The great river, so long a mystery. Rising in far southeast British Columbia, it first makes a long northern run into
British Columbia before sharply doubling back into eastern Washington, and then defining much of the Oregon-
Washington border on its run to the sea. Four miles wide here at its mouth, the imposing Columbia bar, graveyard of uncounted ships, this is where the power of the great river collides with that of the North Pacific.
COLUMBIA
Daybreak on the river,
Big freighters in the roads
awaiting their summons upriver,
awaiting what the new day holds.
daybreak on the river
Once upon a time there was a great canning industry in Astoria by the River. Just downriver from this locale there is an old cannery building at Pier 39. It's now home to, among other things, a great brew pub and coffee shop. Past, Present, Future. They are here. And gently.
morning moods
Contrasts. The strangely-formed light of sunrise. The brilliant mossy green of the causeway rocks. The blue of the river against the blue of the sky. The contrasting faces on the water.
contrasts
The old boathouse is left alone. Construction of the causeway created a backwater slough with only room enough for a canoe or kayak to pass through the causeway bridge pilings. The old boathouse seems a bit much for a canoe...
the boathouse
On the south side of the river, other than the enormous jetty itself, this is as far as one can go, Lands End. Here Woody Guthrie's Columbia rolls across the bar and joins the sprawling North Pacific. "...Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew...roll on Columbia, roll on....".
roll on columbia
The inbound Pacific swell breaks against the south face of the famous South Jetty. The US Army Corp of Engineers is here, and has been at it for awhile. The Corp has to be. The jetty is nearly seven miles long, and is assaulted constantly by the wide Pacific to the southwest, as well as by the stormy Gulf of Alaska to the north.
south jetty
Clatsop Spit, October night,
the captain lost the Columbia Light
in the growing squall, scudding clouds,
the Iredale windward of the shore,
awaiting the Morn to force
the Nightmare Bar.
the peter iredale
1788: John Meares was disappointed, not reaching the great river, thinking the bay just a bay. And yet, he had. Cape Disappointment is so foggy that two lights have guarded the entrance. The north light announces the presence of the headland for southbound sailors.
north end light
The south light standing guard over the ever-shifting bar, Baker Bay, and the Columbia's South Jetty on the far side of the river.
south end light
With a sharp focus,
an intimate portrait is seen,
but with a wandering, wavering eye,
enchanting new worlds are called into being.
other things
The piling height's not needed
as the flood tide rolls,
downriver now the bows of the
freighters on the roads.
day's end
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no
moaning of the bar
when I put out to sea.
Tennyson