Fort Clatsop & the Pacific Ocean
The swells rolling in from the Pacific Ocean drew us out to the bow to find that, wow, we are pretty far out to sea… Off on our starboard side, Cape Disappointment light was flashing, and behind us to the east, the first light of dawn was throwing pink at the clouds of this beautiful fall day at the coast.
Our morning continued with a visit to the fine maritime museum back in the seaside town of Astoria. Stories from the heyday of the great salmon canneries and the shipwrecks on the sandbars of the Columbia River bar kept us entertained until the trip out to the 1805-1806 winter home of the Corps of Discovery.
Fort Clatsop is part of this area’s National Historical Park, formed during the recent bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition to commemorate the places they explored near the mouth of the ‘Great River of the West.’
A drive to the high basalt outcrop called Cape Disappointment was our afternoon’s adventure. We crossed the great Astoria Megler Bridge over to the Washington side, passed station camp and visited the fine Lewis and Clark interpretive center overlooking the sea. Some folks hiked the sunny trail to the lighthouse while others meandered down the hill, where we all met to walk the last few yards across the sandy beach strewn with driftwood.
Like Captain William Clark, I think we all felt our spirits lift as we neared the breaking waves. Oh the Joy, Ocean in View!
