Expeditions large and small, on land and water, seek to see what Lewis and Clark first saw in 1805
In Portland, the explorers are even the stars of a luxury hotel
By Diane Daniel, Globe Correspondent, 7/13/2003
|
||
 More on adventure travel Writer shares her enchantment with the trail
|
||
|
||
|
Printable version
How to get there |
||
We pointed our kayaks east toward the charming fishing and timber town of Cathlamet (kath-LAM-et), about six miles along open river and sloughs. This area, known as Wahkiakum County, is the second-least-populated county in the state, with about 3,800 residents.
Under fast-moving dark clouds, we paddled into the wind to Steamboat Slough. Emlen pointed out a Sitka spruce swamp, saying Lewis was the first person to describe the tree for scientific labeling. It is feasible we were looking at the same centuries-old trees the explorers saw in November 1805 before stopping at the Wahkiakum village to trade with the Indians.
I was in the middle of a six-day Lewis and Clark-flavored road trip from Portland, Ore., along the Columbia River that is the border between most of Oregon and Washington and where there is a heavy concentration of historical sites. My mission was not so much to retrace the explorers' steps as to get a feel a part of their 8,000-mile journey from Missouri and back.
My desire to see part of the Lewis and Clark Trail, an official National Historic Trail, is shared by many. Between now and 2006, up to 30 million people are expected to visit, according to news reports based on information from state and federal officials who have queried tourist boards and conducted national surveys. Some of the travelers are purists (or "Clarkies," as one tour guide calls them) and history buffs, others are museumgoers, and some, like myself, are mostly nature lovers.
The full expedition, called the corps of volunteers for North Western Discovery, or simply Corps of Discovery, got underway on May 14, 1804, from what is now the St. Louis area, and ended back there on Sept. 23, 1806. Our country's official bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition began this past Jan. 18, commemorating 200 years from the date in 1803 when President Jefferson approved financing to explore the country's wilderness, to establish contact with Native Americans, and to identify and document trees, plants, and wildlife. Only one man in the 33-member group died during the exploration.
For three years, 15 National Signature Events, sponsored by the National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, are being held at historically significant points across the country. The celebration comes to the Pacific area in November 2005 to commemorate the corps camping at Fort Clatsopin November 1805. Meanwhile, volunteers and government and park officials are busy sprucing up expedition sites.
During my stay in the area, the locals apologized continually for the unrelenting rain, but I rather appreciated experiencing the same conditions Lewis and Clark had faced when, as Emlen quoted from their journals, "every man was as wet as water could make them." Of course, on our day on the water, I was covered in fleece and Gore-Tex, whereas the explorers' clothing mostly rotted away from their bodies.
The Skamokawa Paddle Center, less than two hours from Portland, is one of the few places on the Lower Columbia where inexperienced paddlers can take guided trips that follow Lewis and Clark's water route. The way has been mapped, but novices shouldn't attempt to navigate the tricky river on their own.
On this trip, one of several day options offered, we first passed the Julie Hansen Butler National Wildlife Refuge, which one can drive through as well. Here Lewis and Clark saw elk species and the now endangered Columbia white-tailed deer. As we headed through sloughs and into the open river, some three miles wide at this point, we saw beaver dams, mews, an eagle, blooming skunk cabbage, and net pens for trapping coho salmon.
Emlen, 38, a naturalist, musician, and boater with remarkable knowledge of Lewis and Clark, led us calmly through a 20-minute squall.
Across from the paddle center, which also has lodging and food (I stayed 15 minutes east at the lovely Bradley House B&B in Cathlamet), is the River Life Interpretive Center at Redmen Hall, a restored 1894 schoolhouse. It's now used as a cultural center and has rotating exhibits and a gift shop.
Before heading to the Pacific Coast, you should take a scenic detour off Route 4 to Pillar Rock and a view of Gray's Bay. The Corps of Discovery camped here: "Great joy in camp we are in view of the Ocian this great Pacific Octean which we been so long anxious to See." Most historians now say that what they saw was the broad estuary of the Columbia, not the ocean. But historians and aficionados seem to disagree on almost everything regarding the voyage, including that assumption.
Pillar Rock is at the end of Altoona-Pillar Rock Road and almost next to the Rosburg Store, a classic country store worth a stop. The partly submerged rock is near where the corps camped on Nov. 7, 1805. The narrow, curvy road hugs the shore for several miles and ends next to an abandoned cannery, a dilapidated beauty from the late 1800s. Residents do not take kindly to visitors, but the road is public until one reaches the cannery.
Heading west to Highway 101 north brings you to Long Beach Peninsula, 28 miles of beaches (for walking, not sunbathing) between the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. On route to the peninsula you pass the Pacific Northwest's longest bridge. The four-mile Astoria-Megler Bridge crosses the Columbia River to Astoria, Ore., a lovely seaside town with houses nestled in steep hills that is worth a one- or two-day stay.
Through driving rain not far from the bridge entrance I found the roadside picnic area along 101 marking Station Camp, where the corps stayed near a Chinook Indian village. They were there from Nov. 15-24, 1805, deciding their next move. On Nov. 24, they chose their winter campsite, the democratic process including Sacagawea, an Indian woman, and York, a man who was Clark's slave.
Beyond tiny Chinook is the fishing community of Ilwaco, where the well-maintained Ilwaco Heritage Museum has some outstanding Lewis and Clark interpretive exhibits, the best being photos of current sites paired with passages from the explorers' journals. The town also has some cute shops and nice restaurants.
On the peninsula, the important Lewis and Clark sites are in Fort Canby State Park, also home to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. When I was there, the center was undergoing a big renovation. The interpretive materials were also getting an overhaul, including the creation of a detailed hiking map showing Lewis and Clark points of interest. You can spend a few hours or an entire day in the park, which covers 1,700 acres and has 250 campsites. I visited twice, the second time because the sun finally appeared and I couldn't resist taking a walk.
My guide the first day was David Campiche, innkeeper, restaurateur, and sculptor. Campiche and his wife, Laurie Anderson, run the 107-year-old Shelburne Inn and its nationally recognized Shoalwater Restaurant in Seaview, a few minutes north of Ilwaco. The inn's 15 rooms are filled with stunning antiques that boast Anderson's knowledge of furniture and design. The couple also owns China Beach Retreat, a modern guest house tucked away on the edge of Baker Bay, where I had a memorable stay. From the glassed-in living room there is a sweeping view over tidelands toward Sand Island, a setting similar to what the expedition saw as members explored on foot. When I checked in, a sou'wester was rolling in. The next morning, birds were singing in the sun.
Campiche, whose knowledge of the area and the expedition is impressive, pointed out significant spots, including the Cape Disappointment lighthouse, the oldest still in use on the West Coast, to which corps members walked, hoping to find ships for trading. On the opposite side of the park is the North Head lighthouse, which has magnificent views of the Pacific.
The following day, when the sun appeared for the first time in a week, I visited the park again, seeking out an old-growth forest that Emlen had told me about. Called the Coastal Forest Trail, the 1 1/2 miles follow the approximate route of Clark and expedition members on their overland hike. Park officials say the coastal fog/forest ecosystem there is much like the environment the men encountered. The wet forest looked primeval, with giant ferns carpeting the ground and lush moss and lichen covering trees and bushes. A brown and orange alligator lizard scampered in front of my path and a couple of garter snakes sunned along the trail. Nearby is one of the contending sites for a monument that architect Maya Lin (designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.) is creating to commemorate the expedition's bicentennial.
Another important Lewis and Clark stop is Fort Clatsop National Memorial, southwest of Astoria. A slide show in the visitors center is a good introduction to the small fort, a replica of where the expedition waited out the winter, from late November 1805 to late March 1806. According to journals, they had only 12 days without rain. From the fort there is a walk to the bay, where the park service has placed a couple of dugouts. With no one in sight when I was there, past and the present seemed as one.
About 14 miles south via Highway 101 is the Salt Works, operated by the Clatsop memorial. There, the expedition's three salt makers stayed from Jan. 2 to Feb. 20, 1806, boiling seawater to make salt. A reconstructed salt oven is in the original location, and a few times a year a living-history team holds a salt-making reenactment.
Farther south just north of touristy Cannon Beach are more spots -- Ecola State Park, Tillamook Head, and tiny Les Shirley Park, which is at the northern tip of Cannon Beach. At Les Shirley, an interpretive sign marks where the expedition purchased 300 pounds of whale blubber and a few gallons of rendered oil from the Tillamook Indians.
The Tillamook Head Trail, according to the guidebook "Traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail" (Falcon/Globe Pequot, 2003), is one of the few places where modern travelers can be certain they are hiking nearly the same route as the explorers. The hike is seven miles one way, to Ecola Point. If you are in a hurry, as I was, you can drive to Ecola State Park and take one of the paved walkways that lead to views of the rugged coastline and the famous landmark of Haystack Rock off Cannon Beach.
A two-hour drive later, I was back in Portland and immersed in Lewis and Clark-themed luxury at the Governor Hotel. In the lobby, a series of magnificent sepia-colored murals depicting the journey cover the walls. Many other touches pay homage to the expedition. The Governor, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is actually two connected buildings. The east wing was built in 1909 in Arts and Crafts style, while the west wing, a former Elks lodge built in 1923, was modeled after an Italian palace.
Other Portland sights worth seeking out are a statue of Sacagawea in Washington Park and a trompe l'oeil mural outside the Oregon Historical Society building. The center, which is closed for renovations throughout the summer, is scheduled to reopen in late September with a series of Lewis and Clark exhibits to commemorate the bicentennial.
If you fly out of Portland, you will be at yet one more Lewis and Clark site, or rather site unseen. The city's airport sits on the site of a former Neerchokioo village, a temporary residence for Shahala Indians that the corps visited twice. It is now covered by airport parking lots.
Diane Daniel can be reached at ddaniel@globe.com.