Tent Camping on the Oregon Coast #3

FORT STEVENS

Wednesday morning it was still raining - a gentle misty rain. I donned my rain poncho and quickly boiled some water on the one-burner propane stove and dove back into the tent. We feasted on instant oatmeal, hot chocolate, bananas, and morning pills. Then we headed to the beach for our first look at the Pacific Ocean.

Up until this moment we had traveled alongside the Columbia River which, as it fanned out to dump into the ocean, was broad and looked to be a sea, itself, with ocean going ships, barges, and all sizes of fishing vessels. Right in front of us, stranded on the beach was the Wreck of the Peter Iredale, an English sailing ship that ran aground in 1906.
We had read about this site, but thought we were going to have to hike to it, and weren’t sure we wanted to do that in the wind and rain.

Fort Stevens (where we were camped) was built during the Civil War to defend the western coast from marauding Southerners. Then during World War II it was active in protecting the western coast from enemy submarines. As a matter-of-fact, it was shelled by a Japanese submarine that had managed to get near the Oregon Coast. In the picture, if you try hard, you can visualize two big cannons sitting up on top of this concrete structure.

The Clatsop Spit (the point of land that juts up between the Pacific and the Columbia) is famous for birdwatching; but unfortunately for us, the birds were tucked away somewhere out of the wind and rain, because we did not see many – just seagulls, Great blue herons, and brown pelicans. Here is a list of the birds we saw between Boise and the Pacific and back again:
Blackbird, red-winged; Blackbird, Brewer’s; Chickadee, Chestnut-backed (lifer*); Cormorant, Pelagic; Cormorant, Brandt’s; Cormorant, Double-crested; Cowbird, brown-headed; Crow, Northwestern; Crow, American; Dove, Rock; Egret, Great; Flicker, Northern; Goose, Canada; Gull, ring-billed; Gull, Herring; Hawk, red-tailed; Heron, Great Blue (hundreds at Fort Stevens); Jay, Steller’s - Pacific race; Junco, Oregon; Kestrel, American; Kingfisher, Belted; Loon, Pacific; Merlin; Murre, Common; Nuthatch, red-breasted; Osprey; Owl, Barn; Owl, Barred; Pelican, American White; Pelican, Brown; Raven; Sanderling; Shearwater, Sooty (thousands on water); Sparrow, House; Swallow, Barn; Swift, Vaux’s; Vulture, Turkey; Woodpecker, Pacific Hairy; Wrentit (lifer*).

After touring the beaches, fort, and all the birding lookouts at Fort Stevens we were pretty well drenched and decided to retire to our warm, cozy tent. I grabbed a can of Progresso soup, heated it up on the one-burner stove, ran it into the tent where we feasted on soup, bagels, hot chocolate, and evening pills. Then we spent the evening playing games and reading. I’ll have to admit on our entire trip, we were in the tent by 7:00 at the latest, and usually into our warm bed by 8:30, listening to the rain beat on the roof. We averaged 13 hours of sleep each night!