Lower Columbia River
Watching the ocean waves break at the Columbia River bar was a great way to start the day. Many of the guests along with the naturalist and historian staff were on the bow to explore the mouth of the river. It was not hard to imagine Captain Clark having wrote, “Ocean in view!” seeing the same sight almost two hundred years ago. The shore where the Corps of Discovery first stayed on the north side of the river was not far off. From this vantage we could see how difficult it would be for the explorers to cross the open waters to the south side of the bay where they would eventually spend the winter of 1805 and 1806.
Once at the historic town of Astoria we disembarked to the nearby Maritime Museum. From there we headed up the Lewis and Clark River to Fort Clatsop National Memorial. Exploring together the six rooms that made up the winter quarters many were surprised how small it was. Captain Lewis first picked this site for several reasons, closeness to the bay, a nearby freshwater spring, trees the right size to build a fort and most importantly this place was thirty feet above the highest high tide mark. The men took a month to build the fort and moved in on Christmas day. The fort was occupied for only three months. Much of the time the men spent preparing for the return journey home while the Captains continued to record the customs of new peoples they had met along with making maps and collecting plant specimens.
Just as the members of the expedition divided up to explore east of the Rocky Mountains so did the guests of the Sea Lion. Splitting up at the Astoria column some went to explore the town while the rest went to Fort Stevens State Park. The sea and sky were stormy. This did not stop any of us from checking out the remains of a wrecked ship that had been lying on the beach since 1905. Tonight we head back towards Portland.
Watching the ocean waves break at the Columbia River bar was a great way to start the day. Many of the guests along with the naturalist and historian staff were on the bow to explore the mouth of the river. It was not hard to imagine Captain Clark having wrote, “Ocean in view!” seeing the same sight almost two hundred years ago. The shore where the Corps of Discovery first stayed on the north side of the river was not far off. From this vantage we could see how difficult it would be for the explorers to cross the open waters to the south side of the bay where they would eventually spend the winter of 1805 and 1806.
Once at the historic town of Astoria we disembarked to the nearby Maritime Museum. From there we headed up the Lewis and Clark River to Fort Clatsop National Memorial. Exploring together the six rooms that made up the winter quarters many were surprised how small it was. Captain Lewis first picked this site for several reasons, closeness to the bay, a nearby freshwater spring, trees the right size to build a fort and most importantly this place was thirty feet above the highest high tide mark. The men took a month to build the fort and moved in on Christmas day. The fort was occupied for only three months. Much of the time the men spent preparing for the return journey home while the Captains continued to record the customs of new peoples they had met along with making maps and collecting plant specimens.
Just as the members of the expedition divided up to explore east of the Rocky Mountains so did the guests of the Sea Lion. Splitting up at the Astoria column some went to explore the town while the rest went to Fort Stevens State Park. The sea and sky were stormy. This did not stop any of us from checking out the remains of a wrecked ship that had been lying on the beach since 1905. Tonight we head back towards Portland.
