Lissa Brewer: Scratchpad: The long way around
Oct. 19—Under the low October sun, moss-covered thickets at Leadbetter Point State Park glow with the softest of rays, the last traces of westward light finding cracks to shine through to a stretch of sandy shore overlooking Willapa Bay.
The park, bordered by Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, consists of the northernmost miles of the Long Beach Peninsula, a marsh-and-sea oasis for wading shorebirds, Pacific Flyway migrants and those who kept driving until the land's end.
On this afternoon I had ventured out to the peninsula's edge in search of camera-worthy scenes in the quaint town of Oysterville, home to a historic church, schoolhouse, high piles of oyster shells and a century-old row of California-native Monterey cypress trees.
Then I kept driving. But to reach toward the tip where Willapa Bay meets the Pacific, a hike was required. Because the afternoon was closing in, this meant taking a shortcut to the east, starting on the Dune Forest Loop Trail from the bay side, then continuing over some tidal flats and back through a forest loop.
This was a matter of fortunate timing. The point's landscape dictates a careful glance at the tide charts, if not a route planned in advance. As autumn rains begin to fall, sections of the Dune Forest Loop — and the network to which this trail belongs — are often flooded, especially at high tide. Take the long way around, but don't turn your back.
