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Published: February 1st 2024
(Full disclosure: we actually went to Ft Clatsop on the 29th and the Columbia River Gorge on the 30th. I am reversing those for story-telling purposes)
When we left Mt. Rainier, we did not return to Olympia, but went on south to Longview to be further along our path. The next morning we got up hoping to see Mt. St. Helens, but when we arrived at the visitor center indicated in maps and brochures, the mountain was not visible, and it was a 200 mile round trip to get to the other side of it to view the mountain. We decided against that excursion. We proceeded south to the Columbia River. The Columbia arises in the Rocky Mountains of Canada, and after an initial northwest trek, it heads south and then about due west to form most of the boundary between Oregon and Washington. At 1243 miles in length and draining an area the size of France, it is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest, the largest river in terms of water volume that enters into the Pacific outside of Asia, and the 36th largest in the world. Much of its natural flow has been altered by dams.
After their harrowing trip through the final mountain obstacle, the men of the Lewis and Clark expedition were exhausted and near starved. Winter weather had come early in the Bitterroots, and game had been scarce. Some of the horses they had purchased exchanged roles as service animals for roles as dinner. But they sometimes went two days with almost nothing to eat. When they finally came out of the mountains they found the Nez Perce digging camas bulbs and fishing for salmon. Starving, they gorged themselves, but the change in diet cause severe cramping, diarrhea, gas, and vomiting.
Meriwether: "I hardly know which was worse, starvation or the violent intestinal problems that came when we partook of too much of the new-found bounty. Capt. Clark had warned us to go easy, but when you have had so little food for so many days that is hard. We got to Clearwater Creek and realized that we could finally make dugout canoes and float the rest of the way to the Great Ocean, but it took us 10 days to do that in our weakened states. We also had gone from the cold of the mountains to the heat along the
river, and that also required some time for accommodation. But as we felt better, we rejoiced that the mountains were behind us and that game and fish should be plentiful from now on."
In the present, the Columbia is one of the three rivers that completely traverse the Cascade mountain range. When I first thought about that, I wondered how a river could erode a channel through an entire mountain range. It turns out the answer is simple: the river was there first. The river formed about 60-70 million years ago, while the Cascades only started pushing up about 4-5 million years ago. As they have risen, the high flow Columbia has managed to keep its channel eroded and flowing. This means that along the southern shore of the river there are cliffs, and this gives us numerous large and small waterfalls. These are the prime focus of tourists doing the Columbia River Gorge tour. Most of these are visible only short walks from the scenic byway that follows the route of the river. There are only a couple of sites related to Lewis and Clark along the river.
Near the mouth of the Columbia lie Cape Disappointment
and Ft. Clatsop (also spelled Klatsop). Cape Disappointment had been discovered from the sea about 17 years earlier by a British sea captain. For a variety of reasons, he mistakenly concluded that no great river entered the ocean at this location. This was one of the landmarks sought by the company. They were able to view the Pacific Ocean from Pillar Rock on November 7, but they were unable to reach it for another 10 days.
Meriwether: "We thought we were in the land of milk and honey when we got to the Columbia. Fish and game were plentiful, weather was good, friendly Indians surrounded us. But when we got near to the mouth of the river, we suddenly found ourselves in a whole different place. It became very rainy, and our leather clothes began to literally rot on our bodies. We had trouble finding a place to haul out and camp because of the bluffs along the river. When we were finally able to get a campsite, we had to put out a team doing nothing but hunting and tanning hides to replace our clothing. We tried to cross to the south shore of the river, but waves
prevented us from making the crossing. We had to retreat upriver some miles before we could cross. We were all sick, I think because we had failed to recognize the salt content in the water from the tides. We were unable to establish our salt works until nearly the New Year, and we needed that for preserving our own food and for trade on the way back east. With the constant rain, food spoiled quickly. We had trouble getting it smoked quickly enough to prevent that. Our Christmas dinner was spoiled elk, spoiled fish, and wapato roots. Poor fare indeed. But we had established a camp that we named Ft. Clatsop, and by Christmas Eve we were mostly able to move into it, although some building continued for several more days."
They would remain at the fort until March and then head homeward again.
We drove to Ft. Clatsop. Here a National Memorial has been established, and very nearly on top of the original site of the fort a replica has been constructed, using the plans for the original fort. Park employees in period garb welcome you, and tell stories and answer questions. You can visit the spring
the expedition used in back of the fort. Many tools of the historic period have been reproduced, and you can visit the canoe landing nearby. The men lived here mostly in misery until their eastward departure in March. There was continual respiratory illness, rotting food and clothing, and even the advent of venereal disease.
A few minutes into our visit, I looked around and saw Meriwether sitting on a crude wooden bench outside one of the housing structures. I went and sat beside him, noticing that he appeared distracted. I asked him what he was thinking about.
"We endured hardships that were very hard on us, but we found much of scientific interest. We formed liaisons with Indian tribes. We mapped a very long river and traversed the entire length of it. When we got home after those three years gone, we knew we had done our duty. But I had a feeling that I would never achieve anything else so great in my life. And I had no idea of what the wilderness we explored would become. I had no idea that our journey would achieve the fame and mystique it now has. I think I would
like to go visit the canoe landing by myself."
Early morning fog was swirling still, particularly within the surrounding forest and between the trees and shrubs. Meriwether got up off the bench and began strolling toward the path through the forest that led to the canoe landing, going off with that long-legged ground-devouring stride of his which by now had become so familiar to us. As he got a few feet down the path, a cloud of fog obscured him, and a few seconds later when it had cleared, he was gone. We never saw him again. I will always wonder: was he a designated guide for our journey, sent by some higher power? Would he guide others? Or was he just the figment of an old man's imagination?
After a fruitless search for him, we left Ft. Clats0p and proceeded along our preplanned path. Since much of the rest of the journey was simply covering miles, I will pick up just the highlights. Our first major stop was at Crater Lake National Park. Having seen this lake as a boy, I have always remembered it for its spectacular blue color. Fed entirely by rainfall and snowmelt, the
lake has the cleanest, purest water of any body of water in the world. It formed when Mount Mazama blew its top in 5700 BCE, and left a giant crater in place of the mountaintop. The lake water evaporates and is replenished by rainfall and snowmelt, and it is estimated that there is a total turnover of the water every 250 years, with some 30 billion gallons being lost to evaporation and replenished annually. The average depth of the lake is nearly 2000 feet, the deepest in North America.
Continuing south, we toured multiple groves of old redwood trees. The heights of these trees simply must be seen to be believed. As you walk through the redwood forests, the soft carpet of needles cushions every footfall and a silence envelopes you. In the early morning, sunlight plays through the canopy with ethereal patterns. We are so fortunate that some visionaries pushed hard to make sure that many groves of these old patriarchs were preserved from the loggers. We had dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends and her husband in Eureka.
From Eureka we proceeded south and west across California for a night near Lake Reno,
another gorgeous blue lake I had not seen since childhood, but now much more exploited since it does not enjoy national park protection. Then we went further south to the lonely town of Bishop. Our goal was a place almost sacred to our family, the Ancient Bristlecone Forest in the White Mountains. We visited there as children, then I went back with my parents and sister in 1977. My father took pictures of many of the trees, and used one of them to make framed pictures for us with beautiful calligraphic captions:
"Reflections on the Bristlecone Pines - Amid the gloriously twisted and gnarled beauty of these ageless trees one could almost feel the hand of God touching the spirit of one's life. To be able to survive in spite of the rigors of climate and terrain; not only to survive but to grow in beauty - even in death - requires a power outside the self. Our lives are the same; we, too, are subjected to the twisting and gnarling effects of adversity. We are to become more beautiful because of that, not in spite of it. This is what God has meant for us all - with His help to do all and having done all to stand in beauty."
Formerly, we would have taken the longer, steeper 5 mile trail that ran through larger stands of the trees, but advancing age led us to the shorter 1 mile hike up some 300 vertical feet and back through a magnificent stand. These trees range in age to over 4000 years, and do so by conserving energy and growing at a rate of only about an inch per century. Portions are frequently denuded of their bark, but in this cold and arid height even the dead wood is preserved for centuries. They are beautiful, indeed seemingly timeless, and awe inspiring. They are one of the greatest sights I
have ever seen.
Having a little time left in the day, we drove south a few miles to tour the Manzanar National Historic Site. This was one of the infamous "relocation camps" into which Japanese Americans were herded during World War II. It is not very well kept up, and gives every appearance of the US wanting to pretend it never existed. This is hardly astonishing given the enormous racism and ignorance that resulted in this travesty.
From there we went back across the mountains to San Francisco. The climb along Sardine Creek through the Sonora Pass on Hwy 108 was breathtakingly beautiful, an unexpected addition to our trip memories. South of San Francisco we had dinner with a much more recent but equally dear friend, and the next morning dropped Jennie off for her trip home. Chuck and I continued on to Pinnacles National Park, where a series of weathered peaks form the attraction. These were originally formed 23 million years ago by an extinct volcano, then the western half of the volcano got transported 200 miles up the San Andreas Fault to its current location. Our goal was to look for a California condor,
since this remote park was selected to be one of the release sites for these magnificent birds that were originally raised in captivity. We only managed to see one, but it was a wonderful sight.
Then it was on to Joshua Tree National Park in the barren desert near Twentynine Palms. The eponymous plants are really a variety of yucca, not really trees, although those that survive long enough to form their extensive root systems may live several hundred years. They are threatened by climate change, like everything else, but it is hoped that they will be able to migrate the species to areas that remain hospitable. The park, however, is more memorable for the large rock formations. These were originally formed by volcanic eruptions 1.7 billion years ago, then brought to the surface about 250-75 millions years ago by tectonic activity. Water erosion then rounded off man of the large granite rocks and eroded away the softer rocks, leaving giant exposed boulders and sharp-cliffed hills arising from the flat plain, these latter being both visually and geologically similar to the kopjes of the Serengeti.
After leaving Joshua Tree NP we were beating feet home at
a rapid pace. Since we were going by Winslow AZ I insisted on stopping and getting my picture taken standing on the corner, where the city of Winslow has permanently parked a flat-bed Ford. I found a girl to take a look at me to complete the tableau. Then it was on to Santa Fe, where we hoped to have dinner with my old friend Scott Momaday (more on him in a later post). Unfortunately, we were unable to make contact and the next day headed off on the very familiar drive to Oklahoma City from Santa Fe, there to have dinner with our friends Jan and Robert Henry. An overnight stop outside of Memphis was then the only stop before heading almost straight home, detouring only enough to go through Spartanburg to buy fresh SC freestone peaches, the best in the world.
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2023 Lewis and Clark trip 961 Crater Lake National Park OR 073123
