We left Astoria, Oregon, this morning and drove across the Astoria Bridge into Washington. For those skeptics who didn’t think we would make it past California and Oregon, we did it.
Our first destination of the day was Cape Disappointment State Park. Cape Disappointment was named in 1788 by English Captain John Meares after his failure to find the passage over the river bar leading to the Columbia River. Because he did not find the river he named the headland Cape Disappointment.
There are two lighthouses in the park, North Head Lighthouse and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. They both warned mariners of the treacherous river bars that lead to the mouth of the Columbia being called the “graveyard of the Pacific” in the mid 1850’s.
We headed off down the path to North Head Lighthouse but first rain and then hail fell, which became heavy, and forced a return to the car. It soon cleared enough for a second attempt. An amazing number of people were also trekking down the hill in spite of the cold and recent storm.
The first glimpse of the lighthouse is over a grassy bank.
It sits on a rocky hillside that juts out into the ocean. It was incredibly windy and chilly (temperatures on the high 30’s), but we walked around the buildings and took pictures. The views were windy but nice.
The view from the side of the lighthouse was of muddy surf. It was the first time we had seen this. We have since seen the muddy edge again.
We saw a raft of cormorants preparing to nest. Thanks to our bird watching instructors at Cape Meares we knew what they were up to. We are also picking up some ornithology terminology.
Some of the cormorants had already claimed nesting sites on the top of a nearby rock. (If you enlarge the picture you can actually see the birds instead of little black dots.) We could faintly smell the nests, which are made of bird guano and sticks. Apparently in the "real" Spring, when it is warm, the odor is pervasive through out the area.
We next saw Cape Disappointment Lighthouse from the terrace of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. We decided that the view was sufficient to claim it as a lighthouse find, as the hike to the lighthouse was a muddy path the volunteers were warning was slippery and inadvisable at present. Cape Disappointment is the oldest functioning lighthouse on the Washington coast.
We decided to detour up the Long Beach Peninsula. We didn’t see as much coastline as we had hoped, but it was a pretty drive. The bay was fascinating with all the old pilings and piers sticking out of the water along the shore. There are many fishing boats, and processing places for crab and oysters--not my kind of place.We also saw several sloughs, which are basically winding creeks in marshes or tide flats. One night in Tillamook our room looked out over a slough in which neighborhood kids were swimming—before the weather decided to take another turn at winter.
Back on our route again we saw the street sculptures in Raymond. These are two-dimensional life-sized metal cut-outs of animals and people placed along the road leading into town and along the streets of the town. Some of the animals were in natural settings where you might expect to find the real thing. The people and family groups are shown carrying out everyday life activities.
Seen along the way in a nearby on route 101: “The Loose Caboose”, a diner in an old red train caboose.In an area with forest on both sides of the highway a coyote ran across the road in front of us, startling us both. It appeared, dashed across the road, and vanished into the undergrowth in what seemed an instant.
In Westport we stopped to see the ocean, as we hadn’t seen it in awhile. Turning around to return to the car, we spied over the treetops—a lighthouse! This one had not appeared in any of our reading material. Naturally we had to track it down and get a picture.
Grey’s Harbor Light Station is Washington’s tallest lighthouse. The light in the lighthouse itself is not functioning anymore, but a navigational signal is attached to the side of the tower serving as a warning light for ships. You can see it at the lower left of the lens tower.
This is a shot of Tom reminding me I am becoming annoying, constantly taking his picture (like someone else has done for years and years and years to me):
We stopped in Aberdeen at an information center to gather some material about Washington. There was a wealth of good maps and booklets for Washington, Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle. I think we have our reading material for the next couple of evenings.We also talked to a lovely older lady who showed us a detour on the map that she said was “a must”. She told us Rt. 101 was really boring and this route would take us by some of the most gorgeous coast in Washington. We decided to try it, but apparently she has not taken the route in years. In the few places the highway was next to the ocean, the trees and shrubs were so thick we could only catch fleeting glimpses of the water. We did not see the ocean, let alone “gorgeous coast”.
We were disappointed to find that most of the coast we passed was isolated from the highway by private property with warning signs not to trespass. In the areas where there was ocean at the road side, there were no pull outs or overlooks as in California and Oregon, so it sort of flashed by without a good look.
We did find a place where you can literally drive on the beach—there are road signs like on a regular highway. But there were also signs posted that said “no vehicles allowed April 15 until Labor Day”. Having already experienced two interesting episodes with the rental car, we thought it best not to push our luck—even though we did see someone driving on the sand and there were tracks galore.
The detour proved a terrible idea. It cost us time and we saw very little. So far that is the only bad advice we have received. I think we have been fortunate.
We finally arrived at Quinault Lodge in Olympic National Forest. We had stayed here about twelve or thirteen years ago, and it has not changed much. It is rustic, with no phones (except for a pay phone in the lobby—and cell phone service is nil) and no TV’s. There is a huge gathering room with a large fireplace and big windows overlooking the lake. Entertainment is a chest of games, bookcase of books (mostly Reader's Digest Condensed Books), and the other guests. If you sit near the fireplace, you should be prepared to talk with others gathered there. It is great fun.
The only big change we could find was that the many stuffed heads of animals have disappeared from the walls. There are a couple racks of immense elk antlers, but no more dead animal heads. I always felt like they were staring at me with their glassy eyes, so I didn't miss them.
We went down for a drink in front of the fire and met a couple from Portland. We spend a very enjoyable hour or so chatting with them. Too bad we didn’t meet them before we were in the Portland area. We would have known about the Portland vegan restaurant with the nude waitstaff. That has to be an experience! They told us many amusing stories about Oregon and Portland.
We are excited to do some exploring in Olympic National Park tomorrow.
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