"The Peter Iredale in Gold and Gray" by Amy Ryding

Fort Stevens State Park ~ Photo by Amy Ryding
For more of Amy's photos see Long Beach Peninsula Photo.
Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Silver Magic by Andrew Rieskamp

Fort Stevens State Park ~ Photo by Andrew Rieskamp
This photo makes me think of something that happens in a darkroom when the silver in photographic paper combines with darkroom chemicals. 
Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Purple Light on Old Bones

The Peter Iredale at Fort Stevens State Park ~ Photo by Amy Ryding
This photo was originally posted on Long Beach Peninsula Photo, the blog with the great subtitle, on April 21, 2013. Amy wrote, "The Peter Iredale wrecked on October 25, 1906. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. The Iredale has been on my photographic bucket list for a few months. Although it’s been photographed thousands of times over the past century, it still manages to inspire the imaginations of photographers. The day I went was no exception; there were at least seven other people photographing it while I was there."
Amy's blog is one of my favorites. I liked it from the beginning. Later we met and became great friends.
Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Sunshine!

The Peter Iredale ~ April 22, 2013

A stunning day at the beach!  The Peter Iredale is likely the most photographed icon on the North Coast.  She is an arresting image that seems to be ever-changing as the light and sand drifts play across her rusting bones.

Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store and Astoria Sunday Market.

Photo Contest: "Kids at the Peter Iredale"

Warrenton, Oregon/Ft. Stevens State Park

Guest Photographer: Merri Padgett

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Photo Contest: "How about a Title?"

Warrenton, Oregon ~ December 5, 2008, 5:01 pm

Guest Photographer: Mike Duncan, aka Midnite Mike

The Peter Iredale at Ft. Stevens

I couldn't think of a good title for this one. Mike said, "I love this abstract photo of the shipwreck with the beautiful sunset behind it." It's very striking and beautifully abstract. Anyone up for helping with a name?

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Sunset at the Peter Iredale

September 11, 2010

Toward sunset when the sky is clear enough to see the sun, people begin to gather on the beach near the wreck of the Peter Iredale. If you enlarge the top photo, you'll see a couple of tripods.

It's a nice time to watch, relax with loved ones, wade in the tidal lagoon or the waves, play with the dog, and enjoy the free show.

Last night there were few clouds, but the viewers were rewarded with a bright zig-zag across the sky.

See more Weekend Reflections from around the world.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

High Wind, High Surf Advisory

The coast is under high wind and high surf advisories from Sunday night through Monday. The high winds were just beginning and it was still safe to go out on the beach. It's hard to see the blowing sand here, but before I got back to the car, I had sand in my ears, my hair, my clothing, and my camera. Even with the wide angle, I came just short of getting entire length of the wreck of the Peter Iredale. I've included the picture below from February 2008 to show how you can spot the end of the wreckage. Near the center of the photo and touching the horizon are two metal pipes sticking into the air (they look like one in the small version). I'm not sure if they mark the end of the ship or only a spot near the end. The sand ebbs and flows with the elements, and some years, days, or storms, you can see more of the ship than at other times.

Clearly, Peter is more photogenic on some days than others, too. I've posted images before, and I still have a few in the archives to come later. But today I wanted to show you the beginning of the storm. It's been rainy, drizzly, cloudy, and now windy, and it seems we have rain forecast all week. I would love to get out there and show you some huge waves, but we'll see how it goes. Even as I drove back along the access road, the police were out "suggesting" that lookers be careful. And I do have respect for big waves.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Driftwood in February

Fort Stevens State Park, Warrenton, Oregon ~

February 3, 2006

If you like driftwood, you'll find it in winter on the Oregon beaches. Brought in by the storms, it accumulates along the dunes that separate the beach from the forest and grasslands. The park is large and varied, incorporating ocean, forest, bike trails, lakes, and old miltary bunkers, and it's all about 8 miles west of Astoria.

I took the photo standing a few yards from one of our favorite sites, the wreck of the Peter Iredale. It's such a picturesque and interesting spot (and easy to get to) that I've already used it three times on this blog: sunset, bones of the ship (one of my favorite photos on the blog), and sunset with ship's bones. These photos are taken just a couple of miles south of the jetty series at the mouth of the Columbia River. Fort Stevens also holds this military cemetery. A person could do an entire City Daily Photo blog on Fort Stevens and never run out of material. Don't get me started, I'll end up like Jacob.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

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.

Sunset at the Peter Iredale

Last night at the beach, the sun set not over the horizon line of the ocean, but into a dense fog bank. You can see the bony hull of the wrecked Peter Iredale at the bottom of the photo silhouetted against the waves. The beach is only about a 15-minute drive from downtown Astoria, and it's a favorite place to watch the sun go down. It's especially nice on a evening like today when the air is still wet from a recent shower. The sunset is not as dramatic as it is some evenings, but it always feels special here. Off to the left, I watched a red jellyfish-shaped kite glide among the misty clouds until they turned gold. Be sure to visit other participants in Skywatch Friday to see the skies around the world.

Gold on the water

The Peter Iredale came to grief on the Oregon coast on October 25, 1906. The shipwreck is almost four miles south of the mouth of the Columbia River, and about 10 miles from Astoria. The bones of the ship make terrific material for photographers, and while it's possible to get a bad photo, the opposite is more likely. The setting is idyllic, and on the evening of March 1, 2009, the air was damp from rain and the light was spectacular.

. Scenic Sunday

. Shadow Shot Sunday