Tidepooling. Or Not.

 

I checked the tide tables this morning and figured out when low tide was (right around noon) so we took a drive down to Boardman State Park (about 17 miles south of Gold Beach) where there was supposed to be some good tidepooling…or as it says in the visitor's guide: "…some first-rate tidepool exploration."

Perhaps we didn't go far enough North to find the tidepools (but we went pretty far), or perhaps I mis-read the tide chart (I didn't) but we never found any "first-rate tidepool exploration." Maybe we parked at the wrong spot to start from? Perhaps the low tide wasn't low enough. Uncertain, but in any event, it was a nice hike down to the beach, and a good workout walking over these rocks for about 2.5 miles.

When we parked at the top of the bluff, our thermometer said it was 74 degrees out. It's just hard to compute…walking on the beach, in Oregon, in January, feeling too hot in a long-sleeved T-shirt. 

After not tidepooling, we drove into the town of Gold Beach to explore a little. It's pretty quiet around here this time of year. We stopped and got some martini makings for later tonight, then had a late lunch at the Barnacle Bistro. We had higher hopes for the burgers we ordered (local, grass-fed beef, good-sounding fixings, home made ginger cole slaw) but we were underwhelmed. (Don't you hate wasting calories on a burger that's not awesome?)

It could have been really good with just a few tweaks, too. We both thought the meat was too cooked for our preference (medium-well to well), the buns were homemade and good, but far too dense and too big (adding even more dryness to the burger), and there could have been more seasoning and sauce for more flavor. The slaw had a hint of ginger flavor, but I couldn't tell it had any dressing at all. Ginger-water? Anyway, that was our take. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't find any tidepools.