I've Got Company at the End of the World!

Near Chinook, Washington ~ December 2, 2011

Please welcome Amy, who has just started Long Beach Peninsula Daily Photo. I woke up this morning to an e-mail telling me I was no longer the only "City Daily Photo" blogger between Portland and the Pacific Ocean. In a minute you can read Amy's letter, but first let me show you where she lives. I've posted our Astoria-Megler Bridge many times, but I have not shown much of what you'll find on the other side. If you turn left and take the highway alongside the Columbia River, you will eventually reach the hills on the horizon. This is the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington. The southern end forms the north side of the mouth of the Columbia, and the peninsula continues a long way to the right. Amy will delight you with its wonders as she gets going on her new project.

A short aside: Back when City Daily Photo still had a functioning web site (I'm shedding a tear here and hoping it will come back), I looked in vain for other affiliated bloggers from my area. It seemed there were none (we have some very interesting bloggers around, but with different objectives). Needless to say, I was happy and surprised to find the following in my morning e-mail:

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Hi from across the river!

Hi Sheryl,

I've been following your Astoria Daily Photo blog for several years. When I was living away from the coast, I looked forward to the photo updates every day. It was a way of staying connected to this area I love so much. Thanks for that.

I'm now living full-time in Long Beach and was inspired by your blog to start a daily photo blog for this side of the river. Would you be willing to link to it on your website?

It's here: http://longbeachpeninsuladailyphoto.wordpress.com/

I'm just getting started so there's only a handful of entries, but I'm having a great deal of fun exploring the area on the hunt for good photos.

Amy

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Sheryl again. Hop on over, take a look and leave Amy a comment, OK?

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Drive-by Astoria #3: A Finnish House

Astoria, Oregon ~ September 15, 2012

Bond Street Hill

This recently-painted house on Bond Street is in the Finnish style, lacking the Victorian elements seen in yesterday's post. Pat asked if Astoria was originally a Finnish town. Not entirely, but there were a lot of Scandinavians here working in the fishing industry - catching fish making boats, repairing nets and other equipment, and working in the canneries. Fishing was a huge enterprise here in earlier decades, and much of the tuna you ate as a kid probably came from Astoria.

We're getting higher up on Bond Street now, and the hills in the background are across the Columbia river in Washington. Those wires that are a photographer's nemesis around here are also prominent.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Blue but Not Dismal

Dismal Nitch, Washington ~ August 24, 2012

Dismal Nitch, Washington, was dismal for Lewis and Clark, but not for most visitors, who enjoy glorious views east, west, and back across the river to Astoria. Everything looks blue here. My lens had to cope with four miles of reflective river between Astoria and the visitor turnout where I stood to take the photo. 

They're painting the bridge, which makes for interesting drapery. Christo could possibly be envious! 

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

The Road from Chinook

Near Chinook, Washington ~ December 2, 2011

I'm not sure what makes the indentations down the center line - maybe it's the equipment used for paving. The pattern caught my attention in the lighting as I crossed the road to take pictures of the river and sky with the tide very low.

The outcropping is part of Fort Columbia State Park, and the long Astoria-Megler bridge is hidden behind it. The bit of land in the distance on the far right is Astoria.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Ilwaco Cemetery

Near Ilwaco, Washington ~ December 2, 2011

One of our goals for the visit to the other side of the river was to help some people on Find-A-Grave.com locate their relatives. I got some nice photos in the beautiful late-afternoon light (Cold day, though! Very cold.) but due to bad planning on my part, we may have missed the one they wanted most. Lee tromped all over the cemetery looking for a particular name that I hadn't had the foresight to locate before we left. Actually, the marker may not be there, as others had failed to find it. So, that's a mystery to follow up on - an excuse to go back to Ilwaco on another beautiful day (with better planning). 

I did take some really nice pix of markers for the graves that we did find and soon I'll be uploading them to Find-A-Grave. This is a cool web site where you can locate your ancestors, relatives, genealogical search subjects, or conversely, supply photos and information for others looking for someone departed in your part of the country. You can enter requests for photos and info from far-away locations, or you can put yourself on an e-mail list to find graves of people in your area.

January 1, 2012: I've just discovered "Taphophile Tragics" thanks to Clytie, so am linking this post to it today. Thanks, Julie, this should be interesting!

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Expansive

Near Chinook, Washington ~ December 2, 2011

When it's a nice day here in the Pacific Northwest, it can be glorious. We'd just crossed the 4-plus-mile Astoria-Megler Bridge and were on our way to Ilwaco, Washington.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Sand Bar

Astoria, Oregon ~ May 8, 2011

I took this photo from the Astoria Column with a 12x zoom. This is definitely not how it looks to the naked eye from that far away. You can see Ilwaco, Washington, on the far side of the river. The shipping channel is off the photo at the bottom, and the tall points of the bridge are out of sight to the left. As you can see here, the ships' pilots have to know what they're doing. Here you can see a photo of the sand bar taken from the bridge.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Cape Disappoinment Lighthouse

Cape Disappointment, Washington ~

March 28, 2004

A few days ago I showed one of the views from the railing next to the lighthouse. Here is the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse itself. This is not to be confused with North Head Lighthouse, which is only a couple of miles to the right around the cape. The short trail to today's lighthouse takes you past the incomparable Deadman's Cove.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Last Thanksgiving

Near Ilwaco, Washington ~ November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving Day

After a walk in the rain along the River Walk, we drove to Seaview, Washington, for an incredible dinner at the Shelburne Inn. I took this photo of crab pots on a trailer nearing Ilwaco on the way to Seaview. This year? I worked, but it was mostly fun. Maybe I'll take some time off tomorrow.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Big Trees on the Trail

Fort Columbia, Washington ~ November 6, 2004

Across the river and west a few miles from Astoria is Fort Columbia, and behind the fort buildings are several hiking trails, at least one of them going up rather steeply among fallen trees.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

North Head Lighthouse, Washington

North Head Lighthouse, Washington ~ October 25, 2010

Guest Photographer: Glenn Taggart

Although our October photo contest is over, several people sent photos early in November. I will post them during the month. This photo by Glenn Taggart fits the theme I had planned for November (and maybe into December) of places near Astoria. There is so much to see in the immediate area, and I have not posted much about these places so far. I thought this photo was a perfect starter. North Head Lighthouse is easy to get to. It's just across the river near Ilwaco, and is atmospheric to the max.

Glenn said, "I took this pic a couple weeks ago at the North head lighthouse near Ilwaco, WA. I have a job building a trail there and was checking on the progress and snapped this pic out my window as I was driving by." Because he was on the job, Glenn was able to drive out to this point. For the rest of us, there's a short trail beyond the parking lot. Thanks, Glenn!

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Mystery Navigation Tower

I'm sure this tower on the Washington side of the Columbia River is no mystery to many people, but I really don't know what it's used for. It looks like a lifeguard stand, but this is no swimming beach. Below the tower is a rocky drop-off to cold water filled with sturgeon, salmon, and strong currents.

The tower has something to do with navigation, and I could not tell you what that is. If you know, please leave a comment or send e-mail!

I forgot to take a close-up of the sign, so I enlarged the small one and tweaked the levels. It says:

U.S. Government Property

NO

TRESPASSING

Report Violations to:

U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers

Navigation Division

Portland District

Interestingly, on the board to the left of the sign, someone who could almost spell wrote graffiti that says, "Astoria Rescue Mision." Perhaps it's a note to the needy that help is on the other side of the bridge.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Covered Bridge

September 5, 2010

Here's a closer-up view of what's happening on the Washington side of the Astoria-Megler Bridge. You can also see how the bridge dips down much closer to the water level before it rises up toward the sky at the more famously-photographed end.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

From the Washington Side

Washington ~ September 5, 2010

This is the other end of the famous Astoria-Megler bridge, which crosses the Columbia River between Astoria (the land mass on the left) and Washington, where I'm standing. This is the same bridge with the recognizable towers seen in most of the bridge photos on this blog. The towers are there in the distance, but the bridge is 4.1 miles long, and they've become lost in the dim light. The structures you see here actually fade away to a very low rail, and the bed of the bridge lies closer to the water for much of its span, then it arcs up again near the Oregon side so cargo ships can pass beneath it. The two sections in the photo that look like boxcars or a covered bridge are only temporarily covered with sheeting so the bridge can be painted. Nearby is Dismal Nitch, part of the Lewis and Clark story. There was a fishing station (now gone) near here called Megler. The Dismal Nitch link will also tell you about Joseph Megler.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Room with a View

July 5, 2010

This has to be one of the best views from any hotel in the U.S. We took a mini vacation without leaving town, and stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in Astoria. It was pleasant and comfortable, and if you don't have young kids with you who are likely to fall out, you can open the windows, even on the 4th floor. As you can imagine, this afforded a number of interesting photo ops. Stay tuned! The windows are not open in this photo because, although the next few days are expected to be hot, we hit a record low last night. It was actually cold with the windows open.

That's the Astoria-Megler Bridge, shown many times on this blog already. The river is the Columbia, and the hills four-point-something miles away are in Washington.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Gleaming

June 7, 2010

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Bronze Map at the Astoria Column

May 13, 2010

One of the things you can do at the Astoria Column is to study the bronze relief map on the walkway leading do the column. The text on the map gives interesting notations, such as how far it is to this place or that. From this angle, looking north, we're seeing at the Columbia River and the hills of Washington in the background. You can barely see the Washington side of the bridge on the left. The map tells us that the base of the column is 595 feet above sea level.

From the opposite direction, in the background we can see Saddle Mountain on the left, and Young's River emptying into Young's Bay. Saddle Mountain is 17 miles away, according to the map.

This bronze map was donated to the City of Astoria by the Angora Hiking Club in 1966. Some pathetic vandal has chiseled off part of the word "donated." Fortunately, that's a relatively rare occurrence around here.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Light and Shadow: Buoy 37

April 24, 2010

I love the light-play on the wide Columbia. Buoy 37 sits just down-river from Pier 11, and the camera's zoom brings the veiled hills of Washington overwhelmingly close. They are actually about four miles away.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Hardly Disappointing

Deadman's Cove ~ September 14, 2008
Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington

About half an hour's drive from downtown Astoria, across the Columbia River, and past Ilwaco, you come to a trailhead in Cape Disappointment State Park. Not far along, the trail opens onto this incredible cove that looks like it was designed for a pirate movie. There's an even more romantic touch than you can see here - a small island within the cove bearing artistically-placed rocks and trees. Mother Nature did an outstanding job. (Hollywood, eat your heart out!) The cove opens onto the Columbia River, but it's not too far from the ocean. In fact, it's very near the natural mouth of the river before the jetties were built.

I imagine this location has been used in a number of films, but I couldn't tell you which ones. I'll be sure to visit again this year when it stops raining, and also dig through the archives for more photos of this enchanting park. There's lots to see here, and trails to walk. And, with names like these, how can you go wrong?

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

A Glorious Moment . . .

. . . and that's about all it was, too. The weather has been oscillating rapidly between "too gorgeous to believe," and "gray like so many other gray days." Two days ago, I pulled off of Marine Drive and parked for a minute in a "No Parking At Any Time" zone. It was safe enough and off the street; it seems they didn't want to block the way for a bus or larger vehicle in the space behind some buildings. I usually mind the signs, but today I took the chance to snap a photo of the bridge from the southwest side with the sun on it and the clouds billowing overhead. Within a couple of minutes, the sky was again dark and there was no more sun on the beautiful, green span.

I have posted a number of photos of the bridge, and here is one from the other side. The hills in the distance are in Washington, on the other side of the Columbia River.

For a change of view, you can see pictures of the sky from around the world on the Skywatch Friday web site.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.