A moment of sun creates a rainbow in waves crashing along the Oregon Coast.
A winter storm on the Oregon Coast is a sight to see. In fact, motels along the coast promote storm watching. Here’s one such pitch: “Sit back and relax in your cozy room by the fireplace and watch through your huge picture window as furious waves pound the rocks below.” And furious they are.
A storm was raging when I drove down the coast a few weeks ago. In between torrential rainfall, the sun would peek out, and I would stop to admire the crashing waves. I didn’t have a huge picture window, so I admired the waves as they were meant to be admired, up close and personal. Following are several photos I took.
Very few shows are as dramatic as ocean waves during a storm.
Rules numbers 1 and 2 when enjoying waves like these: Keep a distance, and never, never turn your back.
One of the best know spots for watching waves on the Oregon Coast is in the community of Depoe Bay where the ocean shoots through lava tubes and is thrown high into the sky through what is known as the Spouting Horns.
Another view of the Spouting Horns. I could almost see a ghostly face staring back at me.
And a third view.
The wave’s energy expended by crashing against the rocks, the water flows back into the ocean.
It’s known as the Devil’s Churn. Waves come driving in from the ocean and are forced up a narrow channel, turning the water into a frothy, whipped cream like texture.
A close up of Devil’s Churn showing the whip cream like texture of the waves.
The Churn at work.
A final view of the Devil’s Churn. Next blog: A hangar large enough to accommodate eight blimps in Tillamook, Oregon.
Wandering through Time and Place 