Map of Part 4 route

Thursday, Sept 28, 2017 (Oregon)

Cannon Beach to Hammond (Fort Stevens State Park)

Our next destination today was the town of Astoria. We parked the coach in the Safeway parking lot, did a little grocery shopping and had lunch before heading out on our bikes to do a little riding on the Astoria Riverwalk, which runs for 18 miles along the Columbia River.

The Astoria Riverwalk runs 18 miles along the Columbia River

Detouring off the Riverwalk to get closer to the barking seals

We could hear the cacophony of a colony of sea lions from where we parked, so we decided to head in their direction first, before riding west as planned. The ‘colony chorus’ was coming from the East Mooring Basin, where a dock had been taken-over by sea lions. They completely covered the dock surrounding every slip, and were barking up a storm. While it was a real hoot for us as onlookers, it’s actually a problem for the fishermen who want to use this dock. The marina continues to try various tactics to discourage the sea lions from this location, including stringing up beach balls between the pilings, as well as building railings and hanging colorful flags all along them! A variety of solutions employed have worked for a while, but none permanently. Actually, because these creatures are protected by federal law, and their population is burgeoning, the problems are bigger than just this basin and this is a hot topic. Without knowing any of this in advance, we really did enjoy this little detour at the start of our ride.

The waterfront was interesting with a few abandoned buildings on pilings and many ‘graveyards’ of decaying pilings where there used to be buildings or docks. We saw several ships heading up the Columbia River being escorted in by Harbor Pilots, due to the treacherous Columbia Bar. Signs at various points along the Riverwalk identified different types of ships that use the port, their likely cargo, and the flags flown by their owners. It was a fun ride, and educational! And we rode past a trolley, powered by a generator it towed, that runs all along the waterfront, providing transportation from one end to the other, or just a fun ‘touristy’ ride.

We had planned to take a paddle-wheeler cruise along the Columbia River, but the cruises were canceled due to the fires burning in the Columbia River Gorge.

Lots of freighter traffic on the Coumbia River.

The Astoria Column

Huge propeller at the Columbia River Maritime Museum

Waterfront homes in Astoria

With the Columbia River Gorge no longer on our itinerary (because of the cleanup efforts related to the fires), after our bike ride, we made the short trip to our chosen camp for the night, Fort Stevens State Park.

Checking-in at the campground

Our campsite #49 at the Fort Stevens State Park campground