Astoria and the Columbia River Bar
Today we walked in the very steps of the Corps of Discovery where they reached the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Our day began at sunrise when Sea Lion let us feel the Pacific’s roll off Cape Disappointment on the very entrance to the great River of the West. Brown pelicans and charcoal-tinged Heerman’s gulls whirled around the bow searching for schools of herring on the change of tide. These same birds that we see in Baja in winter come north here after nesting.
To get even closer to the Lewis and Clark experience, after visiting their winter 1805-06 encampment at Fort Clatsop on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, we crossed the 4 ½ -mile Astoria-Megler Bridge by bus to the Washington State shore.
We passed “Station Camp” where the Corps of Discovery was pinned against a storm battered shore for days, their clothes and bedrolls thoroughly soaked. The Captains noted this was the lowest point in moral. But Clark on Nov. 18 completed their journey by leading a group to the top of Cape Disappointment where they gazed over the clash of sea swells meeting the power of the Columbia’s current. They continued onto McKenzie Head to camp above waves slamming into the headland, and then explored onto the expansive sands of Long Beach Peninsula before returning to the main party.
Clark’s journal entry for this furthest west leg of their journey ends “…men appear much Satisfied with their trip beholding with astonishment the high waves dashing against the rocks and this immense ocean.”
We and our Smithsonian guests touched this setting with a walk guided by Rex Ziak, a Lewis and Clark authority raised in this setting. We also walked to North Head Lighthouse, pictured in the photo above, one of three guardian lights that direct mariners to the always challenging and frequently treacherous Columbia River entrance.
Today we walked in the very steps of the Corps of Discovery where they reached the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Our day began at sunrise when Sea Lion let us feel the Pacific’s roll off Cape Disappointment on the very entrance to the great River of the West. Brown pelicans and charcoal-tinged Heerman’s gulls whirled around the bow searching for schools of herring on the change of tide. These same birds that we see in Baja in winter come north here after nesting.
To get even closer to the Lewis and Clark experience, after visiting their winter 1805-06 encampment at Fort Clatsop on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, we crossed the 4 ½ -mile Astoria-Megler Bridge by bus to the Washington State shore.
We passed “Station Camp” where the Corps of Discovery was pinned against a storm battered shore for days, their clothes and bedrolls thoroughly soaked. The Captains noted this was the lowest point in moral. But Clark on Nov. 18 completed their journey by leading a group to the top of Cape Disappointment where they gazed over the clash of sea swells meeting the power of the Columbia’s current. They continued onto McKenzie Head to camp above waves slamming into the headland, and then explored onto the expansive sands of Long Beach Peninsula before returning to the main party.
Clark’s journal entry for this furthest west leg of their journey ends “…men appear much Satisfied with their trip beholding with astonishment the high waves dashing against the rocks and this immense ocean.”
We and our Smithsonian guests touched this setting with a walk guided by Rex Ziak, a Lewis and Clark authority raised in this setting. We also walked to North Head Lighthouse, pictured in the photo above, one of three guardian lights that direct mariners to the always challenging and frequently treacherous Columbia River entrance.
