Since we are big fans of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, our first stop on the coast was the Fort Clatsop Visitor Center, part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park. Here they have a reproduction of Fort Clatsop, the structure that the Corps of Discovery built near the mouth of the Columbia to winter over in, before they started their long journey home. It's in a magical forest with huge, moss-covered trees. We walked the short trail through the trees down to the site of their canoe landing and tried to imagine what it was like for the Corps being here, having made it all the way to the Pacific Ocean. They had a very hard winter here--nothing but cold rain and wind pretty much all the time.
Fort Clatsop reproduction in Lewis and Clark National Historic Park.
Jack with Sitka spruce tree in forest surrounding Fort Clatsop site.
As it turns out, the Clatsop Tribe of native Americans had already been here for hundreds of years and had been regularly trading furs with the British and others (they called them all "cloth men" because of the clothes they wore). The Clatsops were a bit puzzled by the Lewis and Clark expedition, since they didn't have much to trade with by that time, but the Indians helped Lewis and Clark tremendously by providing them with food and advice for surviving the winter. And as we found out, the Corps rewarded them by stealing one of their beautifully carved and extremely seaworthy canoes (that were sacred to the tribe) to use on the homeward journey. Oh well, at least when the soldiers left Lewis signed over Fort Clatsop and the furniture inside to their chief, and he lived there with his family for a few years.
Leaving the National Historic Park, we drove south toward the next town, Seaside, and found a campground nearby. We were craving some seafood and drove into town (very quaint and beachy) in search of clam chowder. We found it at Norma's, a local seafood favorite cafe, and it was definitely tasty!
We got up relatively early the next day so we could drive on down to the next town, Cannon Beach, and photograph it. The weather was going to turn nasty fairly soon and we wanted to take some photographs at this most-photographed spot on the Oregon coast, and also we wanted to beat the crowds, if any. We were almost the first ones at Ecola State Park, a high point overlooking Cannon Beach which is a well-known spot for taking photographs. It was a beautiful morning and the scenery is spectacular indeed from this spot. There were even some ripe marionberries up there, which Jack had to pick and try (sour).
View looking down on Cannon Beach from Ecola Point.
Small sailboat and rock with historic lighthouse on top, viewed from Ecola State Park.
Jack berry-picking.
As more people began to arrive in the parking lot, we started to get hungry and decided to look for some donuts down in Cannon Beach proper. We found a nice bakery and had coffee and donuts on their porch, while being besieged by crafty sparrows who snatched crumbs from under our feet. We then walked to a beach access road and walked on the beach awhile, taking more photos from this lower perspective. The icon of Cannon Beach is Haystack Rock, a huge basalt monolith right in the surf, that is the home of many seabirds and other sea creatures. It is very photogenic!
Haystack Rock, from close up.
Haystack Rock, from farther away. It's hard to stop taking pictures of it!
One more: Jack's artsy view with sand dune...
As we were making our way off the beach back to the van, we saw a marriage proposal written in the sand: "DOM WILL YOU MARRY ME?" in neat letters about 3 feet tall. Certainly a romantic spot!
The town is very cute too. It's a classy beach town, with historic buildings, cool architecture, and lots of art galleries. It is very popular and gets crowded during the summer season, but this is a good time to be here--nice and relaxed (but still quite a few people, especially around lunch time). Whale Park at one end of town has a statue commemorating the dead beached whale that Lewis and Clark came here to see (they took Sacagawea with them on that trek, apparently the only time she got to see the ocean).
Whale Park in Cannon Beach.
The Cannon Beach Post Office is beachy too.
(Oh, one other thing about Cannon Beach: the day before we got here, a surfer was attacked by a shark and had to be airlifted out due to extensive leg injuries. The guy was a trauma nurse and knew what to do--he punched the shark and it let him go, and then he had his buddies use the surfboard leash as a tourniquet while they waited for the ambulance. He's had surgery and is recovering.)
We got back on 101 and continued our drive south, feeling like we were working against time, since we knew a bad storm was heading our way and the next several days would be nothing but rain and wind. We stopped at most of the overlooks and took a bunch of photos.
Admiring yet another scenic coastal feature.
Typically scenic spot.
Another shot of that old lighthouse from Ecola Point.
What a view from this place!
At one viewpoint turnout, a steep rocky cliff dropped straight down to the surf about 1600 feet below. The explanatory plaque there said that men had quarried rock off the cliff face and used it to build a stone wall to hold up the cliff side, to support the road. Quite an engineering feat from the looks of it!
The engineer in us couldn't help admiring this huge rock wall construction.
The town of Tillamook is noted for its cheese manufacturing operation, and they offer tours and free samples, so we had to stop. They are a major cheddar brand and their cheese is great! We bought some.
A fun stop to watch people making cheese and sample several varieties.
Our last stop before camping for the night was Cape Kiwanda at the little town of Pacific City, which is noted for a fleet of fishing dories that launches and lands through the surf on the beach, to make their way out into the open ocean to fish for salmon, Dungeness crab, and various rock fish. They've been doing this for a long time. People drive their vehicles onto this beach, as is obvious from the photo, including trucks pulling dories on trailers. Signs warn to watch for high-speed dory boats landing through the surf. Unfortunately, we didn't see any.
Cape Kiwanda, launching spot for a fishing dory fleet. Can you believe these wide, sandy beaches? They're everywhere!
Cape Kiwanda has its own Haystack Rock, with a little arch in it, no less!
We camped at a nearby state park, and the rain began just about the time we got settled in. We were lulled to sleep by the sound of rain on the roof.
It was pouring down in the morning, so we resolved to get as far as we could down the coast without stopping too much, since we didn't think we'd be able to see very much through the rain and mist. We did get a few photos, however, one dramatic one of a lighthouse perched on the side of a big rock head in the surf. The surf looked quite different today than it did yesterday. As we got farther south we came to the National Dunes Recreation Area. Another surprise for us: we didn't associate Oregon with giant sand dunes, but it sure has them! Miles and miles of them! And yet another surprise was the cranberry bogs along the southern coast. (Oregon is known for its cheese, hazelnuts, and cranberries!)
Note the fragile-looking little lighthouse clinging to the side of the rock in the center of the photo. It has a bright light though, and does its job well!
Stormy view from one of the overlooks. Quite a bit different from yesterday!
Huge sand dunes along many miles of the southern coast. The rain had let up a little at this point.
The rain and wind got much worse in midafternoon, and we passed a serious wreck, which convinced us to stop for the night at the next campground, which was a KOA (with Wifi, yay). We're currently hunkered down--wind advisory here says gusts up to 80 mph, yikes. Tomorrow (Friday) will also be rainy but wind not as bad so we will skedaddle on down the coast and see if we can get to Eureka, CA. We were going to stop and visit the redwoods but we may have to wait on that a few days. Another nasty storm is heading this way on Saturday.
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