Images from Charleston, OR

We're a little over halfway through our month in Charleston, OR and, instead of driving to distant sights, we're simply redoing the lovely trails and beaches nearby. So even though there's not much new activity going on, there's plenty of beautiful images to share...

There's thousands of little crabs in the rocks, usually they scurry away when I approach, I got lucky this time.

We had some extreme tides and I believe the white stuff on these aggregate anemones is broadcast spawning
thanks to a fresh influx of water during the high tides several days in a row.

I think this is a young ochre star that got stranded on the sand. It is only about two inches across.

Mussel Reef juts out into the ocean near our RV park. The extreme low tides exposed abundant life attached to the reef.
Giant green anemones force water out of their body cavity and fold inward when exposed during low tide...
they look pretty bizarre in this state!

Check out the strange tiny stick creature on the left! It was alive, about an inch long, and I can't figure out what it is!

This tiny sea star was half an inch across at the most!

Taking advantage of a windy day at Bastendorff Beach.

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area encompasses 40 miles of Oregon coastline with plenty of opportunities for OHV riding, hiking and birding. The southernmost end of the recreation area lies just a few miles north of us and I found a nice little trail for us to hike one day: Bluebill Lake.

The drive in to the recreation area was interesting because we saw standing water off the sides of the road almost everywhere! Turns out having 100 inches of rain when the area normally gets about 60 inches leaves a lot of extra water to evaporate! We enjoyed the lovely 1.2 mile trail around the lake including a detour through sand dunes when part of the trail was under water.

Bluebill lake is one of hundreds of small lakes scattered throughout Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

Standing water in the dunes near Bluebill lake.

All of the towns in the area have a strong fishing/boating history;
I couldn't help but laugh when I got out of the truck and saw this boat turned into a house!

Ferry Road Park and the boat house.

We've hiked the trails at Cape Arago several times already, they never get old! Here's a few photos of the latest goodies that caught my eye:

I've been wondering what critters eat the mushrooms...now I have photographic evidence that slugs love them!

Munching away...

The only kind of snakes we've seen.

Perhaps slugs eat ferns too???

Green!

My favorite beach to walk in the area is Seven Devils State Recreation Area. I've discovered agates can be found there, we will be back for more beachcombing!

Balancing act.

Stripes and crab.

This was an exciting find! Probably a young gray whale since they're the most prevalent whales along this coast.

Not sure why this piece of baleen was lying here, perhaps someone had cut it out...but it was really interesting to inspect!

I'll close with a photo of our Rosie hanging out in the long grass at the edge of the meadow behind our rig. She loves exploring every inch of the meadow!