Many, oh very many years ago, I visited
Cape Disappointment State Park with my Dad. We had been charter fishing out of Ilwaco for salmon and after we'd done our "work" for the day (read: Dad fished, I was
ill) we filled the afternoon hours with a visit to the north jetty along the Columbia River, which is in the park. I remember walking on the rocks with Dad and how he told me about the Columbia and how rivers silted up and building the jetties helped keep the river in a more narrow channel and how it would scour out the channel with the force of the flowing water.
What Dad and I didn't do was visit the North Head lighthouse and take the scenic loop road through the park. Nola and I had a good time exploring there yesterday.
The North Head lighthouse is in a beautiful spot. But, really, can you think of a lighthouse that isn't? It was 69 steps to the top. The view south to the river as wonderful.
Flocks of pelicans were passing by, every few minutes, as well as a glut of gulls.
The cliffs are steep and the surf crashes into the rocks at the bottom in a most pleasing way. It is truly a beautiful place.
This is the Cape Disappointment lighthouse, also within the park boundaries. There is also a very interesting interpretive center. Lewis and Clark finally reached the Pacific here on their expedition with the Corps of Discovery, in 1805. This state park is a part of the larger
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park that spans both sides of the Columbia, in both Washington and Oregon. It is the newest of our national parks.
To cap off a lovely day, another stunning sunset.
