A ship's "bones" on the beach

I took this photo of the wreck of the Peter Iredale in February 2008, and decided to use it today for Scenic Sunday. The Peter Iredale is a popular destination in any season. You can drive right up to the edge of the beach. There are always curious people, photographers, kids, locals and visitors exploring the ruins or waiting for that perfect photo. To me, this angle and amount of ship exposed makes it feel almost alive, or almost like it was alive at some point. I've already posted one photo from another angle with the sun turning the shore to gold. Depending on the tides, more or less of the ship's carcass is exposed, and this view is somewhat unusual. Although I've never seen it, I know people who have been lucky enough to walk on the teak deck of the ship when even more sand has washed away. It's preserved in almost perfect condition, but at the moment it's under sand again. It appears once every few years or so. Often all you will see is the prow of the ship and a few of the metal structures that held up the masts. Every visit is different because of the action of the waves over the days and weeks before your visit, the height of the tide when you're there, the time of day, the lighting, and the weather. The tides here will go all the way to the cliffs on a very high tide, and somewhat further out than you see here when the tide is low. There's always water in the small pools that form around the wrecked prow. Another of my sunset photos that you all liked was also taken here.

The ship came aground in a storm on October 25, 1906. The wreck is a few miles south of the entrance to the Columbia river. There are just under 2,000 known shipwrecks in and around this dangerous river bar, called "The Graveyard of the Pacific." Amazingly, in this ship disaster no one was hurt, and it was lucky for us that it occurred where we can enjoy the aesthetics and romance associated with old ships and the history of the days of sailing ships.