Canoe Landing, Fort Clatsop, Astoria, Oregon
We woke this morning to the Sea Bird gently rocking in the mouth of the Columbia River, with Cape Disappointment off our starboard bow and the whole wooded sweep of the Baker Bay shoreline in full view. From deck we could easily trace Lewis & Clark’s route – on foot now, thanks to treacherous weather and high waves – from their campsite on the west side of Point Ellice to the cape and beyond. A real treat, but one soon eclipsed by the beauty of dawn itself as Captain Kay turned us back toward Astoria and the sun hoisted itself into the clouds.
After breakfast we explored the Columbia River Maritime Museum, a first-rate interpretive center that vividly portrays the colorful and often shockingly hazardous nautical history of the Columbia River Bar. Next, we motored across town to the site of Fort Clatsop, an excellent representation of the log fort where the Corps of Discovery passed its dreary winter of 1805-06. This national historic site also houses an excellent interpretive center that balances an in-depth presentation of Lewis & Clark with thoughtful exhibits on the Clatsop and Chinook peoples. A leisurely stroll down to the fort’s canoe landing led us past a cornucopia of plants first described for science by Lewis and Clark and to a lovely spider, diligently weaving a fort of her own within sight of reproductions of the expedition’s dugout canoes.
After lunch, some of us climbed to the very top of the Astoria Column, a spire that offers a cartographic vista of the Columbia River Estuary, Baker Bay, Cape Disappointment, Point Ellice, Youngs Bay, the Lewis & Clark River, and the Pacific Ocean. On a cloudless day such as we had, the view extends far south along the Coast Range and takes in Tillamook Head, yet another Lewis & Clark landmark.
As cocktails were served in the lounge, the Sea Bird cast off from Astoria and we headed back up river toward Portland. William Clark’s November 18, 1805 assessment of his men’s morale upon completing their journey to the Pacific pretty well sums up our own: the party “appear much Satisfied with their trip.”
We woke this morning to the Sea Bird gently rocking in the mouth of the Columbia River, with Cape Disappointment off our starboard bow and the whole wooded sweep of the Baker Bay shoreline in full view. From deck we could easily trace Lewis & Clark’s route – on foot now, thanks to treacherous weather and high waves – from their campsite on the west side of Point Ellice to the cape and beyond. A real treat, but one soon eclipsed by the beauty of dawn itself as Captain Kay turned us back toward Astoria and the sun hoisted itself into the clouds.
After breakfast we explored the Columbia River Maritime Museum, a first-rate interpretive center that vividly portrays the colorful and often shockingly hazardous nautical history of the Columbia River Bar. Next, we motored across town to the site of Fort Clatsop, an excellent representation of the log fort where the Corps of Discovery passed its dreary winter of 1805-06. This national historic site also houses an excellent interpretive center that balances an in-depth presentation of Lewis & Clark with thoughtful exhibits on the Clatsop and Chinook peoples. A leisurely stroll down to the fort’s canoe landing led us past a cornucopia of plants first described for science by Lewis and Clark and to a lovely spider, diligently weaving a fort of her own within sight of reproductions of the expedition’s dugout canoes.
After lunch, some of us climbed to the very top of the Astoria Column, a spire that offers a cartographic vista of the Columbia River Estuary, Baker Bay, Cape Disappointment, Point Ellice, Youngs Bay, the Lewis & Clark River, and the Pacific Ocean. On a cloudless day such as we had, the view extends far south along the Coast Range and takes in Tillamook Head, yet another Lewis & Clark landmark.
As cocktails were served in the lounge, the Sea Bird cast off from Astoria and we headed back up river toward Portland. William Clark’s November 18, 1805 assessment of his men’s morale upon completing their journey to the Pacific pretty well sums up our own: the party “appear much Satisfied with their trip.”
