As I mentioned in the first post, the
ship started in Vancouver and ended in San Diego and had a port call in
Astoria. I’ve already touched on Vancouver and didn’t have much time in
San Diego, so I’ll be focusing this section entirely on Astoria.
If you enjoy reading about history and
unique geographic locations, I recommend you read Astoria by Peter
Stark, its a fascinating true story about the origins of this port town
and the dual exploratory parties that embarked to establish a settlement and a
Pacific rim fur trading empire centered in Astoria. I’m glad I had read
the portion about the marine navigational challenges before we arrived because sailing into the port was a bit of an adventure.
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| Cape Disappointment on the Washington state side. |
At 11am on Thursday, October 18th, Captain John Scott came on the public address system to advise us that we had a pilot aboard and were on the final approach to the Columbia Bar which is where the Columbia River interfaces with the Pacific Ocean . He conveyed that due to the unique navigational challenges and clearances in this channel (narrow channel, lots of sediment leading to shallow spots), the Eurodam would need to retract her stabilizers for 30 minutes or so while she sailed into the channel to avoid potential for damage. For those that haven’t looked at a detailed map of Astoria, it lies just inside the mouth of the Columbia River.
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| Bathymetry of the Columbia Bar and Astoria harbor |
The river
is wide at this location and flows at up to 8 knots, however due to its width,
there are several barely submerged sand bars. The Astoria Megler bridge,
situated just east of the main dock in town, has two piers that obstruct the
river further making it a very narrow passage.
The Eurodam would need to navigate the river bar, the built
jetties, hidden sand bars, an 8 knot river contraflow, and when we arrived, a
tide that was going out before coming aside at the only cruise pier in town, just west of the bridge. For about 30 minutes as we approached the mouth,
the Eurodam, sailing without stabilizers began rolling up to 15 degrees. The weather was not adverse, this was just
the wild Pacific and the somewhat tamed Columbia River (multiple dams upriver)
commanding respect from everyone on this ship.
Although we rocked pretty good for about 30 minutes, we then arrived in
the inner harbor where things calmed and the ship was along side by noon.
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| It's hard to capture the 10-15 degree list of the ship entering the channel without stabilizers |
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| Looking NE - approaching the pier with the US 101 Astoria Megler Bridge and causeway in view |
My personal to do list in Astoria was
to jog through some of the neighborhoods just south of the dock, up to the Astoria Column, swing by
the “Goonies House” and back to downtown to stop by some of the microbreweries.
So on this 60 degree cloudy afternoon, off I went from the Eurodam along the wide paved port trail towards town, and made
my way up the hill immediately adjacent to the port and US 101. I ran up a few narrow rock strewn paths and
eventually was at the top of a hill side neighborhood with several unique
houses and some beautiful northwest gardens. Following a preplanned
route, and keeping an eye for vista points, I eventually made my way to Clatsop
Commuity College. From the east parking
lot of the college, I made my way up a 0.2 mile, steep dirt trail to the grassy
meadow below the Astoria Column.
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| West Astoria - the downtown is just to the left around the hill. |
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| Astoria Megler Bridge - looking NE |
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| Some semi official paths up the hillside in Astoria |
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| Wildlife was not far away |
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| Gosh, what a view. |
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| Another formally informal public trail. |
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| The Astoria Column in the distance |
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| A street scene just uphill from downtown. |
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| The trail up from Clatsop College |
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| The bluff |
Several
more huffs (I admit I was walking at this point), and I made it to the top of the
bluff and took in the 270 degree view to the north, west, and south, and the
magnificence of the Astoria Column with its exterior fresco that spirals up the column providing a quick yet thorough visual history of the city. 164 steps later and I made it to the top
to even more impressive views - however the Eurodam was hidden by the hill that
had been the starting point for my jog. If you go, it's a free trek to the top however if you drove you will need to pay a small fee for parking. There are restrooms just southeast of the of the column and a small gift shop as well.
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| At the base of the Astoria Column |
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| A bronze relieve of the surrounding geography |
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| There were maybe 5 or 6 landings where you could let others pass and catch your breath. |
The Astoria Column provides impressive vistas in all directions and was
a real treat as the clouds were clearing over the Columbia River,
creating a visual cornucopia of greens, yellows, and oranges on the forested
hillsides of Washington state, on the north side of the Columbia River.
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| View to the NW |
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| View W |
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| View N |
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| View S |
Heading back down, this time I took
the 0.9 Cathedral Tree woodland trail from the northeast side of the site which put me
into northeast Astoria. Following my prescribed route, I made my way over
near the "Goonies" house (from the 1980s movie) only to find several nasty signs about no visiting and
no pictures. Bummer! By the looks of it it was either in disrepair or being updated.
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| One last view from the bluff towards town. |
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| Well that's a bummer. |
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| The Goonie's House - if you go, please only take pictures from afar. |
Anyways, I then set back toward downtown
on the waterfront path which runs from the far eastern limit of town all the way to downtown and beyond to the cruise dock and even further. During summer
months, Astoria has a trolley that runs on some old railroad tracks that run
along the waterfront. There was no
trolley today but it was a nice jog with the sun coming out and the leaves on
the trees in a mosaic of colors. In the
distance I heard the barking of a few sea-lions; obviously it was a smaller
group than the one in San Francisco but a nice audible treat combined with the
other smells and sounds associated with a seaport.
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| The very nice waterfront path and adjacent trolley tracks. |
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| A nice neighborhood on a pond near the waterfront. |
As a fan of microbrews, it was a nice way to end my sojourn in the downtown area with 5 downtown
breweries of which I visited 3. Well, really I visited 2 breweries and a
cidery that was next to a brewery that I stumbled into. The Fort George
Brewery was first and is just north of the site of the original settlement in
Astoria. There is a historical marker here and some green paint at odd
angles in the road indicate the fort’s original boundary. The beer at Fort
George was good and I would go back, they also served food and had a nice outdoor area as well as a wintergarden style patio. The next brewery was 2 blocks away and
I ended up going to cidery in the same location. The brewery, Reach Break Brewing, and cidery, Reveille Ciderworks share an open lot that has several picnic tables and spots for some food
trucks. It’s a nice setting and I’ll be sure to go back to this location
next year (more about that later) as the cider was good and the owner talked a bit about how Astoria was changing for the better. My last stop was Buoy Beer about 5
blocks away located on the waterfront in a structure over the water. This location has 2 bars with a nice
selection of beer and food.
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| First up, Fort George Brewery |
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| Historical marker just south of Fort George Brewery |
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| Reveille Cidery and Reach Break Brewery's shared outdoor area. |
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| A nice place to stop, enjoy a pint, and take it all in. |
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| Buoy Beer List |
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