Today we spent a great deal of time listening! Visiting the Chief Timothy Island Park listening experience because there is an art installation on the island called the listening circle which was designed to be a place to listen to the spirits and to your heart and to each other. Timothy was a contemporary of Chief Joseph but had a different philosophy of dealing with the white men. Joseph wanted to be left alone to live as his fathers had. Timothy thought the Nez Perce should learn to live as the white people. The jury is still out but it is thought that they were both right. The place we visited was inhabited by Chief Timothy’s family who later donated the island for a state park in honor of their grandfather.
10/30/2021
Read
National Geographic Sea Lion
Astoria
Our final full day of excursions was based in Astoria. The oldest continuously occupied settlement west of the Rocky Mountains, it has been a key access point for maritime trade for goods and natural resources throughout the Columbia River Basin. We have reached the westernmost limit of our journey, as it was for the Corps of Discovery during the winter of 1805–6. We began with a visit to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, then had a fine day out, visiting the historic site of Fort Clatsop, Fort Stevens, and the beach at the wreck of the Peter Iredale, an iron bark driven ashore during a storm in 1906. With unusually clear skies and a stiff offshore breeze, how fitting to conclude the day and our week of exploration with a sunset cruise out towards the mouth of the "Great River of the West." We safely returned, of course, avoiding any difficulties in an area known for its swirling currents and shifting sands, then started the overnight transit, up river, to our last port-of-call in Portland, Oregon.
