After our rig inspection for extended warranty purposes, we left Oregon City around noon. Our target was Cape Disappointment State Park in the southwest corner of Washington.
The drive would be 125 miles and we hoped to arrive before 3:00 for a good chance at getting one of the first-come, first-served sites as all the reservable sites were booked.
We took I-205 to I-5 to OR Hwy 217 to U.S. 26 to U.S. 101. All the roads were good, but U.S. 26 was a bit hilly and curvy, and there weren't the usual signs telling us an appropriate speed for the curves. Linda was hitting the brakes more than usual in that section.
As soon as we got on Hwy 101, it started drizzling. I noted on the map that we would be crossing the Columbia River in Astoria on a 4-mile bridge which I had checked out previously. Some folks said the high section (which isn't very long) can be very windy, but it wasn't an issue today.
The Astoria-Megler Bridge celebrated it's 50th anniversary in 2016, and that link is to the website providing lots of details about the bridge including the following.
The Astoria–Megler Bridge is a steel cantilever through truss bridge that spans the Columbia River between Astoria, Oregon and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington, in the United States. Located 14 miles (23 km) from the mouth of the river, the bridge is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) long and was the last completed segment of U.S. Route 101 between Olympia, Washington, and Los Angeles, California. It is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.
I took some photos as we crossed, but it was raining too much to get any good ones.
Eventually, we ended up at Cape Disappointment a little before 3:00.
Before we go any further, here is the explanation for the name "Cape Disappointment" from the state park website.
Though the cape was first mapped by Spanish explorer Bruno de Hezeta in 1775, its naming is credited to English Captain John Meares, who approached the cape in 1788, but could not locate the river's entrance. Meares, therefore, named the headland Cape Disappointment. In 1792, American Captain Robert Gray successfully crossed the river’s bar and named the river “Columbia” after his ship, the Columbia Rediviva. In 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at Cape Disappointment after their 18-month, 3,700- mile journey from St. Louis, Missouri.
Okay, here's probably more than you want to know about camping at the park.
It's not easy to figure out the rates for Washington State Parks. There is a table on their website, but it just includes ranges of prices. You have to pick a particular site in their system to figure out the actual rate.
They have fees broken down by "Full-utility campsites" (full hook-ups), "Partial-utility campsites" (water & electric hook-ups), and "Standard campsites" (no hook-ups). But then, in each of those categories they are further broken down by "Popular" (most expensive), "Basic" (mid-range), and "Economy" (lowest price).
Oh, but they have different rates for different seasons - winter, peak, and shoulder seasons. EXCEPT Cape Disappointment, Grayland Beach, and Pacific Beach don't have "winter" rates, the shoulder season rates apply during the winter at those parks. Sheesh.
I'll break it down for you. Sites 1 -10 & 21 - 60 are full hook-ups and "popular", so they are $45/night. Sites 61 - 120 are water/electric sites and "popular" so they are $40/night. Sites 121 - 180 have no hook-ups, but they are "popular" so they are $35/night.
All of those sites are reservable.
Sites 181 - 234 are NOT reservable - they are first-come, first-served, but most of them won't accommodate big rigs. Sites 181 - 231 are "Standard" and "economy" so they are the lowest price at $25/night (for RV sites). Sites 232 - 234 are "Primitive hiker/biker" and those sites are always just $12/night.
Now, Sites 1 - 180 are "popular" because they are close to the beach and they are paved in a "spoke and wheel" configuration. But folks report absolutely no cell service in those sections.
The non-reservable sites, 181 - 234, are closer to the entrance, they are grass, and they are very close together, but they do have cell service.
One final thing. The bathhouses have flush toilets and showers, but the showers are 50¢ for three minutes.
We stopped at the ranger station/office to check in. We told them we wanted a non-reservable site for 4 nights and that we were 29 feet long. The nice lady plugged all that in and gave us a list of five sites to go look at where the computer said we would fit (although we could take any open site we liked where we knew we could fit).
We settled on Site 196 which backs up to a small lake.
A tree separates us from our neighbors on the door side giving us a little more space and, fortunately, the two sites next to us on the other side remained vacant.
Yeah, $25/night for these sites is a bit steep, but we didn't have to have a reservation and we do have good 4G cell service without a booster. And we do back up to a lake. And it's only a short walk to a more secluded beach.
Oh, one more thing. Washington has an annual Discover Pass for $35 (That may be the online price as we can get it for $30 here at the park). From the website:
The Discover Pass offers you access to millions of acres of state recreation lands in Washington, including:
More than 100 developed state parks
More than 350 primitive recreation sites, including campgrounds and picnic areas
Nearly 700 water-access points
Nearly 2,000 miles of designated water and land recreation trails
More than 80 natural areas
More than 30 wildlife areas
Now, if you are camping in a state park, you don't need to have a Discover Pass - your fee is included in your camping rate. However, there are lots of those "primitive recreation sites" in Washington that have camping, and a Discover Pass means you can camp there for free. We'll get a Discover Pass as I'm sure we'll recover the cost while we're in the state.
After the five minutes it took us to get set up, we went for a drive.
On the way to the main campground, there was a Black-tailed Deer at the dump station.
The young buck wasn't concerned with us and continued to browse.
We checked out the main campground and the sites are nice, but they put a few too many "spokes" in the small wheels. The sites are bit closer together than I imagined, but they are offset nicely so you are not looking directly at your neighbor.
They are doing construction at the North Jetty, so the road is closed after about a third of the way, but it is open to a parking area where you can get a look at the cliffs, the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, and a small beach known as Waikiki Beach.
This shot includes part of the massive pile of driftwood next to the parking area.
We drove up a hill to a parking lot to do the quarter-mile walk to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, but it was closing about the time we parked. So, from the same parking lot, we walked a half-mile to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse ... in a light rain.
Here was the view of the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center ....
which is separated from the lighthouse by this small cove.
We didn't stay at the lighthouse long as it continued to rain.
But by the time we got to the parking area for the North Head Lighthouse, a second lighthouse that is a couple miles away, it let up a bit.
View along the coast to the right of the lighthouse.
On the cliffs were Brandt's Cormorants, Pelagic Cormorants, and Pigeon Guillemots as well as a variety of gulls and several crows. This is a good place to have binoculars.
Just as we were leaving, the clouds were just starting to break up and we had the sun to our backs. Later, I would return for the sunset.
Back at the rig, I got out our Blackstone Griddle to cook a flatbread/pizza. Linda misses her gas oven, and she didn't want to turn on the generator to run the convection oven. As in the fifth wheel, Linda doesn't like running the generator unless absolutely necessary. So, we put the flatbread on the griddle and covered it with a cookie sheet to create an oven effect. It worked perfectly.
Our temps here hovered around the upper 50s, and it's supposed to only get up into the low 60s while we are here. And on the cliffs, it was cold.
But with the sun out, I had to go take some photos. Linda decided to stay cozy in the motorhome.
Back on the jetty road, here's the same shot of the cliff and lighthouse I took before but with the benefit of better lighting.
Zoom in on the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.
I drove out of the campground area and went up to the Beards Hollow Overlook for a couple photos.
Then, I drove back up to the North Head Lighthouse parking lot. From the parking lot, there is a quarter-mile, paved path to Bell's View. I enjoyed the jungle-like rainforest walk.
The Bell's View platform was nice, ....
and I could see Long Beach in the distance, ....
but I thought the sunset would be better from the North Head Lighthouse.
Both times on the lighthouse path, Snowshoe Hares were feeding.
Looking down on Benson Beach and North Jetty.
Benson Beach is off the main campground, and several folks were out on the beach preparing for the sunset.
According to a sign on the path, the whole area of Benson beach, and the land behind it where the campground sits, didn't exist until after the jetty was built.
With the change in ocean currents due to the jetty, new land was created.
I took more photos while waiting for sunset, ....
and I shot this short video.
Eventually, I got the shot I was seeking.
What appeared to be a mother and daughter were the only other people there to enjoy the magical, peaceful sunset at the lighthouse.
I returned home quite happy with our afternoon at Cape Disappointment - yep, not disappointed in any sense of the word. And my Dad, who would've been 96 today, would have loved seeing it for himself.
WOW!!!! Your sunset photos is spectacular!!!
Posted by: Bill and Nancy | Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 04:25 PM
Love your pictures! We were there last summer and totally enjoyed the area. If you go to North Cascades check out Howard Miller Steelhead County Park.
Near Port Angeles WA. We stayed at Tongue Creek Recreation area. It had nice views.
We also used a Thousand Trails zone pass. That helped the budget but their parks are packed and a little run down.
Posted by: Mary Klinger | Monday, July 02, 2018 at 01:35 AM
Could you give more info on your grill? I have been ready past posts and you seem to really like andnuse! Thanks!
Posted by: Jill Kelley | Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 12:20 PM
Jill, here is the link to the 2017 entry from when we purchased it. Lots of details there.
http://rv-dreams.typepad.com/rvdreams_journal/2017/08/blackstone-17-table-top-griddle.html
Posted by: Howard | Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 03:46 PM