Washington Coast Pt 1

It turned out to be a sunny morning this day too. I got up and did a little meal prepping along with a couple of chores before packing up and moving out. I finished the small little bit of the Oregon coast before crossing the Astoria bridge into Washington. The bridge was big and long. Before the bridge, there was a road wide strip of land that took you over to the start of it. It went up and down and across the Columbia River. My first stop of the day was Cape Disappointment State Park. I first stopped at an overlook of a beach and saw a map of everything the park offers. Next, I went to the Northern Lighthouse. I walked the short paved walkway past the lighthouse keeper's house to the lighthouse. It had a great view of the mouth of the Columbia River and where it meets with the Pacific Ocean. I had read on one of the signs that the Columbia River Bar is the most dangerous entrance into an ocean in the United States. There’s a very specific channel boats need to maneuver through to safely get in and out of the river from the ocean. Near the parking lot was a path to Bell’s Overlook. I did the nice, short walk and it showed another nice view of the coast and the forest that met up with the shore.

I parked at Waikiki Becah and ate some lunch. After, I walked over to the driftwood and branch-laden edge to get a closer look at the cove-like beach. Tall cliffs made up the other side with the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse off in the distance. This beach smelled bad so I didn’t stick around for too long. I drove over to the parking lot for the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and started on that trail loop. It wasn't difficult but it was longer than both of the walks I did earlier in the day. The first part took me up to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center where I got a nice view of where I was parked for lunch and the mouth of the river. I could also see the north and south jetty and a portion of Benson Beach. I kept walking towards the lighthouse and came across Deadman’s Cove. A really pretty cove with big waves and a big rock formation in the middle of it. Once I made it up to the lighthouse I could see more of the river and further down the north side of the coast as well. It was a really pretty view and it was cool to see both Washington and Oregon, just a river apart. I hiked my way back and did about as much as you could do at this park, that I knew of. So I made my way to Long Beach. I drove through the touristy town and stopped in at a little shop called Sweet Phees for Elephant ears, fried dough with cinnamon and sugar, and fresh-squeezed lemonade. They were both so good! I took my snacks and walked a bit of the busy street making my way towards the entrance of the beach. Apparently, it’s the longest beach in the world. I walked the boardwalk on the way out and walked on the beach on my way back. I snacked along the way and was glad it wasn’t crazy windy like it had been on Cannon Becah in Oregon. I came across quite a few people flying kites. And one group seemed to be some sort of team or group that flew them together and did awesome routines. They would follow in a line doing circles and patterns. It was really cool to see. I can’t imagine how much practice it took to get to that point. I planned a bit more of my route for the next couple of days once I got back to my van. I then headed up towards Lake Quinault to spend some time in the Olympic National Forest and Park. I tried to find a spot along a forest road but the spot I found had tons of animal fur around it and some bones so it made me nervous. So I left to look for something else. I guess forest roads aren’t working out for me lately… there aren’t a lot of free spots around here but I did find a trailhead parking lot that seemed like a good fit. It started to rain and had been for the last hour or so of my drive. I made some dinner, which was a bbq tofu thing I found the day before while grocery shopping that turned out to be pretty good. I, for some reason, paired it with rice, maybe I was thinking it was teriyaki or something but it ended up being good! I also had a glass of wine and ate some elephant ears leftovers from earlier. I called it a night after watching a little tv.