Summer is just around the corner and that means the Tillamook County Wellness walking groups are starting up again! Join the annual kick-off event on Sunday May 9th at 3 pm and celebrate Mother’s Day with a family-friendly walk through the Pacific City Pathway & Community Park. This 1.2 mile loop through old-growth forest has beautiful views of haystack rock through the trees. Samantha Goodwin provided the following details on HikingProject.com:
Family Friendly:
This trail is a nice short loop with some interesting forest and a beautiful view of the Haystack Rock and nothing too steep.
Need to Know:
There is a portable toilet at the trailhead. You do not need to pay to park at the trailhead.
Description:
The trail starts at the back of the Overflow Parking area in Pacific City, which will soon be developed into a city park. There are designated parking spots at the rear of the lot. The trailhead sign marks the pass through for the fence.
Follow the trail through a Douglas fir plantation before heading uphill into the old growth forest. The trees are huge, the ferns are tall, and the moss is everywhere. The trail meanders up and down the slopes creating a feeling of isolation even though you’re very close to town. The surface of the trail can be muddy, and watch out for mountain bikers.
The trail leads out along the ridge until it reaches an overlook where a break in the trees frames a beautiful view of HayStack Rock. There’s a bench if you want to sit and enjoy the view.
From there, begin to head downhill and quickly come back out in the Douglas fir plantation. Cross a grassy two track and hike parallel to the back of the houses along the street. The trail soon reaches the passthrough in the fence and the parking lot.
Flora & Fauna:
Douglas fir. Sitka spruce. Swordfern.
Following the kick-off event at the Pacific City Pathway, regular walking groups will begin meeting weekly. Check out the Tillamook County Wellness webpage (https://tillamookcountywellness.org/move-well/walking-groups/) or Facebook page for walking group locations and times across the county. These are informal, volunteer led groups – drop ins are always welcome! Although the walking groups provide an opportunity to get outside, the community connections that are built with others are an often-highlighted bonus among participants. (Note: Walkers will be asked to follow safety precautions and maintain appropriate distance due to COVID-19).
And there’s more exciting news because this year, participants will have the opportunity to win a range of prizes, such as state parks passes and gift cards to local businesses. To enter the prize drawing, walking group participants can upload a photo of their experience to social media using the hashtag #TCWMoveWell2021. We are excited to #MoveWell this spring!
AUTHOR: Tillamook County Wellness
For more local health and wellness information, follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
With beautiful summer days just around the corner, many of us are searching for reasons to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. And what better reason to get outside than supporting the Knock Out Poverty CARE-a-thon to help alleviate poverty across Tillamook County?
Community Action Resource Enterprises (CARE) has been serving Tillamook County as a locally controlled non-profit organization for 30 years. They provide emergency services and homeless services for low-income friends and neighbors, along with administering the Healthy Families program for new parents and operating two assisted living facilities.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and limitations on indoor gatherings, the annual Bowl-a-thon event has been replaced by the Knock Out Poverty CARE-a-thon. Both teams or individuals will collect pledges to run or walk the equivalent of a marathon or half-marathon between Saturday, May 1st and Thursday, May 27th. It may sound like a daunting challenge, but if you run or walk just 1 mile a day from May 1st to May 27th, you will cover the entire length of a marathon!
So how can you get involved? You can sign up as a team or an individual at www.CAREINC.org/donate , call 503-842-5261, or fill out this registration form and mail it to the CARE office at 2310 First St., Suite 2., Tillamook OR 97141. You can also donate to runners and walkers who are looking for pledges (or you can make a donation directly to CARE). And spreading the word about the CARE-a-thon is always appreciated!
If you decide to join and register for the CARE-a-thon, you will receive an event packet that includes a pledge sheet. You can collect pledges from family, friends, neighbors, and you will have access to an online, crowdfunding page as well. With this event, you have the freedom to go at your own pace – you can run the whole event at once or do little chunks at a time. And you might find it fun to participate with your team or pod! Just make sure to maintain social distancing and wear a mask.
Here is the upcoming schedule for the CARE-a-thon:
Friday, April 30th, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm: Race packet pick up @ CARE offices
Saturday, May 1st, 8:00 am to 10:00: Race packet pick up @ Nehalem Bay House
Saturday, May 1st, 10:00 am: First Mile Live @ Nehalem Bay House (available in-person or on Facebook Live)
Thursday, May 7th, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm: Participant prize pick-up @ CARE offices
Thursday, May 27th, 8:00 pm: Last Mile Live @ CARE offices (available in-person or on Facebook Live).
As stated on the CARE-a-thon registration form, “The key is to have fun, be safe, and help CARE Knock Out Poverty in Tillamook County!” Check out the video below from CARE about the event:
For more local health and wellness information, follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The Explore Nature Series is a collaboration of environmental organizations working together to provide meaningful, nature-based events that showcase the uniqueness of Tillamook County and highlight the work being done to conserve the area’s natural resources, restore biodiversity, and preserve natural-resource based industries.
The partner organizations host individual events throughout the year that encourage people to get outside, explore new areas, and ideally learn something new.
The idea is simple: Explore Nature Series partners believe if we can get people to fall in love with the area, they will be inspired to help protect and conserve it. Whether that means utilizing more sustainable practices when digging clams in Netarts Bay, picking up trash along the beaches while visiting, or spending time in the woods learning how the various ecosystems work together, Explore Nature Series events all share this common theme of showcasing the Tillamook Coast in a way that encourages people to enjoy it respectfully.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, the Explore Nature Series partners had to pivot and start offering more virtual opportunities as a way to keep participants and the community safe. However, being outside is a large part of the Explore Nature Series, and this year you can find many virtual, educational events being offered with an outdoor element that can be done on your own time.
In April, Explore Nature Series partners Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve hosted virtual Snowy Plover Patrol Training with Portland Audobon. The goal of these trainings is to give people the tools and information necessary to go out and monitor for Snowy Plovers on local beaches. Interested volunteers can sign up to monitor for Snowy Plovers twice a month, for 2-4 hours a time, from April through the end of the summer. Depending on the beach, this can require a good amount of walking to where birds might be nesting, and spending time outdoors watching – and waiting. These are activities that can be done on your own time, and lend themselves well to social distancing. Monitoring volunteers have been vital in keeping tabs on how well this endangered shore bird is thriving and surviving.
If you are interested in bird monitoring, the Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve are hosting several more virtual trainings this spring and summer to coach volunteers to survey for additional coastal birds on their own time, including Brown Pelicans on April 29th, and Black Oystercatchers on May 5th and 8th. The goal of these surveys is to help define the distribution and abundance of Brown Pelicans and Black Oystercatchers and track shifts in population structure.
Portland Audubon and partners are monitoring seabird nesting colonies adjacent to the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve in order to better understand how seabirds may respond to the new protections. Monitoring is done weekly starting in June through August, and a typical monitoring session is about two hours in the morning.
Another Explore Nature Series partner, The Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS, is hosting Beach Cleanup Bingo during the months of April and May. The goal is to encourage individuals and people living in the same household to go outside and help clean up the beaches around Netarts – and win prizes! You can download a bingo card at netartsbaywebs.org. Each square represents something you might find on the beach. If you get five in a row – that’s a bingo! Every bingo is eligible to win a prize, and winners will be announced at the end of each month. Beach Cleanup Bingo is a great way to get people outside safely, and help take care of the beaches.
You can also join WEBS on May 6 for a virtual presentation ‘Sharks of the Oregon Coast.’ Shift your perspective from fear to inspiration as you get to know and understand these creatures better.
For a full list of upcoming Explore Nature Series events and how to register, visit explorenaturetillamookcoast.com. Be sure to follow Explore Nature Tillamook Coast on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all the latest events.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir in milk and oil until a soft dough forms.
Turn dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface and knead 6 to 8 times. Dough should feel soft but smooth; not sticky. Shape dough into a ball. Turn the bowl upside down over the dough. Let sit for 10 minutes.
On a baking sheet, roll or press dough into a 12-inch circle. Bake crust for 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and add your choice of sauce and toppings.
Return to oven and bake until light golden brown, 12 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.
