Astoria, Oregon
After breakfast we strolled to the Columbia River Maritime Museum to learn about the "graveyard of the Pacific," the estuary that has wrecked and swallowed more than 2,000 vessels since Captain Gray sailed along it in 1792. Museum exhibits explained why this stretch of water is so treacherous – factors that include high seas, a mighty river and shallow, shifting sandbars. The Columbia River estuary extends 22 miles up from the river's mouth. We learned how jetties constructed both on north and south banks have constricted the mouth of the Columbia River to two miles in width.
Offshore shipwrecks in these waters include the Peter Iredale of Liverpool, a four masted ship that sank in the Columbia's waters in 1906. All crew and passengers were saved due to local lifesaving efforts. To warn captains of dangers and to guide coastal shipping within the Columbia River estuary, a lighthouse named 'Terrible Tilly' was erected in 1881. Violent storms hurtled waves and rocks that smashed lighthouse windows even 133 feet above normal sea level. Tilly was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1957.
At the museum we learned that Captain Cook, on his third and final voyage to the South Seas, traveled up the northwest coast of America, to what is now Alaska, in 1778. However this greatest navigator of his age did not find or explore the Columbia River.
We then inspected the maritime museum's most problematic display. This 13 ton bridge of the U.S.S. Knapp had to be barged down the Columbia River, trucked to the site of the un-built museum, then unloaded by crane. The museum was later constructed around this exhibit.
Our next stop was Fort Clatsop, a replica of the log camp built by Lewis & Clark and their Corps of Discovery. They wintered at this location from December 1805 through March 23, 1806. We visited the canoe camp where they repaired five canoes they had carved out of Ponderosa pine far upriver months earlier. We then watched a slide show that illustrated scenes from the damp, flea infested winter the group spent at the fort while homesick for family and friends back east.
We returned to Astoria under sunshine and blue skies. A group of us then visited the Astoria Column within sight of the docked Sea Lion. From there we surveyed the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean from high above town. Some even climbed the 164 steps of the circular stairway inside the column and then launched balsa wood airplanes (purchased from a vendor below) into the breeze. Maroon paintings that circle the column depict Astoria's historical highlights. These include Captain Gray's arrival in the Columbia River in 1792, the passing of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and Oregon gaining statehood in 1859.
Finally, the captain took the Sea Lion up to the mouth of the Columbia River. Due to incredibly calm, clear conditions, we crossed the line demarcating river from ocean and passed into the Pacific – headed toward sunset and led by a flock of pelicans.
After breakfast we strolled to the Columbia River Maritime Museum to learn about the "graveyard of the Pacific," the estuary that has wrecked and swallowed more than 2,000 vessels since Captain Gray sailed along it in 1792. Museum exhibits explained why this stretch of water is so treacherous – factors that include high seas, a mighty river and shallow, shifting sandbars. The Columbia River estuary extends 22 miles up from the river's mouth. We learned how jetties constructed both on north and south banks have constricted the mouth of the Columbia River to two miles in width.
Offshore shipwrecks in these waters include the Peter Iredale of Liverpool, a four masted ship that sank in the Columbia's waters in 1906. All crew and passengers were saved due to local lifesaving efforts. To warn captains of dangers and to guide coastal shipping within the Columbia River estuary, a lighthouse named 'Terrible Tilly' was erected in 1881. Violent storms hurtled waves and rocks that smashed lighthouse windows even 133 feet above normal sea level. Tilly was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1957.
At the museum we learned that Captain Cook, on his third and final voyage to the South Seas, traveled up the northwest coast of America, to what is now Alaska, in 1778. However this greatest navigator of his age did not find or explore the Columbia River.
We then inspected the maritime museum's most problematic display. This 13 ton bridge of the U.S.S. Knapp had to be barged down the Columbia River, trucked to the site of the un-built museum, then unloaded by crane. The museum was later constructed around this exhibit.
Our next stop was Fort Clatsop, a replica of the log camp built by Lewis & Clark and their Corps of Discovery. They wintered at this location from December 1805 through March 23, 1806. We visited the canoe camp where they repaired five canoes they had carved out of Ponderosa pine far upriver months earlier. We then watched a slide show that illustrated scenes from the damp, flea infested winter the group spent at the fort while homesick for family and friends back east.
We returned to Astoria under sunshine and blue skies. A group of us then visited the Astoria Column within sight of the docked Sea Lion. From there we surveyed the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean from high above town. Some even climbed the 164 steps of the circular stairway inside the column and then launched balsa wood airplanes (purchased from a vendor below) into the breeze. Maroon paintings that circle the column depict Astoria's historical highlights. These include Captain Gray's arrival in the Columbia River in 1792, the passing of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and Oregon gaining statehood in 1859.
Finally, the captain took the Sea Lion up to the mouth of the Columbia River. Due to incredibly calm, clear conditions, we crossed the line demarcating river from ocean and passed into the Pacific – headed toward sunset and led by a flock of pelicans.
