Ocean in View
The Pacific Ocean comes into view just beyond the last tongue of land, which is now called Clatsop Spit for Lewis and Clark's Fort Clatsop. The party, so anxious to reach their goal, had been halted inland by waves and high winds for several days, and because of fog and mist they once mistook an inland point for the shore. "Great joy in camp we are in View of the Ocian, this great Pacific Octean which we ben So long anxious to See." ...William Clark.
Looking eastward from the ocean into the mouth of the Columbia River, the coast of Washington is on the left and that of Oregon is on the right. Nearly every evening a "marine layer" of coastal fog rolls ashore, and it only partially dissipates during the next day, softening the towns and the shoreline with a mysterious mist. Photo credit: Roger Blair, an
Alaska Airlines marketing director who befriended us in Astoria, and took a ride over the bay in the Citabria.
Astoria, Oregon is a small Victorian town on one of the most beautiful waterfronts in the country, the estuary of the Columbia River at the Pacific Ocean.
At the East Mooring Basin in Astoria, sea creatures have right of way.
But it is siesta time, and no one is moving a flipper.
The red and white patterns of Long Beach Lighthouse stand out through the afternoon fog.
"...and the roreing or noise made by the waves brakeing on the rockey Shores may be heard distictly." ...William Clark
The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center (at left) and North Head Lighthouse stand on the seaward edge of Cape Disappointment. Prior to the expedition, the Cape had been named by a British sea captain who had once searched for a great river here but was disappointed when he did not find it. The Corps explored this area on the north shore of the Columbia River, but decided to build their winter camp near the south shore instead.
Fort Clatsop was the winter home of the Lewis and Clark party in 1805-1806. This reproduction is part of the Fort Clatsop National Park, near Astoria.
The Captains' quarters are furnished as they were 200 years ago, with military coats included.
Daily activities for visitors at the Fort include candle making, curing hides, and making music with the simple instruments that the Corps of Discovery had with them. Shown here on the Captains' mantle at the right is a mold for candlemaking. On the table is a lantern.
On a field trip, school students get to wear clothes of the period and play games that kept the members of the expedition fit. This sunny day would have been welcomed by the Corps, who had only twelve days without rain, and only six of those without cloud cover during the long winter.
The Corps enjoyed the water at Youngs River Falls, near the Fort. We did also.
The small but friendly airport at Astoria is our point of departure for the return trip to Tucson.
Homeward bound from a wonderful journey, Mary says the the Citabria has been a gem throughout its 10,000 mile trip.
We leave only a shadow as we make our way along the banks of the Columbia on our way home.
A gorgeous sunset crowns our own trip of adventure and discovery. The words of Loren Eiseley ring true: "If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water...You have probably never experienced in yourself the meandering roots of a whole watershed or felt your outstretched fingers touching, by some kind of clairvoyant extension, the brooks of snow-line glaciers at the same time that you were flowing toward the Gulf..."

 

We have experienced from the air and on the ground the whole watershed of the Missouri, the longest river in the U.S., and we've traced the west-bound rivers that lead to the sea. We have been moved, touched and inspired by sights and sounds, by new-found understandings, and especially by the people of this nation and their visions of what is possible.

We thank all of you who have shared the journey with us.
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