Clallum Bay to Astoria

15

August 4th, 2013 – This morning we were the first ones up and took advantage of the shower. We repacked our bags and relaxed while waiting for others to wake. One other guest was up and out in a flash, I never saw him, Kirk said good morning and goodbye. Glen – from Indiana – came and joined us for coffee on the couch and we chatted about Canada vs America. He shared a great video that put a funny spin on the border, it’s worth a watch.

When our host, Sandy, arrived, she made us the biggest breakfast we’ve ever received at a B&B! I stared at the plate in front of me and wondered how I’d eat it all! Two eggs, a pile of freshly made fried potatoes and onions, thick cut bacon, two sausage patties, a freshly baked cinnamon bun, a bowl of fruit, a bottle of orange juice, and coffee. That kept me going, without even a niggle of hunger, until about 4pm!

The fog had really settled in overnight, and the trees were barely visible. The others were asking us if we had good gear and would we get wet. Damp maybe, cold for sure. But yes, we were prepared, we know what the West Coast on the Pacific is like at this time of year. Unpredictable, but fog is pretty common.

We wiggled the bikes out from their spot in front of her car, loaded them up, and headed off into the mist. And yes, it was darned nippy! But not for long. As soon as we had travelled only a couple of miles away from the water, we were under brilliant blue skies and the temperature started to climb.

So we stopped and executed the first of many layer changes. Off came one layer, and then on we went. Farther down the road, another layer came off, then another. We lost count how many times we added and subtracted layers.

We saw a sign for Hoh Rain Forest and decided to take a side trip. Our entry fee for Hurricane Ridge was good for 7 days at any of the Park facilities, so why not visit a bit more of Olympic National Park. It’s an amazing park, just huge!

Kirk humouring me on the road in to Hoh Rain Forest

The road wasn’t great in one sense, and fabulous in another. It was beautiful, the trees were practically dripping mosses, and when we stopped once, the muffled silence enveloped us. You can tell that they get some serious rain here.

Judging by the lush rain forest, I can only agree that this is probably accurate.

We looked down the road and a deer stepped out of the trees and casually wandered across the road. We pulled in where a sign said “Big Spruce Tree” and yes, it was a big tree all right. It was also a good place to strip the liner out of the pants and get down to just a t-shirt under the jacket.

Rain Forest Phone Booth, minus phone

The downside of the road was that it was rough and lumpy and it wasn’t a road that you could really settle into. Particularly when chipmunks were suicidal! (No we didn’t kill any, but it wasn’t for lack of them flinging themselves in our way!)

 My bike has a fat ass! Look out, Wide Load!

 Big tree, little bike.

Relaxing in the rain forest

Several times along the highway we saw more signs for big trees – “Big Cedar”, “Big Spruce”, “Biggest Spruce”. They like their big trees here. And as we got close to the outer coast, we could see the first signs of fog lying in the distance above the tree line. As we got closer to that tree line, the temperature started to drop, and drop, and as we rode into the fog, the temperature plummeted! Kirk pulled off ahead of me where three other riders were just about to pull back on the road, announced that he was freezing (actually what he said was “Christ it’s cold! My nipples are hard!”), and we added all of our layers back on.

Foggy Washington coastline

Foggy Washington coastline

Foggy Washington coastline

We stopped at a couple of pullouts and listened to the crashing waves, muffled in the fog that was rolling in over the cliffs and slipping in between the trees. At one stop, a fellow on a Harley pulled in behind us and stated that he’d “. . . just ridden 2000 miles and finally saw the ocean!” He then declared that he’d just ridden up to Neah Bay, and thought it was a dive and a waste of two hours of his life. Interestingly, Noel had told us that it was a wonderful ride, and worth it if we’d had the time. We hadn’t gone, only because we had already been late last night.

Then it was a long ride to Aberdeen, with a stop along the way to strip underlayers back down to minimal as the heat climbed back up from ice box to furnace level. We rolled into Aberdeen on fumes and refuled, then got ourselves good and confused getting out of town and on to the road we wanted. We couldn’t find anywhere that we wanted to stop and eat, so we finished out loaf of potato bread and rode on to Long Beach.

Long Beach, not really summery weather! All the little black specks are seabirds.

The road out to Long Beach is easily the best little 16 mile stretch we’ve encountered yet. The balance of twistiness and scenery was fabulous! Long Beach was suitably socked in with fog, but we got off for a short walk on the boardwalk, watched the waves on the beach, listened to the crashing water, and enjoyed the salty air before heading back to the bikes to add more layers again.

Cool bike rack!

Then it was straight on to Astoria and across the Astoria-Megler Bridge. A very long (6.5 km), partially floating, partially cantilevered bridge, that is quite the sight and a pretty cool ride. I looked forward at one point to see a car coming at Kirk in his lane and had a moment of panic before realizing that the centre line was a dotted yellow one and really, with a stretch of road this long and straight, there was no reason to not allow passing.

We did! That’s why we are here in Astoria now!

The Astoria Bridge between Washington and Oregon

We weren’t sure where our hotel was, so we pulled off into a car wash lot and Google mapped it. Turns out if we’d just been on the other side of the building we would have seen it, we were that close! And when we checked in, we were overjoyed to find out the hot tube was open 24 hours – we could have a late dinner and drinks and still have a soak before bed.

 Cute kitty in Astoria – well fed and looking for love.

Historical buildings along the Columbia River waterfront in Astoria

The fog is waiting to come back in under the Astoria Bridge…

The fellow at the front desk gave us some recommendations for a walk and dinner, and told us that there was a place called Rogue about 2 miles down the river walk but they served a fabulous chipotle amber ale! SOLD!

Old train car in Astoria

The walk was lovely, the sun was setting behind us and coloured everything a fabulous golden, then pink, light. The fog was hanging just outside the bridge and just on the other side of the ridge above us, waiting. . . That fog is smart stuff, it knows that when the sun goes down, the air cools, and it can creep back in. And it did. And as we reached Rogue, it was getting darned cold. And the last bit of roadside entertainment we had was the sealions down on the docks – barking away to each other. I loved it, but I could imagine it would get old quickly, and all the hotels looking out into this bit of bay. . . I wonder if they provide earplugs for guests?

Sun setting on a lovely neighbourhood along the riverfront walk in Astoria

Sunset on the river’s edge

Here comes the fog bank…

Seagulls settle in for the evening

The beer was great, and we taste tested eight other samples. All fabulous. Dinner wasn’t fine dining, it wasn’t fancy, but it was flavourful and excellent. Kirk had a seafood pasta full of scallops, and I had a chipotle chicken penne. Both delicious! Highly recommend this place to anyone coming through!

An old cannery on the Columbia River

It’s funny how different people have different perceptions of the same place. When we stopped in Edison and told the couple we encountered there that we were coming here, Phil had called Astoria a dump. Then this morning, Sandy had declared that she loved the place. Our vote? Loved! It’s interesting, the buildings are neat, the old piers and pilings are fascinating, and the beer is awesome! Astoria is a winner and I’d like to come back.

The bartender called us a cab, and when we hoped in I had the following conversation with the driver:

“Do those se lions bark all night long?”

“Yiup”

“I guess it gets old quickly?”

“Yiup”

Wasn’t going to get a historical time line of the city on this ride…

A soak in the hot tub, with a beer we bought at Rogue, and we were done for the night.

Today’s track…  I forgot to turn the GPS on right away, so the track is about 20 km shy of the real total. In all, close to 450km today.