Camping at Cannon Beach in Oregon

We followed the Capron's down I5 and crossed the Columbia River at Longview. We followed the river to Astoria, and then headed down the coast to Seaside and Cannon Beach. The campground was about 4 blocks away from the beach. We set up tents and went for a walk down the beach. The most prominent thing along the beach was Haystack Rock, which is one of the largest monoliths in the world.

One thing that strikes you about the beaches here as compared to the ones we have been used to in BC and Washington is the vast expanses of sand. The tide rises and falls about 4 ft. here and when the tide is out you might have to walk a couple of hundred metres out to the water. At low tide people walk out to Haystack Rock and explore the marine garden, that is under the stewardship of the Friends of Haystack Rock, who run an education program. There are sea stars and anemones, and all sorts of shellfish. Roosting on the rock are thousands of sea birds, including gulls, murres, cormorants and puffins.

When the tide goes out the sand on the beach is great for riding on. People ride horses, bicycles, and three-wheeled contraptions from one end of the beach to the other. It would be about 5 miles long, and if the tide is really low you can get all the way to Arcadia Beach.

The sea fog was with us for the first few days, which kept the temperatures down. There were patches of blue sky, but there was no wind to blow the fog away. It cleared up for the last few days, and it was great to spend time on the beach.

There is quite a bit of driftwood washed up on the beaches here, all the way up to huge tree trunks. You are allowed to have a fire on the beach as long as it is away from the grass, and not near log piles. We cooked on the beach a couple of times, and then sat around the fire roasting marshmallows to make s'mores, and chatting while watching the coals smoldering in the fire. We had dinner one night at Mo's seafood restaurant, which is right on the beach. There are a few of them up the Oregon Coast.

Roger and I drove Lucy in to Portland so that she could catch the bus back to Seattle for a volleyball camp that she was going to attend. As we left Cannon Beach we drove out of the fog and there was blue sky all around. There was a constant stream of traffic heading out of Portland towards the beach. The temperature also rose as we went further inland. It was 95F when we got to the Greyhound bus terminal, which was right next to the Central Railway Station. I took the dogs for a walk to the river while they bought the ticket and said goodbye. On the way back to the coast the temperate dropped from 95F to 63F.

Cannon Beach is a very pretty little town, but a hive of activity with tourists browsing the shops and galleries during the summer. The colourful baskets of flowers everywhere made a nice contrast to the grey of the wood in most of the building.

On the way back home we stopped in Astoria to have a look around. I walked around the harbour area, and we drove up to the Astoria Column, which is a tower on top of the hill right in town. The column has 164 steps that lead to the viewing platform at the top, which gives a 360 degree view of the Columbia River, its mouth to the Pacific Ocean, across the river to Washington, and the surrounding mountains and rivers. Fantastic views. We then drove across the Astoria-Megler Bridge to Washington, and on to BC. and home.