Lewis & Clark and Beyond

September 11, Day 24

Today ended up being a errand day in Lewiston. We hoped to drive to a lookout north of the city which boasts a three state view, but their was a heavy haze over the area. Instead, we spent most of day running errands. For some unknown reason, a part of the load leveler system on Will’s rig got bent and needed to be replaced. We chased around town until we found an RV parts dealer which is also the local Ford dealer. While they did not have the part, they put us on to a weld shop that could facilitate a repair. While they were working on the part, I walked across the street and got a much needed hair cut. Afterward, we found the library, checked email, and updated blogs. In the afternoon, back at the park, I gave my rig a much needed wash.

September 12, Day 25

Our travel today began by following the Snake River west. At one point, we left the river and entered a very hilly county not unlike central Montana. I did not know that they grew wheat on this side of the Continental Divide in Oregon. We also saw some grape vineyards. Nothing is green in this part of the country unless it is irrigated. What a change from the Midwest. We are camping tonight at a Corps of Engineers site at the McNary Lock and Dam on the Columbia. We stopped at the dam to tour an information center on salmon. At this dam, they have a sophisticated system beyond a fish ladder for the purpose of separating out the fingerling salmon which they collect and barge downstream to facilitate their journey to the sea.

September 13, Day 26

Today we traveled from an arid to a temperate climate. In 175 miles we left the parched area of eastern Oregon which sees only 10” of rain a year and entered the Cascade Mountains which are cool and damp. We traveled on I84 which follows the Columbia River. While the mountains began to loom on either side of the river, we were generally traveling on level roads as the highway hugs the river. I say river, but it is really a series of lakes created by dams. We stopped in Maryville to tour an art museum bequeathed by Sam Hill who was an entrepreneur and married the daughter of the Minneapolis Hill who was instrumental in building the Northern Pacific Railroad and the lodges we toured at Glacier National Park. The museum was a bit of a ‘hodge-podge’ except for the lower floor which houses a display of artifacts from American Indians. What made it so interesting is that displays were categorized by geographic regions from the Artic, south to Arizona, and east to the plains and beyond. It was interesting to see how the tools, clothing, and baskets varied with the various regions. Very neat! We are camping this evening in Ainsworth State Park. I am most impressed with the Oregon system of Sate Park. They have 275 sites scattered throughout the state with a high concentration along the Pacific Coast and Columbia River. This parks lies close to the river, highway, and railroads. While we cannot hear the highway, the traffic on the railroad lines which are on both sides of the river is very heavy. There seems to be a train every half hour or so running one way or the other. It is almost like being back in Lake County.

September 14, Day 27

Rather than jumping back on to I84, we took the historical highway that was the forerunner to the expressway and runs parallel. It is a two lane highway that winds through the Columbia Gorge area, a most impressive section of the river. We stopped to view a number of water falls one of which is the tallest in North America. We also visited a the Crown Point Vista overlook which includes a impressive 1920’s stone octagonal structure. This remaining stretch of highway is well preserved with a lot of stone barrier walls and poured concrete bridges. We took a diversion to go to a Campland to get some need parts. The last leg of the day’s trip was across the coastal mountains to Fort Stephens State Park where we will spend a few day and complete the Lewis and Clark leg of our trip by visiting the sites as they completed their journey and spent the winter before making their return trip.

September 15, Day 28-29

Fort Stevens State Park is at the mouth of Columbia River. It is large park and former Army base dating back to the Civil War era and was decommissioned after WWII. It is the largest park in the Oregon system and has over 500 campsites. We will be here through the weekend. We visited Cape Disappointment on the Washington side of the river near where L&C camped upon first arriving at this their final destination. The cape was not named by them but by a ship’s captain a decade before they arrived by land. There is a well done Interpretive Center which reviews the entire trip of the corps while focusing on the Corps activities in the area of the mouth of the Columbia. Our second visit of the day was to Fort Clatsop. This is a reconstruction of the facility built by the Corps in only a week to serve as a home as they wintered over and prepared to starting the trip back to St. Louis. The fort was a disappointment as it is too nice to be in any way a realistic representation. The Fort Mandan replica was much more realistic. The impressive element of the site is the stand of old growth Sitka Spruce. A number of the trees are in excess of 5’ in diameter at the measuring point 6’ off the ground. The canopy of these trees is so dense that little or nothing grows at their base. This ends the first leg of our journey. We have traversed 3600+ miles in four weeks which is fewer miles than the Corps did in its eighteen months of travel. While we averaged 125+ miles per day, they averaged 15. I was impressed with the accomplishments of the corps after reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. That book is what prompted me to take this trip. I am even more impressed with the accomplishments of the Corps of Discovery after traversing much of the same route, the easy way.

It is rainy today. We are going to devote the morning to exploring the park. We drove to the northern area where the historic army base is located. Because of the rain, we opted for the guided tour in the back of a canvas covered duce-and-a-half military truck. The remaining elements of the fort consist of gun battery bulwarks and the foundations of buildings. There are a few Civil War era artillery pieces. Next, we drove to extreme north end of the park which is were the south jetty of the mouth of Columbia River is located. There are some viewing towers to provide a view of the area. The Corps of Engineers began constructing jetties at the mouth of the river in the early 19^th century in an attempt to control the formation of sand bars that impacted shipping. Today, the shipping channel at the mouth is only a half mile wide due to the construction of jetties. The natural mouth of the river appears to be about five miles wide. Our last visit of the morning is to one of the beaches on the Pacific where a ship went aground a hundred years ago. A portion of the iron skeleton is still visible while mostly buried in the sand. There were a number of people riding horses on the beach. The afternoon is devoted to changing out the fresh water fill station on my rigThe foundation also has . I developed a problem and could not hook up directly to city water. The remainder of the day will be devoted to reading and napping.