|
ft stevens state park, washington.
04 aug
we leave mt st helens and then travel for 50 miles on
newly-laid chip seal. the hot tar covers everything...the bikes are soon
covered in tiny little sticky rocks. a road delay on said chip seal costs
us another hour in the 40c heat. bad.
we
move quickly up highway 5 through Longview and take hw 30 to Astoria. we
reach
at
the mouth of the Columbia River
l get us the last campsite
in the overflow section. the park officer has never hard of the nwt....she
just stands there.....nothing is coming loudly out of her mouth. her
colleagues torture her.
our campsite neighbor is a
bandanna-wearing hippie with sons named Lief and Erickson. or Thor and
Loki...whatever. she makes swordfish swords from swordfish...however she
is congenial. in the morning she has to pack up everything by 8am, go to
the park office, and is re-assigned the same campground beside us. she is
putting up her world back up as james and l pack ours.
Fort
Stevens was the primary military defense installation in the three fort
Harbor Defense System at the mouth of the Columbia River (Forts Canby and
Columbia in Washington were the other two). The fort served for 84 years,
beginning with the Civil War and closing at the end of World War II.
On
the night of June 21, 1942, Fort Stevens saw its only action when a
Japanese submarine (the I-25) fired 5.5 inch shells in the vicinity of the
fort. The shelling caused no damage. The Fort Commander refused to allow
return fire. The incident made Fort Stevens the only installation to be
attacked by an enemy since the War of 1812
The Peter Iredale, a
278 feet sailing vessel, fashioned of steel plates on iron frames, ran
onto the shore in October 25, 1906. we drink beers beside it and watch the
sun drown.
click on a picture to see a larger
image. hit arrows at either end of the slideshow for more pictures.
james. the end of a long hot day. a couple contemplates the end of the day...hmmmm l think l forgot to ask them if l could take their picture the beach looking north towards the mouth of the columbia james, peter and nightfall on the pacific
|
• Up • mackenzie river • alberta mountains • m and d and long weekend • yakima, washington • mt st helens • ft stevens • port angeles, wa • victoria • ft rodd hill • tofino/long beach • comox • |
we
move quickly up highway 5 through Longview and take hw 30 to Astoria. we
reach fort
stevens state park
at
the mouth of the Columbia River
by 9pm. l was here 20 years ago.
