Going Coastal 101: Day 5 (June 29): Bay Center, WA to Fort Stevens Park, OR

So, as not to interrupt Sanders' flow, I wanted to get some more posts from Day 5 through Day 10 up on the blog as I'm sure Sander will want to add some more once he gets to San Francisco.

On Day 5, June 23rd, we left Bush County Park and stopped at the local bar just outside our campsite. I needed to get my camelback filled up and we talked with the bartender and a guy (looked like a truck driver or logger) finishing his lunch. They both agreed that we should not go to Cape Disappointment as 101 gets twisty and narrow, plus Ilwaco is a tourist trap.

They suggested we take WA Hwy 4 west along the southern park of Willapa Bay and turn south on Hwy 401 near Naselle which joins with Hwy 101 right before the dreaded Astoria Bridge across the Columbia River. So that's what we did.

Sander must've been hungry because just as we were walking out he turned to me and said, "I think I'm going to ask that guy for his fries." I just waited by my bike, but he got what he wanted - a mouthful of fries!

The route on Hwy 4 and 401 was very nice - wide shoulders and generally pretty flat. We stopped near Naselle to have lunch which turned out to be a long lunch - PB&J, Pringles, Bananas and some ice cream. I took a short nap that Sander rudely interrupted when he said, "Hey Kirk, look to the road!" - five touring bicyclists whizzed by - the first we saw on the trip.

We left and headed down to the Columbia River. Several signs here pointed out we were on the last leg of the Lewis and Clark Trail. We got to the Columbia about 4:30 or so - the river at it's mouth is huge and we could see large ocean-going shipping vessels across the river near Astoria. There are no large ports near the mouth of the Columbia on the Washington side (which seems strange). We also saw some Bald Eagles fighting over some fish and I spooked an egret or heron as we were biking towards the Astoria bridge.

The Astoria bridge - 5 miles long and often windy - this, for me, was the most intimidating part of the trip. But the bridge has signs telling motorists to watch for bicyclists and there was practically no wind that day. Sander and I took a Clif goo "shot" and took off. I think the worst part was the huge climb at the end (the sea-level bridge rises sharply near the end to allow the ocean vessels to travel upriver). But, once over that hump we were in Astoria!

Astoria as a town is quite a contrast from the towns and villages of SW Washington. It is definitely an old fishing and seaport, but it has capitalized on it's history and location. It has an operating wharf streetcar and seaside wooden walkway, plenty of restaurants, museums and a bike shop (Waaw!). That was good since my front wheel was getting a bit wobbly.

The bike shop, "Bikes and Beyond" was where we met our first fellow bike tourists. Two brothers from Seattle - Jefferson and Jamis (I think... correct me if I am wrong Sander). They were talkative and friendly. They'd left Seattle a few days later than us and were headed to San Diego. That night they were staying in a hostel in Astoria and had already been there a few hours checking out the sights. That is one regret I have about the trip - we didn't take much time in many places to see the sights.

We talked with them as my front wheel was trued. The bike shop owner liked my Trek frame and thought the construction of my wheels was strange (I told him that I built them in a class - maybe I got it wrong, but he thought the were fine, just different). So, Sander and I took off to Fort Stevens (on the way we stopped at a Fred Meyer and met the five cyclists that passed us in Naselle earlier in the day - I also bought a cheap therma-rest which promptly broke as I was inflating it that evening...).

We biked another 10 miles to our destination Fort Stevens State Park. I have to say, the Oregon State Parks really seemed in much better shape than the Washington ones. They gave us a map of the park, it was cheaper (only $8 instead of $14) and the showers were free. We stayed in the hiker biker sites with a boatload of other bikers, but we didn't mingle much. Sander made dinner and we pretty much went to bed.