Cape Disappointment

So it is our last day on the coast, we have to check out tomorrow. The day started out the same as the last few days, it was raining and then suddenly it turned to sunshine, so we decided we better get out there and make the most of our day. We decided to go over the bridge to Washington to see Cape Disappointment. This was the last stop for Lewis and Clark before they wintered at Fort Clatsop from 1905-1906  and then headed back to St Louis.

We had been here before but we only went to the interpretative centre and it was a quick trip because we were on our way home. We didn’t get a chance to go to the lighthouse because it was raining and the path was too muddy. Not today though it was a fairly dry walk. It was ¾ or a mile each way. Our first stop was Dead Man’s Cove. There was no sign to explain why it was called this so I will leave it up to everyone’s imagination.

From the lighthouse you can see North and South Jetties and the Columbia River Bar where the ships enter the mouth of the Columbia.

North Jetty

 

South Jetty

 

Mouth of the Bar

 

 

 

There is a coast guard base here as well; we watched two of the boats do some maneuvers in the mouth. It is very difficult to get a picture of the waves, it actually looks quite calm, you can’t really tell how large the waves are until you see a boat disappear in one of the swells. We got to see a Bar Pilot boat heading out to take control of a tanker that was coming into the Port of Astoria.

After seeing the lighthouse we walked over to the interpretive centre and took the tour, it is very well done. They walk you down a series of ramps that follow the route of Lewis and Clark from St. Louis all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  The once they reach the mouth of the Columbia it takes you to the main floor and they have some interactive displays to display the Pacific and Columbia River areas. It is very well done.

The museum finishes back upstairs with a display about the coast guard and coastal lighthouses. They have a full Fresnel lens display and a list of all the lighthouses and their signals.

There was also a military base located here to help protect the mouth of the Columbia. During World War II they built Battery Harvey Allen, to watch for Japanese submarines and war ships. The guns were originally put out by the lighthouse but the blow back from the first gun blast broke the windows in the lighthouse so the guns were moved over by the interpretive centre.

This is the room that held all the shells for the guns.

 

After the here we headed over to the North Head Lighthouse. The Cape Disappointment lighthouse was built first but it was quickly discovered that it could not be seen when sailing from the north so they built the North Head Lighthouse to take care of this. This lighthouse was a much easier walk and was actually quite spectacular.

 

This is the view looking south from the lighthouse.

 

There was also the lighthouse keeper’s house and a duplex for the assistant lighthouse keepers that are available to rent as vacation homes.

After our spectacularly sunny day we headed back to the condo to make dinner from the leftovers in the fridge and get most of our stuff packed into the truck so it is easier to leave in the morning.