We awoke this morning as the National Geographic Sea Lion was approaching the junction of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean and the treacherous Columbia River Bar. We then turned eastward toward Astoria just as the sun was rising behind the town.
Our first stop during the morning was Fort Clatsop, the reconstruction of the 1805-1806 winter fort of the Corps of Discovery. We saw a film about the winter at Fort Clatsop and had some interpretation before visiting the replica of the fort and a walk down to the landing where the Corps’ canoes landed. We then headed back to Astoria for a visit to the 125-foot tall Astoria Colum. The exterior of the column is decorated with a spiral mural depicting the history of the area, beginning with American Captain Robert Gray who was the first sea captain to negotiate the Columbia Bar and who claimed the Oregon Country for the United States. Some guests climbed the interior stairway of the column to launch balsa-wood airplanes from the top.
We then proceed by coach to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, where we learned about the history of navigation at the mouth of the river, and the salmon and timber industries that flourished here.
During the afternoon, we took our coaches across the 4.1 mile Astoria-Megler Bridge to the state of Washington, where we passed Lewis and Clark’s Station Camp where they stayed for 10 days while exploring the Washington side of the river. We next visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Camp Disappointment. The view of the mouth of the Columbia and the mighty Pacific was stunning, with the wind and occasional rain, and waves crashing below. The Interpretive Center shows the entire journey of the Corps of Discovery with paintings, text, and journal quotes. We spotted a bald eagle perched on a tree overlooking the North Jetty. Some of us hiked through the temperate rain forest to Wakiki Beach while others rode the coach. We walked along the Maya Lin Confluence Project boardwalk to the dunes and down the beach to the edge of the Pacific. We had gone as far west as the Corps of Discovery!
