This is a rather odd take on Starvation Creek Falls.  For me, anyway.  Normally, I would show the bottom of the falls where it cascades through nearby rocks.  On this particular day, I dispensed with that, and pointed the camera up a little higher.  Note that I said “Starvation Creek Falls.”  There’s some Doom in them thar falls.  However, even though there is a story behind this, I featured this waterfall in my 2024 Scenic Wonders of Doom Calendar, so I will abbreviate my previous write up.  Here goes:

Noboby ate anyone!

Why is Smith Rock in a Scenic Wonders of Doom Calendar?  Its name is “Smith”, one of the most normal, non-doom bringing name in the book.  The river in front of it is the Crooked River.  That’s not doom-adjacent either. So, why?  The Misery Ridge Trail.

As evidenced by its name, Misery Ridge is a tad difficult to hike.  Named by a group of climbers in 1959, commemorating three very cold (below zero) days on the ridge in late December after climbing the cliff known as “Monkey Face”.  It appears that they had some difficulty getting back down.

Now, Let’s discuss the pros and cons of climbing a rock wall in Central Oregon in late December.

First the cons:  What!?  Are you out of your mind?  Climbing Monkey Face in December in frigid weather?  At least Lewis and Clark had a reason to be at the spot they called “Dismal Nitch”, namely, they had no choice.  These climbers had a choice, and they chose misery.  No thanks.  A log on the fire and a cup of hot chocolate is my speed for cold days at the end of December in Central Oregon.  Yessiree Bob.

Next, The Pros:  You get to name a trail after your bad choices.  So, the Misery Ridge Trail at Smith Rock is a bonafide Scenic Wonder of Doom because it has a good story and a great name.  It also imparts a lesson for those wanting to climb a cold rock in December.  Don’t.

Cape Foulweather, shrouded in fog, or buffeted by high winds and horizontal rainfor much of the year, comes by its name honestly.  Captain James Cook landed there during its trademark “very bad weather” in 1778, and the rest is history.

The Oregon Coast has its share of Scenic Wonders of Doom, many of them named for the Devil (Devil’s Churn, Devil’s Punchbowl, Devil’s Lake), but some are named for other deities (Thor’s Well), and some are named for the weather, like Dismal Nitch and this fine location.

This is the Cape Foulweather Gift shop, along with a slice of the North Pacific.  The actual cape is to the right of this picture. It has been a traditional place for me to stop when driving from Depoe Bay to Newport along Route 101 since Christmas 1992, when I stumbled onto it on a drive down the coast. As you can guess, the weather gets pretty tough here. I have gone here, and parked in the lot, and looked at the windshield, which was being battered like we were driving at 65mph, and said to my wife, “Are you getting out?” “Nope.” Her to me, “Are you getting out?” “Nope.”

Like all things with the word “dead” in the name, Dead Man’s Cove has presented challenges to the living in regards to remaining, as the British would say, “a going concern,” i.e. as the Bee Gees would say, “Stayin’ Alive”.  While its steep walls would seem to  make escaping a rogue wave dicey, the cove wasactually named for an incident where a ship sank, and several dead sailors washed up in the cove in 1853.

Dead Man’s Cove resides in Cape Disappointment State Park in Ilwaco, Washington.  While I consider the cape to be an honorable mention Scenic Wonder of Doom, as opposed to a full fledged Doom, it sits just north of the Columbia Bar.

The name “Columbia Bar” sounds unexciting, but it’s actually a “Honey, bar the door, the huns are in the driveway!” kind of place.  It’s where the mighty Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean meet, and neither is happy about it.  The churning waters of the bar are why the mouth of the columbia is also known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.  About 330 ships have met their Doom there, one of which was the Vandalia under Captain Beard, who was found in Dead Man’s Cove in 1853.  His ship lies somewhere near the mouth of the Columbia.