Fort Clatsop, Cannon Beach

Day 42: 4 July 2021

We travel to Fort Clatsop and return to walk the beach

Ecola State Park

I love the architecture and size of these Giant Hogweed flowers/weeds, seen commonly along the coast.
Bear with me as I add more photos of these!

What is now Ecola State Park was the ocean that greeted Lewis and Clark after they ascended the hill separating it from the ocean. Clark saw a beached whale on what is now Cannon Beach. The curvy and narrow road into the park is stunningly beautiful. (Passing oncoming traffic is a nail biter.)

You can see Tillamook Rock Lighthouse way out in the water, on it’s own island (rock). First lit 1881.

Looking toward Haystack Rock beach from Ecola SP

I call this one “Gold and the Blues”.

Offshore: Tillamook Rock Lighthouse

Cannon Beach Beach

Tons of colorful kites out today. 
There is even a kite store in town!

Not uncommon to see bikes on the hard sand beach. Note the recumbent bike squad closer to the ocean.

Lots of people out on the beach today for a Sunday July 4th holiday. Even though there aren’t any people in this one, this is my favorite, with the low tide exposing seaweed and critters on the rocks. Haystack on the right and The Needles on the left.

Indiana Jones Dan Lee with the father-son wake boarders and Haystack

Nature patterns

Reflections in the wet sand
I can die happy now that I had the chance to walk (and walk and walk!) on Cannon Beach, the beach!

Cannon Beach Town

It looks like the flowers and the tree are reaching out…

Dinner was at the Public Coast Brewing Co., Cannon Beach

We walked from our campsite. But after the beach walk and the long walk through town (what a fast bike ride it was last night—but the traffic made it terrifying!) to get back to our RoadHouse, the last thing I wanted to do was to walk to get dinner. But I (my knee) survived…I can do most things, but a hike requires my (2) poles and I’m slow walking and hiking. Sometimes I just send Dan on because I never quite catch up to him. I would really be hurting if I didn’t have that giant bottle of ibuprofen!

Fort Clatsop, Warrenton, OR

This is a reconstruction of the original fort after it was destroyed by fire in the 1980s.

Apparently there are 16 Sacajawea statues in the US. We’ve now seen two of them.
This one shows Sacajawea and her son, John Baptiste Charbonneau. (Remember Pompey’s Pillar? Pompey was what Lewis affectionately called little John Baptiste)

The beautiful, melodic, Rainforest at Clatsop Fort.

Tomorrow we head down Rt 101 with a planned stop in Tillamook at the Creamery. Stay tuned!