November 4-5, 2019 Yachats and Beaver Creek, Oregon

High 50's. Foggy on the beach but sunny inland.

We met our friends Leslie, Scott, Ann Marie and Larry from Eugene in Yachats for a hike. We hiked on the Cummins trail in the deep dark lush coastal  forest. 

It wasn't totally dark, we had dappled sun. Larry and Ann Marie were searching for mushrooms. It should be mushroom season now but it hasn't rained enough in the last few weeks so only a few and no edible ones. Ground tree ear, big white mushrooms, rocks on the beach, clover flower, strawberry vine and salal flowers. 

When we went to Neptune Beach where the fog had finally mostly burned off.  

Relaxing in the sun on Neptune Beach.  

They had a nice suite right on the beach. So we returned there and had a nice fire, hot tub  and watched the waves right out the window. Leslie posing like a movie star in front of the fire. We had a yummy dinner at Drift Inn in Yachats. Larry, Ann Marie, Leslie, Scott and John. 

We went kayaking in Beaver Creek Natural Area today. It was foggy, cloudy, breezy and chilly. But we were dressed for it and were ok. You could see the fog flowing over the hills. John paddling by on Beaver creek.

Cattails in the fog. Smiling John paddling by me.

Moss, lichen and red leaves on this tree and mallards. We also saw a green winged teal, great blue herons, great egrets, bald eagle, hawk, 5 hooded merganser together, common mergansers, stellers jay, and kingfishers. Didn't get photos of the rest.  Also saw lots of fish jumping. Reflected colorful foliage.

There was no current. the water was mirror smooth and the reflections were beautiful. More colorful foliage and the bridge over the river. It is the same bridge was walked over a couple days ago when we hiked this area. 

I saw these wild foxglove blooms when we hiked by, but on the water I could get up close and personal. They are one of my favorite flowers. I used to grow them in my garden in Denver. John took this photo of me paddling under the bridge.

We saw this nutria on the bank on the way out. I also saw one run into the grass. They are invasive semi aquatic  rodents. They were introduced to the US for fur farming. They are the size of small beavers but have long round tails instead of the paddle tail beavers have. They are usually 9-20 lbs and are 16-24 inches long with a 12-18 inch tail. They have large orange incisor teeth, similar to beavers. They eat the aquatic plants and drive out the normal animals in their habitat. They destroy wetlands by eating the plants that keep the dirt in place and it erodes away. They also eat siding and tires.  The sun came out briefly at the end of our paddle.  John is above the reflection. 

John paddling on the way back.