Oregon - The Northern Coast

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While others in the rest of the country are suffering from high heat, we are wearing coats and sweatshirts here in Oregon. Days average around 70 and nights are down around 50’s in temperature. The Oregonians say, if the sun is shining it will be windy, and they were not kidding! They are quite used to this weather and when the sun is out, they think it is summer! Most of the photos of us show us wearing heavy clothing while here the local people are wearing shorts and swimming in the ocean which is extremely cold.

The northern Oregon coast pulses with a rich and varied habitat. It draws people to its shores and along the many estuaries and rivers that knit their way through forests and fields to the surf, sand, and sea. The coastal communities also have an equally rich and diverse history that is steeped in maritime heritage, timber, and pioneer settlements. This heritage reaches back thousands of years to the Original People who first inhabited the shorelines.

The Lewis and Clark National Historic Park encompasses 12 smaller parks that lie within Oregon and Washington along a 40-mile section of the coast from Long Beach, Washington to Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Astoria offers more points of historical interst than any other city on the Oregon coast.

The historic town of Astoria, located along the Columbia River spreads up and over San Francisco-like hills. In 1792, Robert Gray sailed his ship, The Columbia Rediviva, into the area and named the river “The Columbia”. The oldest settlement west of the Rockies, its history dates back to 1805 and it is located at the mouth of the great and mighty Columbia River. Astoria is a very historic site for many reasons. Lewis and Clarke ended their journey across the country on the Oregon trail here in Astoria.

The National Maritime Museum is here as well as many museums about the history of the area. There are many lighthouses along the coastline to protect sailors from the treacherous seas and gigantic rock cliffs .

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Photos

The historic town of Astoria
Astoria offers more points of historical interst than any other city on the Oregon coast. The Astoria-Megler Bridge was built in 1966 and was the final link in the Mexico-to- Canada highway system. The bridge stretches 4.1 miles from Astoria, Oregon to Point Ellice, Washington, crossing at the mouth of the Columbia River. The main span of the bridge is 1232 feet, the longest “continuous truss” in the world. The views are beautiful and well worth the drive over and back.

The Graveyard of the Pacific
One thing that truly fascinated us was the required use of Bar and River Pilots to get ships in and out of the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.
This is one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world because of the ever-changing sand bars at the mouth of the river. This area is called “The graveyard of the Pacific” as over 2,000 ships have been lost here. The entrance to the Columbia river is one of the busiest on the Northwestern Coast as the Columbia river goes directly into Portland and other points east.

The Bar and River Pilots
All commercial ships and boats desiring to enter the channel at the mouth of the Columbia River must have what is called a “Bar Pilot” to navigate them through the large sand bar areas and into the river itself.. This is called “Crossing the Bar”. All ship captains must have a bar pilot to enter the Columbia River where another pilot called the “River Pilot” then navigates the ship up the Columbia River to it’s destination.

The Bar Pilot
There are small Pilot boats resembling coast guard boats that go out to the beginning of the channel and guide the boats in across the bar and up the river.
The “Pilot” actually gets off of his own small boat and climbs up a ladder onto the large ship and navigates for the ship’s captain in order to get the vessel into the Columbia river. There are 14 bar pilots and 42 river pilots. A special pilot school is required for anyone desiring to do this job and the pilot must have been a riverboat or tugboat captain for at least 3 years.
It is extremely dangerous. The most critical point is climbing up and then back down the ladder hung over the side of the large ship that must be alongside the small pilot vessel. Get to close, the pilot could be crushed, too far away and he could be in the sea and swept underneath the ship. We watched a pilot board a large ship and hang from the ladder of the ship while waiting to board his small vessel. With treacherous seas, this could be terrifying and life threatening.

The Men of the United States Coast Guard
We have renewed respect for the men who serve in the United States Coast Guard and what they are required to do. About 600 boats and ships a year are rescued in the treacherous waters here. The waves sometimes reach more than 50 feet in height and the winds can reach over 120 m.p.h. It is often stormy and very foggy here as well. The cliffs are extremely high and the coastline is very rocky with heavy tides and undercurrents. They say here that if the sun is shining , then you can expect lots of wind. If not, you can also expect lots of wind and fog.

The Flavel House Museum
The Flavel House Museum is one of the finest examples of Queen Anne architecture in the Northwest at the Captain George Flavel House built in 1885. The estate covers an entire city block and includes a carriage house where you can see exhibits of the Flavel family. George Flavel was the first River Pilot to receive a license in the western United States.