We started the morning at the "Dismal Nitch." That's a horrible name for a place that looks beautiful to us this morning. But when Lewis and Clark, and their group of explorers (named the Corp of Discovery) faced days of torrential storms here in 1805, that's the name they gave their campground overlooking the Columbia River. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw an eagle soaring overhead. Even at the Dismal Nitch, it's going to be a great day!
We crossed over the 4-mile Astoria Bridge that you see in the background in the picture below. That brings us to Oregon's northern-most coastal city. Mark is standing on Astoria's River Front Trail that follows our old friend--the Columbia River--for a mile and a half.
We are also seeing that this river can be a transportation hub. There are a group of sizable cargo ships lined up on the Columbia. Perhaps one of them is the load of timber we saw being loaded at the Longview Harbor.
Astoria is one of the oldest cities in the west. We drove up the steep streets to get to Coxcomb Hill and the column that depicts that long history in a unique way.
The Astoria column is 125 feet tall, and includes a hand-painted depiction of scenes from this city's history. Of course, our friends Lewis and Clark are included on the tower.
We next stopped at another important Lewis and Clark point of interest. Fort Clatsop was built by the Corp of Discovery as a place to live through the winter of 1806. The group lived here for four months as they prepared for their trip back home in the spring.
The original fort has been gone for years. But this new fort used Clark's blueprints for the reconstruction.
We wandered through the forest and rivers where they hunted and fished during that winter. Since then this river has been used to transport logs to the Columbia River. The wood stumps in the water ahead were used as lanes to gather the cut timber for lashing it together to be moved downstream. We also have to point out the beautiful blue sky and the perfect temperatures we are enjoying this day.
Our next stop is the Fort Stevens State Park, most famous for the beach that has housed the rusty wreckage of a ship known as the Peter Iredale.
The Peter Iredale ran aground on this beach over 100 years ago, testament of the rough waters near the mouth of the Columbia River.
Our next stop is the little coastal city of Seaview, Oregon. Even though some of the letters of "OREGON" are wearing away, this sand sculpture still deserved a picture with the ocean in the background.
Have we mentioned that the weather today is ideal, with lots of blue sky and no wind? We started the morning in hiking pants. But it was the first day in a very long time that we have needed to zip off the legs to transform them into shorts. This was also the most people we have seen on a beach in a long time.
Seaview is a family-friendly resort town. The narrow main drag is lined with touristy shops, candy stores, arcades, bumper cars, a carousel, ice cream parlors, and restaurants . . . everything to keep all the members of a family happy between time at the beach.
We had read about Seaview's "Historic Car Turnaround" and didn't know what that meant. So of course, we had to drive the car to turnaround there.
The center of the turnaround is a statue of the town's most famous visitors--Lewis and Clark.
In keeping with our historical theme (and because the weather was so beautiful), we walked the half-mile down the promenade to the "Salt Works." During the winter of 1806 when most of Lewis and Clark's Discovery Corp was holed up at Fort Clatsop, a small group was hanging out on this beach. Here they were stoking the fire under the rocks 24-hours-per day to keep those pots of salt water boiling. They were boiling away the water to leave the salt for flavoring and drying foods for the trip back home in the spring.
After eating a fine lunch at Seaview, we headed a little further down the road to the town of Cannon Beach. Its iconic beach features "Haystack Rock" on the right, and "The Needles" on the left. Isn't it really hard to find Denisa between a needle and a haystack?
Haystack Rock is 235 feet tall, and it makes one feel very small when you get close. Again, you might not be able to recognize Denisa standing in the very cold surf on the left. Her toes are going numb as she waits patiently for Mark to take the picture.
We purposefully came during low tide, when the tide pools at the base are out of the water. There were lots of other people at the beach with the same idea today.
We didn't take any tide pool pictures this time, but the one picture we really wanted were of the tufted puffins that nest in burrows on the haystack. Haystack rock is the best chance to see the puffins. No close encounters, but we did see some flying in the air.
We have certainly been blessed with a roll-your-pant-legs-up kind of day to explore Oregon's north coast.
Our last stop of the day was Ecola State Park. As we look out over the coastline, we can see Haystack Rock far away in the background. We heard so many good things about the beauty of Oregon's coast, and we have to agree. We feel like we have once again wandered into another of God's wonders.
From the other viewpoint at the state park, we can get a look at the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. Being on an island that is over a mile from the shore, it's not accessible to the public.
But if she zooms in with the camera, Denisa can get a hazy view of "Terrible Tilly"--the 9th and final lighthouse on the Oregon coast. We got to see every one of them! It feels like we have conquered this beautiful coast now, and we were blessed with a wonderful weather day to enjoy it.
This is really our last day in Oregon, and we have to say it is one of our favorite states so far. It certainly has more than its share of God's wonders to wander!
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