The weather was fairly good so we decided to check out the Cape Meares Lighthouse and at only 30 feet high is the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon coast.
Ron wanted to take jewel with us but she was reluctant. As soon as she saw us load up the car she headed for the MH.
The lighthouse sits on a thousand foot cliff overlooking the Pacific with views to die for.
Oregon State Police arrest two in connection with Cape Meares Lighthouse vandalism. Due to the vandalism the light is no longer open for touring.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/oregon_state_police_arrest_two.html
Next we stopped at the Octopus Tree. Quite an interesting looking tree.
The forces that shaped this unique Sitka spruce have been debated for many years. Whether natural events or possibly Native Americans were the cause remains a mystery. The tree measures more then 46 feet in circumference and has no central trunk. Instead, limbs extend horizontally from the base as much as 16 feet before turning upward. It is 195 feet tall and is estimated to be 250 to 300 years old.
Next it was off to Big Spruce
The hike to Big Spruce was very nice and Jewel enjoyed the walk. It was difficult to get a good picture of such a large tree in a confined area.
We needed to fit one more event into the day so Ron decided we should drive the 22 miles to the Tillamook Forest Center to find out about the Tillamook Burn.
Technically, the "Tillamook Burn" describes the forest fire of 1933 which ravaged nearly 240,000 acres of prime forest land, most of it in Tillamook County. This fire killed almost 12 billion board feet of timber, enough lumber to build more than a million five-room houses.
Subsequent forest fires in 1939 and 1945 have also been included in the term "Tillamook Burn" although, combined, these fires consumed only one-tenth the timber killed in the 1933 fire.
A fourth fire, in 1951, spread over some 32,000 acres, but destroyed only 15 million board feet of logs and snags.
The Tillamook Burn
The following is a summary of each of the fires in the area commonly referred to as the "Tillamook Burn":
1933 Fire:
Perimeter area of fire 261,222 acres
Unburned area within perimeter 21,527 acres
Burned area 239,695 acres
Timber killed 11,828,712,000 board feet
(a board foot measures 12" x 12" x 1")
1939 Fire:
Perimeter area of fire 209,690 acres
Unburned area within perimeter 19,030 acres
Burned area 189,660 acres
Timber killed 834,220,000 board feet
Previously burned by other fires 15,527 acres
1945 Fire:
Perimeter area of fire 182,370 acres
Unburned area within perimeter 2,240 acres
Burned area 180,130 acres
Timber killed 439,385,000 board feet
Previously burned by other fires 10,899 acres
1951 Fire:
Perimeter and burned area 32,700 acres
The total area of the 1951 fire was burned by the 1933 and 1939 fires but forestry sources report that some 30 million board feet of felled and bucked snags were burned with less than half destroyed.
Four Fires Combined:
Perimeter area of fire 360,882 acres
Unburned area within perimeter 5,946 acres
Burned area 354,936 acres
Timber killed 13,102,917,000 board feet
Footnote: 7.5 billion board feet of burned logs were salvaged between 1934 and 1955 out of the 13.1 billion board feet killed. Source of Data: Oregon Department of Forestry
Visit the Tillamook Forest Center Web site.
Well we had done just about everything Tillamook and decided it was time to move on. We will be heading South and not sure how far we will go or where we will end up. Another great day on the road.
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