Washington - Day 5 - west to the coast

Cape Disappointment State Park, Long Beach
Sunday, 5 June 2022

today's route

When I left the KOA this morning, I turned up the mountain, heading to the Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center.  We got there before its 9:00 opening, so I walked Dext around the parking area, which looked like rain forest - very lush.

Once I got into the visitor center I learned it was run by the state, not the federal government, so my senior pass was no good for a discount on the admission fee.  I hadn't brought any money with me and had already walked back to the RV once to get my mask, so I really didn't want to walk back for an admission fee I didn't want to pay anyway.  It wasn't much - $5 (no senior discount) - but it was raining out and I just didn't want to go badly enough to make the effort.

That's partly because years ago, my life in Alaska was disrupted by debris from the eruption.  And when I later moved to Washington, I actually drove all over the area where the debris from the eruption had scattered.  I'd seen the moonscape that replaced the beautiful green forest.  The management agencies are letting the area revive on its own, rather than trying any kind of active regeneration program, so I wasn't surprised when people told me that not a lot has changed.

I know more about volcanoes now than I did then and on another trip here I'd like to see what exhibits they have here.  But not today.

Back on the road, I noticed that roses have begun blooming like crazy, and I've been seeing all types in full bloom.  When I get close, the scent is wonderful.  And of course, there are also the rhododendrons and azaleas.  A nice time of the year, despite the weather.

Longview and Kelso are twin cities and I went through both, though the route took me mostly through miles of Longview.

I passed a big marshy area covered with water lilies, where someone had erected bird houses on poles stuck in the water.  One of the houses was made of wood and looked about a foot deep.  Two others were made of what looked like plant material that were long and round - like looking into an oatmeal box, only made of twigs or moss or something.  The hole for the bird was at the end of the cylinder.

You can see from the route map that the road followed the Columbia River for miles.  I remember following the river on the Oregon side several weeks ago.

I passed a driveway and saw that one family had something that looked like a bronzed statue of David at the head of the driveway.

At Cathlamet, you can pick up a ferry to Oregon.  It's a county-operated ferry that holds 9 cars and takes 10 minutes to cross the river.  If it really does cost $6 for a car and occupants, it's a better bargain all around than driving to one of those huge bridges and crossing the river that way.

There's a species of deer called the Columbian white-tailed deer, and they're endangered.  I passed a refuge specifically for them that has land set aside on both sides of the river to help the deer out.

I started passing hillsides that had been logged and the plants were starting to grow back.

If I'd turned left I'd've come to a historic one-lane covered bridge over the Gray River.  Built in 1905, it's the only covered bridge in WA that's still being used as a public roadway.

I came to a sign warning of a "bump" and here, as in Oregon, when they say "bump" they actually mean bump, I discovered.

In the tiny town of Naselle, we stopped for a break at the local elementary school (it's a Sunday), and I walked Dext and fixed us all some lunch.  We hadn't been there more than 15 minutes when someone stopped to find out what we were doing.  I think she was afraid I planned to use their parking area as a campground for the night, but I reassured her.

A sign I saw along the highway made me look it up and I learned that, from 1899 until 1938, a defunct fish cannery along the southern WA coast was used as an official US quarantine station.  Under federal law, immigrants in arriving boats had to be inspected by doctors.  If there was sickness on the boat, it was sent to this quarantine station.  People took showers, their clothes were deloused, and the ships were fumigated for 48 hours before passengers and crew could reboard.  Bet you didn't know that.

I passed a sign for Dismal Nitch (I swear) where Lewis & Clark made their last campsite before sighting the Pacific Ocean.  Apparently there was a terrible winter storm that kept them stuck there longer than they wanted, and I'm guessing that's where the name came from.

I passed a sign saying "Welcome to Unceded Chinook Territory."  I can't quite tell what that's about (other than the meaning of the words) from a quick internet search.

I suddenly found myself inside a narrow old tunnel that was longer than I'd've wanted.  No warning.  But it turned out okay because there wasn't much traffic today.

At the town of Chinook, I saw a deer standing near the road on the edge of town.  Just a bit farther on, I saw a sign warning me of deer for the next 3 miles.

At Cape Disappointment State Park, tonight's campground, I found a lot of families had come for the day, despite the bad weather.  The park's check-out time is the same as the check-in time, and I was a little early anyway, so I stopped at a visitor lot to give Dext a walk and see what they had.

In case you're wondering, as I was, how the name "Cape Disappointment" came about, it wasn't, as I'd expected, connected with Lewis & Clark but instead pre-dated the arrival of their expedition.  In 1788, an English explorer named Capt. John Meares tried and failed to cross the river bar here.  Four years later, American Capt. Robert Gray managed to do it.

Lewis and Clark arrived here in 1805.  They too were disappointed, but that was because they knew they were looking at the Pacific Ocean but hadn't been able to find a connection with the Missouri River which would open up commerce.  Here's a sign I saw at the park.

Of course, the Columbia River was certainly large enough to allow navigation, but conditions changed frequently, due to its exposure to the ocean.  This sign describes efforts to tame the river.

There's a lighthouse at the cape that was built in 1848 and is still being used.  Actually, the US Coast Guard tried to deactivate it in 1956, but the boat pilots that have to navigate the Columbia River bar raised enough of a protest that it's still operating.

view from the north side

view from the campground on the south side

Without intending to, I ended up reserving a campsite that was almost right on the beach.

We had to maneuver around these logs, but I think
you can see how close the Pacific is.

The weather wasn't great,
so we nearly had the beach to ourselves.

My first trip without Gracie.  I really noticed that I had only one dog and not two, and I'm pretty sure Dext noticed as well.  Of course, having only one dog to get bouncy with other dogs was suddenly an advantage, because there were plenty of other dogs.  But I really missed my baby.

That was a very comfortable campground, except there wasn't any internet connection on my hotspot.  Oh well.

On the campground bulletin board I saw a notice that was new to me.

I didn't know any of this and am glad they're informing us campers.  I hope everybody else sees it, too.