Trekking Along the Oregon Coast

Oregon! Land of Lewis and Clark, the Columbia River and miles and miles of beautiful beaches.... and the odd drop of liquid sunshine!

Gave up on the idea of following the Oregon Trail when I realized it was all about the mountains! Don't do so well with hauling the rig up and down those things. Decided better to stick to the coast where the terrain was a little more hospitable (LOL). Benji and Zoe enjoyed the beach as they were able to run free and check out all the nooks and crannies.

Our first stop was at South Beach. Here we stayed in a lovely little park, nestled in the trees. Lovely that is until the liquid sunshine turned to ........

Yup, that's the white stuff. Guess they wanted to make us feel at home.

So when it snows, you turn to indoor activities. Lo and behold, the annual Newport Wine and Seafood festival was on in the next town. Not being ones to miss out on a fest, off we went to Newport to sample some of the local fare. We were quite surprised with the number of wine producers there are in Oregon. We'd always associated wine making with California and Washington.

Next it was off to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The bird on the left is a puffin. Not quite like the one we have back in Newfoundland. It's called a Tufted Puffin.

The aquarium is constructed so you can see the animals both above and below the water. These two harbour seals look they are on a crash course, fortunately they missed. The aquarium also has an area called Passage of the Deep where you walk through the tanks while all kinds of fish swim above, below and around you. Really neat!!

Unfortunately, it did rain almost every day we were in South Beach. With that comes the threat of snow and icy roads at higher elevations. With that in mind, when the sun peaked out of the clouds we hooked up and continued our trek northward to the resort town of Seaside.

For those who are not up on the American history, in 1805 Lewis and Clark ended their cross country expedition in Oregon, near the town of Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. Their trek had taken two years to complete as they followed the Missouri River into Idaho, travelled across the Continental Divide before connecting with what is now called the Columbia River system and then followed it some 600 miles to the Pacific Ocean. The town of Seaside, located 16 miles south of Astoria, has commemorated this event with a statue on the roundabout at the end of Main Street, just before you get to the beach.

The largest river in the Pacific northwest, the Columbia River is no piece of cake to travel along. With it's heavy water flow and fairly steep gradient, the river's water churns and swirls, making navigation extremely difficult. That being said, it is a main transportation route into the interior of the US, with ships travelling as far inland as Idaho. The Pacific tides are extremely strong in this area as well. The combination of the tides and the water flow have created a unique phenomenon known as the Columbia River bar; an extremely dangerous area to traverse. Since the first ship tried to enter the Columbia River from the Pacific back in 1792, 2000 vessels and 700 souls have been lost to the turbulent waters. The Coast Guard vessel Jim is looking at can be found in the Columbia River Coastal Museum. The scene depicts an actual rescue that was successful despite the tidal surge.

In an effort to reduce the swells, the US Army Corps of Engineers built a three mile jetty south of the entrance to the river. This picture was taken on a calm, clear day. I can only imagine what the water is like on a stormy one. A shorter jetty was also constructed at the north entrance.

Even with the jetties, the waves are still quite treacherous. This picture shows the water travelling up the mouth of the river. Unfortunately I could not get close enough for a really good picture.

Regrettably the inclement weather continued. So just like our time at South Beach, we cut our visit to Seaside short. On the second sunny day we had we broke camp and headed to Seattle, WA, as rain is forecasted for the remainder of the month of March.