Our route to Fort Stevens State Park, our current location, was interesting. Instead of trekking here via interstates, we opted to use State Highway 30 and 30 by-pass. This route passes north of Portland through several small towns. The going was slow, but afforded views of the Columbia and the little towns were unique. There was a section of 30 with some pretty big hills, like 5-6% grades. It is cloudy, cool, and somewhat breezy, so after getting settled in, we decided to explore the old fort, from which the park derives its name.
The fort was established in 1862 for defense of Confederates during the Civil War. Ironically, it was completed one day before the end of the war. It was modified for continued use until after WWII. With all the modifications and the fact that most buildings are gone, makes it hard to visualize it as more than a ruin. Compared to Michigan forts in State Parks, this one is a loser. One interesting event was that the fort was fired on by a Japanese submarine in WWII. It was outside the fort’s gun range for them to answer fire. No damage was sustained and the sub left after firing 17 rounds. A couple pictures follow.
August 20, 2013 – Tuesday
On the agenda today are visits to the Maritime Museum and Column in Astoria. This area is interesting due to the confluence of the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean. There is a huge flow of water out the river which slams into 8 foot tides coming in off the ocean. Couple that with big winds and storms off the Pacific and it is easy to see the navigation challenges it presents. This mixer action creates shoaling at the entrance to the river. In its history, over 2000 shipwrecks have occurred as a result of grounding, with hundreds of seamen killed. Aids to navigation helped a little but the channel shifts around so much that it is still a problem in storms.
In the 1920s time frame, two jetties were constructed which narrowed the river; increasing the flow and blocking sand from building up in the river entrance. The Maritime Museum explains a bunch of this as well as the shipping along the Columbia in the form of steam powered stern and side wheelers. There was quite a bit about sea rescue and the Coast Guard role. The USCG developed a self righting rescue boat for this area. They also conduct rescue training here, figuring if you can make the muster here, you can do it anywhere. Also moored here is the decommissioned Lightship Columbia that used to be moored about six miles out from the river mouth. A couple of pictures from the museum follow.
The second stop was the Astoria Column. This is a historical maker with murals engraved along its 125 feet of height. There are 22 murals depicting events that shaped this area over the past 300 years. It is one of 12 such structures across the US. They did not indicate where they all are. 164 steps take you up to the top. Astoria is the oldest town in western US. Some pictures of the column and views from the top follow.
After dinner we decided to see the wreck of the Peter Iredale, only visible at low tide. This big 3 masted sailing ship beached here in 1906, and has been rotting away every since. Check out the following picture!
August 21, 2013 – Wednesday
Our objective here is to see the Columbia Bar, no not for a beer, the sand bar that gives this place its notoriety. We were told you need to go across the river to Cape Disappointment, so that is our destination. The area is a Washington State Park, with two lighthouses, a Lewis and Clark interpretive center, and the opportunity to see the “Bar”. First to view was the North Head Lighthouse, picture follows. There was a bonus here. On our way to the lighthouse we observed the USCG running rescue exercises from their helicopter. Check out the pix.
We then went through the L&C center, which had great written details, along with pictures and paintings that depicted Lewis and Clark’s journey from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia. Thabout a ½ mile to the Cape Disappointment LH. It is still operational, complete with a Guardsman on duty there. is put together all the bits and pieces of what we had previously learned. From here we hiked
Our last stop was a walk out on the North Jetty for a close up of the bar. It was an ebbing tide, but there were breakers coming over it. It was easy to see why navigating this thing is such a challenge. Only a relatively narrow channel winds through here. It requires a local pilot to get ocean freighters through it. The NW winds whistling through this area are remarkable. As we walked the jetty your legs were getting sandblasted. Along Benson Beach the sand has piled up on the jetty filling all the voids between the rocks and blowing over it. Check out the picture.
August 22, 2013 – Thursday
Today it was off to the beach, Indian Beach in the Ecola State Park. We planned to be there at low tide, about 8AM. Being 50 miles away it was an early start to the day and wow, it was worth it! This place was like nothing we have seen before. There were huge rocks and out-croppings with scads of marine critters hanging on them. Star fish, sea anemones, oysters, crabs, clams, and other things you normally see underwater. It was foggy when we got there, then cleared a bit, then got foggy again as the tide came it. This was the tricky part. We were in a rising tide situation, walking a beach with virtually no shoreline, only big rocks. The tide is 8 feet, so it was very important to make sure we made it back to the access area before the tide got too deep. As it was we had to wade through some areas that we had walked through earlier. Check out the pictures!
We continued our drive down the coast but it was really too foggy to see much, so we decided to explore via hikes at Oswald West State Park. Very nice trails in this park. To our surprise they had a rest room right in the center of several trails. Not an outhouse, real restrooms with running water! One of the trails took us over to Short Sand Beach where some folks were surfing and someone offered to take our picture.
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