Three States, 13 Lighthouses

[Ally House]

For our September ride this year, Karyn and I planned to ride to Astoria, and then lighthouse hop all the way down the coast. As I was planning this ride, I noted that the two lighthouses that guard the mouth of the Columbia are both on the Washington side of the boarder; I also noted that once we finished up with Oregon lighthouses, there was Crescent City, CA, and the home of Battery Point lighthouse. Bonus!!

We left on Monday, and while I intended to keep off the slab, having a concert Sunday night before departure, and a prior commitment Thursday through Sunday kept preperations at bay. As a result, we slabbed up I-5 to Hwy 34, then north on Hwy 99W, and more north on Hwy 47. We were in Forest Grove when Karyn had a bee fly up the sleeve of her coat. Once again, I was impressed that she kept the bike upright until safely stopped, and then did one of the most impressive dismount/disrobe combinations I have seen. I should say that about 25 years ago, Karyn was swarmed by yellow jackets on the family farm, and has been twitchy about bees ever since. This, and a late departure time had us take US 26 to the coast, then north to Astoria.

We got to Astoria, and checked in to a Holiday Inn Express by about 5 pm. We headed out to Fort Stevens State Park, which is part of the Lewis and Clark National Park system in sw Washington and nw Oregon. We stopped at Battery Russell, one of the WWII coastal defense bunkers.







We then went to the end of Clatsop spit, where the Columbia meets the Pacific.








A bit back to the south is the site where the Peter Iredale shipwreck is still located. It is the iron shell of the ship that sank in the early 1900's.








When we walked to dinner, we discovered that the area of Astoria where we were staying (basically under the bridge) was a Finnish settlement. Pretty interesting stuff.













This shot of the bridge is from our hotel room.



Total miles for day one was 240. Number of lighthouses was zero.

[Ally House]

Day two started out with a visit to the Columbia Maritime Museum, and not so coincidently, the first lighthouse. The ship Columbia used to anchor at the mouth of the Columbia River, and function as a lighthouse.









We then trecked into Washington, and out to Cape Disapointment. There is a lighthouse at north head, and another one on the cape itself. The Lewis and Clark National Park interpretive center is there as well, built right into the edge of old Fort Canby.

North Head:







Cape Disapointment. I never did learn how it got its name.





This is the flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes that was the national colors at the time of the Lewis and Clark Discovery Mission.



The Washington end of the Astoria-Megler bridge




After our visit at the interpretive center, it was back into Oregon, and south down 101. We got to Ecola State Park, and got to see Tillamook Rock lighthouse. It is on a rock island about 1/2 mile out to sea.













We traveled about 115 miles all told, and arrived in Tillamook at about 5 pm. Got four lighthouses in, along with a museum and an interpretive center.

[Ally House]

Day three was a busy one. We started out in Tillamook, and went west on Three Capes Loop Road. It was a little goaty for my tastes, and after we saw the Cape Meares lighthouse, we headed back in to Hwy 101. It was surprising at Cape Meares to walk up, and be on a level with the top of the lighthouse!!











We next went to Yaquina Head. I was suprised I had never been there, but it was a cool trip. They had an interpretive center, and then a treck out to the lighthouse.









The bridge over Yaquina Bay, and the Yaquina Bay lighthouse.





South we went to Heceta Head, and souther we went to Umpqua. Not a lot of pix of these, as it was pretty crowded at Heceta, and we were pretty tired at Umpqua.





We made it to Coos Bay for our overnight, arriving about 6 pm. 175 miles and five lighthouses!!!

[Fastfar]

Awesome idea, I had not realized there were that many Lights on the west coast...
Cape Disappointment marks the north side of the mouth of the Columbia. The point was named Cape San Rogue by the Spanish explorer Don Bruno de Heceta in 1775. When British fur trader John Meares sailed up the Oregon coast in 1788 in search of the river Heceta claimed to have found, he could not find it and thus named the area Cape Disappointment. It was not until 1792 that American fur trader John Gray crossed the river bar and confirmed Heceta's discovery. He named the river after his ship, the Columbia Rediviva.

[Ally House]

John, thanks for the info. Nice to know that Heceta and Meares are still remembered. I did ask the difference between a "head" and a "cape". None, according to the guy at the Yaquina head visitor center.

[rush_law]

What a great idea for a ride! Thanks for sharing. Nice job! Pictures are fantastic as is the report!

[ronnath]

very nice report and excellent pix.



okay, okay, i'm a flatlander. and i lead a sheltered life, okay? Do those lighthouses still operate or have radar and gps' made them obsolete?

[CALIF GIRL]

Ally,

Sounds like you two had a great time. One of my favorite Oregon Lighthouses is Cleft of the Rock, Its a private lighthouse that was built as part of a house. Th lighthouse towertower is a replica of the 1898 Fiddle Reef Lighthouse, which was a lighthouse on Vancouver Island long ago. The owner was a former lighthouse keeper at Tillamook.

It is not open to the public but you can see it from the road, if you are looking at the right time.

Nice ride report....

Marion

[Nirvana]

Nice pictures, thanks for sharing Ally.

[Ally House]

Day 4 we went from Coos Bay out the Cape Arago Hwy to Sunset Bay State Park. There are three segments to the park, a campground and picnic area at Sunset Bay (which has some of the easiest access tidepools on the coast), Shore Acres, a formal garden, and Cape Arago viewpoint. The lighthouse is best seen from a point between Sunset Bay and the gardens; it is on a spit of land north of Sunset Bay.











The road we took from there to Bandon was Seven Devils Road, and was by far the best motorcycling road we hit the entire trip. Of course, I was too busy riding it to stop and snap some pics, but it is a definite alternative to 101 if you've ventured out to Cape Arago.

Next we stopped in Bandon, at Bullards Beach State Park, for the Coquille River lighthouse. We took a nice tour of the lighthouse (it was the shortest one of the lighthouses, easiest to climb) that had been being renovated when we were here last year.










Last Oregon lighthouse was at Cape Blanco. This lighthouse sits on a cape over two large bays. As you can see in the pictures, there is a light fog rolling in.









As we went south, the fog got thicker and thicker. We had a good lunch stop in Port Orford, at The Crazy Norweigian diner, and pressed south. It got colder and foggier the souther we went. We stopped at Opher rest stop north of Brookings and put on every stitch of long clothes we had. This is where I wished I had brought the winter gloves. We bought gas in Brookings, as it is about .50 a gallon cheaper in Oregon than in California.

Next stop was Battery Point lighthouse in Crescent City. This is accessible at low tide only, and we missed low tide by about two hours. Did I mention the fog?? Well, it was foggy. Very foggy. We were cold. Very cold.









After the stop at Battery Point, we went and got a motel room. That had an in-room jacuzzi tub. It was not five minutes before we were in it, and finally warm. I did not take many food pics this trip, mostly because the food we ate was pretty much fast food, except for the Crazy Norweigian. I will not mention the dinner we had, walking distance from our motel. Next time, I will suit up and ride to another place.

176 miles, and a warm tub!!


Day 5, and homeward bound. Tried again at Battery Point. More fog. I have included a cheater photo I took last year so you can see that there really is something out there!





We headed inland, and by about mp 2 on Hwy 199, it was sunny. We made a quick stop at Walker Rd. one of the redwood groves off of Hwy 199, then pressed on. Home by about 2 pm, 225 miles on the bikes. Band rehearsal and parade within 24 hours of getting home.



Why Walker Rd. Well, the previous commitment the week before we took off on this lighthouse run was to get married. Karyn's Uncle Bill was "deputy clerk for a day" and performed the ceremony. Karyn's sister Annie was her best woman, and Kelly was my best woman. Kelly got to pack as much as she wanted on this trip!!