Devils Punchbowl
We had seen pictures of water swirling around inside a circular rock formation and thought it would be cool to see it for ourselves. We arrived at Devils Punchbowl State Natural Area and made the short walk over to the lookout. We were a bit surprised to not be able to see the full rock formation or the water very well. It would have been nice to climb the fence to get a better view, but that was not permitted. Perhaps we were parked at the wrong place, either way, we did enjoy watching the waves crash against other rocks along the lookout path. Apparently, if we had come at low tide, we would have been able to walk in the cave.
Just across the road from our truck was Cliffside Coffee & Sweets. We were treated to some delicious fudge samples and decided to grab a chunk of the mint chocolate variety and some organic coffee.
Scenic Lookouts
Watching the waves crash at Devils Punchbowl made us want to find more and bigger wave crashes. We went to Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint and watched wave after wave launch off the big rocks right in front of us as we enjoyed some of our coffee and fudge.
After Boiler Bay we stopped in downtown Depoe Bay. The walkway along the waterfront had a spouting horn that shot water up through a crack in the rocks. As we watched that, Morgan swore he saw sea lions out in the distance. I said they were probably logs. (They were indeed sea lions logging about, but we didn’t find that out until many days later when the footage was reviewed for the video.)
Morgan spotted a geocache along the route toward home and it proved to be another great spot for watching waves crash against rocks. The best part was the tiny plants on the rocks that got squished down by the weight of the water passing over them, but then all sprung back up as the water withdrew.
One of the Best Views Yet
Before completing our tour for the day, we stopped at Yaquina Head Lighthouse. As beautiful as the lighthouse was, Communications Hill Trail promised a spectacular view of the coast. It was only a mile out and back so we hiked up, looking forward to some more fudge as a reward for our efforts. The fudge at the top was good, but the view was better. The panoramic view of the wave sets rolling in and the shoreline that appeared to go on for miles felt like a scene normally only witnessed firsthand by birds and drones. We were at the wrong time of year to see the sun setting, but it was still gorgeous. Since we were all exhausted from exploring all day, we headed back down the hill and back to our trailer for some BBQ and a campfire. A day well spent.
