Going east (away from the ocean) from Highway 101 a few miles south of Yachats and Cape Perpetua Scenic Area is Tenmile Creek Road. It reaches into an unspoiled forest of tall red alders and bigleaf maples, thickly festooned in green moss and lichens. We suppose these claimed the hillsides after the last spate of clear-cut logging removed tall conifers. We also suspect there is old growth forest here, because we are aware of efforts to conserve what is left of that and know that this road reaches into or near some of it. We visited on a rain-dampened afternoon, traveling ever-upward in mist and awe. We probably saw the last on-tree leaves of the year on that day.
