HANNIE HIKES

2 MILES – LINCOLN CITY

I had heard about God’s Thumb before I had my hiking app, so I knew it had to be a good one. The drive was what had deterred me in the past, as Lincoln City is just far enough away that this would easily be an entire day trip. The hike wasn’t long, but because of the drive to get there I knew I wanted to spend more time on the coast when I did finally end up doing this hike. It was fourth of July weekend and our good friends, Ken and Diane, were visiting from Nevada, and I knew the perfect adventure to take them on, God’s Thumb. Not only was it a great day trip to take them on, but the Oregon coast is a beauty to show off to our out of state friends.

The instructions were a bit sketchy, but I was game if everyone else was in finding the trailhead, proper trail. We later found out we took the more difficult way up, but it made it more fun. There was so much mud. If we stepped the wrong way we could possibly lose our entire foot under mud. Fun, but I also didn’t prefer it. Once we got past the muddy section of the trail, we entered into classic coastal shrubs and foliage, with our first peak of the coastline looking south. After a few more minutes of walking we came up on the amazing and completely breathtaking view of God’s Thumb. I remember being so excited and thinking, “Soon, we will be at the top of that!”. We walked in taller grass up until the climb to the top, it was so soothing. Once we reached the top we took a break to take in the views. Turn left and you are looking south down the coastline, and turn right and you are looking north up the coastline. I don’t know why but I find that concept so magical, and I am thankful I got to share it with our friends who find it equally as breathtaking.

When we felt we had enough of the views, we decided to continue on and hike up further to another viewpoint a little higher up. We took another break and soaked it all in before heading back down. We chose to continue on the path which was a different way back than we took up. It was not a difficult walk back, but we did run out of water and we were getting tired and hungry. Ken, being one of the kindest people we know, started jogging back to get the car, because we knew we were coming out at a different place than we had parked. It was a nice walk back to the car, despite the circumstances. We were hiking in the trees with another viewpoint to be awestruck by. Once we got to the streets again, Ken drove up to pick us up not more than ten minutes later. The timing was perfect. Now it was time for part two of our day.

We chose to go to an early dinner in Depot Bay. I really wanted to take Ken and Diane back to Eugene driving along the coastline through Yachats and Florence, because it is my favorite section of the Oregon coast. We waited for our table outside on a bench overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and then ate dinner with a view. It really was the perfect day, and to spend it with friends was truly special.

From Eugene, God’s Thumb is about two hours away, driving through Salem. Driving along the coast adds about 20 minutes or so.

Thank you for following along on my adventures.