With the sun out and NO WIND, and discovering how close we actually are to the ocean, we have a better appreciation of this location and campground and can understand how visitors are drawn to it. We are a bit resistant to leave, but we pack up and prepare for a day of driving on up the Washington coast.
Yesterday on the way to the campground, we had noticed a Lewis and Clark monument but we were so cold and tired of the wind, we didn’t feel like stopping to investigate. Now, with this beautiful day, we are more eager to stop and check it out. A reproduction of a diary entry on a plaque is mounted underneath a fascinating relief depicting the expedition’s first sighting of the Pacific Ocean.
We are further intrigued by the information on a couple of descriptive plaques describing the experiences and locations of the Lewis & Clark Expedition’s arrival at the coast.
A second monument, a pillar of granite, suggests it’s placement is within a few hundred feet of Clark’s November 18,1805 campsite. A quote on the pillar from Clark’s journal entry describes his crossing “the neck of land low and 1/2 of a mile wide to the main ocian, [his spelling] and at the foot of a high open hill….I ascended this hill which is covered in corse [his spelling] thick grass, descended to the N. of it and camped.” This “crossing” appears to have been across Cape Disappointment, then up the beach to this spot. This fascinates us even more as the hills are covered in dense trees and foliage — not grass! How much the landscape has changed in 100+ years!
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