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.