The wreck of the Peter Iredale. The last time I was here was 1966.
We stumbled into Astoria on a gray morning, got some groceries, and drove out to Fort Stevens State Park to cook up some breakfast.
In 1966, our family was living in Montana, and we made a big summer tour of the national parks of the West. One of our stops was at the wreck of the Peter Iredale. It ran aground in 1906, and I was surprised to see that any wreckage still exists.
The ruins of the replica of Fort Clatsop.
This is the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark expedition reaching the Pacific, and spending the winter of 1805-06 camping near present-day Astoria. The expedition built a small log building for the winter, named Fort Clatsop.
Unfortunately, the fort was burned in a fire ten days before we arrived. The cause of the fire is still undetermined, but arson is suspected, and locals aren't too happy about the dispatcher who reported it.
Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.
As we continued down the coast, the sun came out and tried to burn through the fog, with occasional success.
Sunshine in Oregon? I knew it was theoretically possible, but never thought I’d actually see it...
We took a long walk on Cannon Beach and had a traditional lunch of wine, cheese and trail mix while crows, sea gulls, and other winged vermin circled us like Indians around a wagon train.
The Octopus Tree, a giant sitka spruce next to the Cape Meares Lighthouse.
As the fog moved back in, we continued south. We stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory to gawk at the assembly line workers and scarf down as many cheese samples as possible without looking too conspicuous.
A scenic roads heads southwest out of Tillamook bay to a series of parks, including the Cape Meares Lighthouse.
By now the fog was so thick that we couldn’t see a thing, so we toured a trail along the cliffs that had a series of signs informing us of all the wildlife we would see if we could see, taunted with promises of murres and puffins.
On the Oregon coast, mushrooms grow as big as lighthouses.
As a consolation, there were banana slugs everywhere—on the trail, in the trees, climbing fences, stuck to our shoes, etc.
Being from California, Nancy was astonished at proliferation of gastropods. Being from Oregon, I've seen bigger.
Cooking burritos at the Cape Lookout campground.
We spent the night at the Cape Lookout campground. The campgrounds are only about one-quarter full this time of year, and most of the campers are retirees in gargantuan motor homes with satellite dishes strung all over the roads.
It seems odd to go camping to watch TV, but if we really wanted to get away from it all, we wouldn’t be in a campground.
Taking a stroll after dinner at Cape Lookout beach.
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