Seaside, Cannon Beach, & Astoria Sept 2-5

We scheduled  two full days at the Thousand Trails in Seaside, Oregon.  This Thousand Trails is not nearly as nice as the one in Pacific City and I wasn't all that impressed with Seaside.  Its really touristy, and most of the time it was cold, windy, and foggy, but we managed to pack a whole lot into those two short days while in the area.

There is a nice trail just outside of town up to Tillamook Point, and I mean up, it has a 900 foot elevation gain and about 8 miles round trip.  We headed out under nice blue skies and the high we got, the foggier it got.  About 1 1/2 miles into the hike, Joel got a call from Thousand Trails  ranger telling him that the coach was parked illegally in a "Personal Site" and that we needed to move the coach immediately.

Personal Sites are something that Thousand Trails has started recently.  A site is leased  to a member and that member has  exclusive use of that site for the term of their lease.  Usually the site is well marked and usually there is a chain or some other barrier across it indicating it is a personal site.  When we pulled in to the site there was no barrier or sign, or indication that it was a personal site.  It seems most of these personal sites are premium spots so sometimes there are "slim pickings" in the park for the members.  Anyway, we didn't continue our climb up to Tillamook Point so we could promptly returned to the park and move.d  Joel seem a little relieved,that he didn't have gain any more elevation,  but also was a little disappointed that we didn't to complete our hike.  Oh well, another time. Oh, and once we got to the park, we did find another site two sites up from the previous one and the owners of the previous site didn't show up until evening.  So much for rushing back ...

We jumped on our bikes and road from the campground into Seaside and rode the bike path along the water front.  The beach in Seaside is not as nice as the ones at Kiwanda Cape and Pacific City, but the path is very nice.

 We did stop at the Saltworks, just a few feet off the path ,where Lewis and Clark's crew boiled sea water to get salt to season their food while preparing for their return.

Notice the pots. Apparently they kept the pots boiling 24/7 until they produced enough salt for their needs.

Seaside boasts this statue  of Lewis and Clark in the center of town, "the end of the trail" or near the end of the trail.

  It seems like the fog invades Seaside Beach but not Cannon Beach. Where are  all the people?

 Later we drove to Cannon Beach and walked the quaint little town which has lots of art galleries and shops.  Yep, that's a  fog bank is just sitting over Seaside looking from Cannon Beach to the north :

I saw this cute sculpture at the entry to Cannon Beach. Note the inscription.  I think it is mostly to keep children, big and little, off the whale.

 Hay Stack rock at Cannon Beach.  Looks pretty similar to the one at Kiwanda Cape.

Next we headed over to Ecola State Park.  You can hike to Tillamook Head from there, but we didn't have time this trip, but the views from Ecola Point are incredible.

 Looking south towards Crescent Beach and Cannon Beach.

 Some interesting rock formation off Ecola Point.

Looking towards Tillamook Head to the north , where we previously attempted to hike:

Next we headed north to Warrenton to the Fort Clatsop, part of the Lewis and Clark National and Historic State Park. Below is a nice statue of Lewis, Clark, and their Newfoundland dog.

And this is Sacagawea and infant son, Jean Baptiste

Fort Clatsop, where the discovery part spent several months before their departure back to St. Louis.

Replication of of one of the bunk houses:

I found the fire pit interesting.  Its open for cooking as well as providing warm.  Not real efficient.

Then we explored Astoria a little and no visit is complete to Astoria without seeing the column.  It depicts the history of the area.  Yes, we climbed all 164 steps to the top.

And the views were expansive, although a little hazy.  Not bad.  Below is Saddle Mountain to the east

And this is the Astoria Magler Bridge, undergoing some renovations.

  

The mouth of the Columbia River.

The little town of Astoria

Well, it's been a very busy few days.  Next stop, Port Townsend, Washington to attend the Wooden Boat Festival and if time, explore some of the Olympic Peninsula.  Stay tuned!