Cape Disappointment

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse from Waikiki Beach. As always, click images for larger view.

Sorry if this takes a while to load, lots of pictures on this one. I call this blog post Cape Disappointment, but in reality, the trip encompassed much, much more than just that one area. The title "Mouth of the Columbia" would be more fitting, but sounds unappealing to me.

Hayden and I took a trip down to the Long Beach Peninsula back in January. We stayed at Cape Disappointment State Park in one of the yurts. The yurt was cold and kind of smelled a little. I didn't get any pictures of the yurt, it was kind of underwhelming.

We checked out Long Beach on our first day and did all the tourist stuff there, Marshe's Museum, Ice Cream, Go-carts and drove on the beach a little. Also checked out the stunning Waikiki Beach at Cape Disappointment at sunset.

We watched Forest Gump on my laptop that night, a first for Hayden.

On the second day we walked out to the beach from our yurt. There were several people digging and using sluice boxes panning for gold. Apparently, this beach has high amounts of fine flour gold that you're allowed to dig for, with the correct permits of course. I had never heard of such a thing. Hayden enjoyed walking up to the different groups of people talking to them about their experiences panning for gold. Most of the folks we talked to were a group from Goldbar WA that were out on a monthly field trip. There is a panning store in Goldbar called Prospectors Plus that supports this panning community. Something I might look into in the future.

After breaking down camp, we went to Waikiki Beach again and hiked up to the lighthouse from there. We stopped at the Lewis and Clark interpretive Center along the way. Kind of fun to have an interpretive center right in the middle of the hike. After the hike, we packed up and drove across the Astoria Bridge and set up camp in Astoria at a Hotel I had booked previously, but not before I took Hayden to see the Goonie's house. We watched the Seahawks - 49ers play-off game in the room and later went to the Pig 'N Pancake to have breakfast for dinner.

On the final day, I took Hayden up to the Astoria Column. After paying the required $2 yearly Astoria Column parking pass and spending another buck or two for a small balsa wood airplane, we made our way up the column. 164 steps later, we found ourselves looking out over Astoria, the Columbia River and even the ocean. Best view in town. Hayden let his plane loose and we watched it fly for like 5 minutes. It flew so far that we completely lost sight of it. It was really fun to watch.

Exploring Astoria Column

After the column, I drove us out to Fort Clatsop for a short visit to see where Lewis and Clark wintered before we headed out to Fort Stevens. At Fort Stevens we checked out the wreck of the Peter Iredale before ending our trip by driving out as far as we could go on the Clatsop Spit on the Jetty Rd where we watched the waves crash on the jetty.

It was a great trip and lots of fun to spend time with my little buddy!

A couple salty dudes at Long Beach
Marshe's Museum
The museum is full of oddities like this skeleton
And Jake the Alligator Man
A couple of characters
They made him ride the little kids go-karts because he wasn't old enough for the other ones. Poor guy was the only one out there. He almost looked bored.
Is it really the longest beach? By what definition is it the longest? Because it is sand the whole way? Surely there are longer beaches in the world!
Waikiki Beach. A really beautiful place.
Waikiki Beach and Cape Disappointment lighthouse
Surfer at Waikiki, and not the Hawaii kind of Waikiki either!
Surfer on the beach
Surfer on the beach
Waikiki
Waikiki Beach
A scene from the road near Ilwaco
A scene from the road near Ilwaco
A scene from the road near Ilwaco
Map of the park
North Head Lighthouse
Beach fishing
Looking out at the jetty from the trail
Looking out at the jetty from the trail
A wild animal I encountered on the trail
We had fun visiting this interpretive center on the hike. Hayden now knows all he will ever need to know about Lewis and Clark.
You are here
Hayden in front of Dead Mans Cove.
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
Dead men tell no tales!
A display of ammo at Battery Harvey Allen.
A section of the trail near the interpretive center
Local fauna
Steps leading up to what must have been at one time a lookout. The steps now only lead to the hill top and a great vantage point overlooking the ocean.
The ferns growing on the trees lent themselves to a great back-lit photo opportunity
The ferns growing on the trees lent themselves to a great back-lit photo opportunity
The ferns growing on the trees lent themselves to a great back-lit photo opportunity
Pond reflection
Looked like the same surfer from the night before
Looked like the same surfer from the night before

[gpxelevation = hide]capedisappointment

Dunes out on the jetty
Dunes out on the jetty
Out near the jetty
Out near the jetty
Astoria Bridge
Hayden in front of the house from the movie, the Goonies in Astoria.
Good day to fly a plane
Hayden and the Astoria Bridge
The Astoria Column
Columbia River and Astoria Bridge from Coxcomb Hill. The Column sits atop Coxcomb Hill.
Saddle Rock from Coxcomb Hill. The Column sits atop Coxcomb Hill.
Sacajawea, Jean Baptiste and Hayden
Fort Clatsop
The wreck of the Peter Iredale
The wreck of the Peter Iredale
The wreck of the Peter Iredale
South Jetty
jetty
The jetty
Crash!
Looking south from the jetty
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6 thoughts on “Cape Disappointment

  • April 26, 2014 at 5:25 pm
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    Looks like you both had a fun trip. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • April 26, 2014 at 6:25 pm
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      Thanks Lynette. We had a blast!

      Reply
  • April 26, 2014 at 6:41 pm
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    Great pictures and you two look like you had fun! It looks like you skipped 36 Street in Astoria, a spot where there are lots of sea lions on the docks.

    Reply
    • April 26, 2014 at 8:36 pm
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      Ah! We missed that one Peder! Oh well, that gives us a good reason to come back! So much to see down in that area. We love it.

      Reply
      • April 27, 2014 at 5:14 am
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        That is what I thought and that was why I mentioned it.

        Reply
  • May 6, 2014 at 11:43 am
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    Enjoyed the Adventure, Photos are great, I felt like I was there.

    Reply

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