Short Circuit, an inane movie about a robot coming alive. But the scenery was gorgeous, and when the credits rolled we learned it was filmed at he OR and WA coast.  That sealed the deal – we took it as a sign and committed to the move.  I have never looked back.