By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews
YACHATS — After two years of adapting to pandemic concerns, the Yachats Peace Hike returns Sunday, Jan. 1 in full form — weather permitting.
Starting at the pavilion behind the Commons and leading up to the Amanda gathering area along the Amanda Trail, the 13th annual event will honor the memory of Amanda De-Cuys. In 1864, the blind member of the Coos tribe was wrenched from her daughter and forced to walk barefoot by a government force to a prison camp in what is now Yachats.
Begun by Lauralee Svendsgaard in 2011, the New Year’s Day Peace Hike coincides with “Indigenous Peoples Day,” declared in 2016 by the Yachats City Council.
The Yachats Trails Committee hosts the hike, which includes ceremonies at both the pavilion and the Amanda gathering area. Sprigs of cedar, a sacred tree for many Pacific Northwest tribes, will be provided for anyone wanting to “set intentions” for the New Year and walk “holding their vision of peace and its meaning.” All participants will also receive Peace Hike buttons, designed this year by Loren Dickinson and Bette Perman.
Events begin at 9:30 a.m. at the pavilion. Because the 2-mile walk to the Amanda Trail can be rigorous, maps of alternative trails for easier hikes and walks — the Wetlands Trail, 804 Trail or the Ya’Xaik Trail — will be available, along with guidance and information from members of the trails committee. There will be volunteers to point the way to the Amanda Gathering area; people can also park on the south end of Yachats Ocean Road and trim three-quarters of a mile off the trek.
For the full schedule, go to the website of View the Future, the local nonprofit land conservancy.
“We’ve been able to continue the Peace Hike through Covid, and now that things have eased, the hike has matured,” said Joanne Kittel, one of the Yachats Trails Committee leaders. This year, the hike includes sponsors and volunteers from a number of organizations including the city of Yachats, tribes, the trails committee, Oregon State Parks, and the Oregon Coast Visitors Association.
Water, energy bars and cookies donated by the Yachats Ladies Club will be available at both the pavilion and the Amanda gathering area. A silent auction will also take place for an original painting by Margie Lopez Reed of the 2020 Peace Hike. Proceeds will go toward the construction of a boardwalk along Ocean View Drive, part of the Oregon Coast Trail, in Yachats.
“If the weather is really bad, the whole ceremony will be staged at the Pavilion,” Kittel said. “In that case, we would invite people to visit the gathering area and trail at a safer time, on their own.”
During pandemic closures in 2020 and 2021, the hike included smaller live and virtual activities.
