Fort Stevens Camping Trip

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We left Portland in the morning and quickly hit highway 26 despite the large amounts of traffic listed on the phone. After getting behind a number of trucks and one motor home I was praying for more passing lanes coming out of the city.

Soon we hit highway 101 and stopped in Seaside for some coffee. After the coffee reached the necessary brain cells we were off to Fort Stevens.

This was a quick drive from Seaside and we ended up being one of the few folks with reservations. I gloated a little bit at the sign in front of the rangers station saying that the campground was indeed full.

I did get a taste of instant karma by being told by he tanned and bearded ranger that our camp site wasn't ready. As a consolation he gave me a small stack of booklets that detailed the family fun awaiting us at the Fort Stevens campground & surrounding areas.

We decided to kill some time by hitting the beach. It just so happened that this was at the beach of the wrecked Peter Iredale. The sand was hot, the water was cold and there were quite a few people already enjoying the beach. As we walked over the slight ridge we immediately saw the hull of the (ship), as properly described by the brochure from the rangers station.

Emma found a tiny 'pond' that was about three feet deep next to parts of the abandoned ship. This proved to be perfect for her as the sun had warmed this already and some other kids provided instant comradeship.

Even though the sun was out there was little refuge from the wind. I pulled one of the camping chairs out of the back of the car and found a resting place where Megan could read and we could both see Emma playing.

We then went back to get our camping spot and instant karma struck again... We got our space number, took the short drive and found out it was an RV spot! After a quick family vote we decided to keep it as they were turning people away at the ranger station.

We set up the tent and started up the bar b que.. We had some Yeves hot dogs and honey Dijon kettle chips.

We then walked to Coffenberry lake. There are clean, clearly marked trails that took us from the camp site to the lake. As we crested over the hill we noticed that there wasn't an actual shoreline, rather it was setup for boats. The water was slightly brown but proved a beautiful and peaceful landscape with the placid water and cooling trees on each side. Both Emma and Megan went into the lake and had fun nonetheless in the sectioned off area for swimming.

We walked back to the campsite and change into some even clothes. We then headed up the road to watch the sun set over the ocean.

We ended up going to Site C where the Columbia river meets the ocean... and it's an impressive site with the Ocean seeming to (without the judges votes) win the battle of who is mightier. We spent the rest of the evening walking along the beach and watching the sunset over the horizon.

We finished the evening by going back to the campsite, enjoying some smores and going to bed.


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Photos

Swimming in a Ship Wreck
Emma swimming amongst the ruins of a ship.