Category Archives: Pacific Northwest Outdoors

MCCLELLAN ON A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY IN THE NORTHWEST

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Sign noting McClellan's passage through the dense forests of the southern Cascades.
Sign noting McClellan’s passage through the dense forests of the southern Cascades.

As future generals for the Federal Army during the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant and Philip Sheridan are also remembered for their service in the Pacific Northwest during the 1850’s.  Another, George Brinton McClellan made a cameo appearance. He led a group tasked with identifying a possible rail route through the Cascades.  In addition, they potential were to build a military road across the mountain chain so emigrant wagons could more easily reach the Puget Sound of Washington Territory.  This reconnaissance gave McClellan his first extended period of independent command since graduating from West Point with the Class of 1846.

Before George McClellan became the leading Federal general in the early Civil War, he served in the wilds of Washington, surveying for railroad routes.

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REVISITING THE “CAYUSE WAR” – MURDER, REVENGE AND A NEW TERRITORY

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Print from a wood-engraving by N. Orr & Co., originally published in Frances Fuller Victor’s, The River of the West, circa 1870.

Early relationships between European newcomers and Native Americans living in the Pacific Northwest certainly went no better than in most other regions of the Americas.  European supremacy became much easier through early introduction of disease, an actual prelude in many cases to actual ethnic introductions.  Bad as the era directly before the two peoples came together face to face was, disease continued to inflict the Native populations, a factor leading directly to ill will and what became known as the “Cayuse War” in 1847.

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TWANOH CREEK – Magic and Renewal

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A big tiger-striped male chum salmon begins its spawning journey near the mouth of Twanoh Creek.

Twanoh Creek runs through a deep, forested canyon for about a mile coming north off the Mason County plateau above. The canyon feels primeval though outside of the State Park boundaries encompassing the canyon, the forests above demonstrate heavy logging. Beyond the primitive feeling one gets walking on trails deep in cedar forests is a truly magical splendor revealing itself in the waters of the little creek from late September until early December – the salmon have returned to complete their life cycles.

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PILLARS OF HERCULES – NEW WORLD TWIST ON AN OLD CLASSIC

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Pillars of Hercules rise to the right of Cigar Rock.

Flying along Interstate 84, you might catch an ephemeral glance at a waterfall or two. If you know when to look.  Traffic speeds along well above the speed limit of 65 mph. The number of cars and trucks seem to exponentially increase with the years.  Pity the traveler who finds themselves stuck behind one of the giant propellors heading to the wind farms just south of the east end of the Columbia River Gorge. Road travel has come a long way since the first road was put in over 150 years ago. Basalt columns occur in many areas along the way. So, the columns and cliffs jutting up to the south of the freeway just west of the Bridal Veil exit – exit 44 – might not garner an extra glance from a speeding car.  You have just missed noting the Pillars of Hercules.

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DESCHUTES RAILROADS FEUD DEEP IN THE CANYONS

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On the old railbed of the Des Chutes Railroad with the river below.

Type in a query for ‘railroad wars’ and you will find three events under the Wikipedia entry for “railroad wars”.  The last event was the “Deschutes Railroad War”.  Of the three, this is the shortest entry.  The entry focuses on the actual building difficulties of the two Deschutes railroads erected on either side of the river.   But to really understand the real reason for the enmity between the competing rail companies, we need to go further back before the 1912 construction of the two lines.

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CORGIS ON PARADE – MAGIC IN THE COAST AIR

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Corgis mix it up in Ecola Creek at Cannon Beach Corgi Day.
Corgis mix it up in Ecola Creek at Cannon Beach Corgi Day.

My wife, our Corgi and I recently escaped the summer heat of the Willamette Valley for a day at the beach, Cannon Beach to be exact. Home of the annual Corgi Day at the Beach. It was an awesome day made more mystical by swirls of fog lying along the shore. Over 500 Corgis were running up and down through the sands.

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DEVELOPMENT – REALIGNMENT, US 101 ON EDGE OF OREGON

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Nestucca Spit - saved from realignment of US 101 by then Secretary of State Robert Straub.
Nestucca Spit – saved from realignment of US 101 by then Secretary of State Robert Straub.

US 101 is the main focus for would-be tourists to Oregon.  The Oregon coastline is truly spectacular.  The Oregon Coast Highway provides the main access for those wishing to see the magic.  Driving the length of the magnificent road gives one an excellent window into the wildness, beauty and changeability of a unique environment.

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GREAT DUNE OF KIWANDA – MAGIC ON THE OREGON COAST

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Erosion continually reshapes the landscape at Cape Kiwanda.

The Oregon Coast spans some fantastically beautiful scenery.  Driving along US 101 in the summer can be a bit frustrating at times stuck behind the travel trailers and rvs making their way north or south along the highway, but there is a reason so many are there.  People ask me what the favorite spot I have along the long coastline.  That is a lot like the question what your favorite travel place in the world is.  There are simply too many. One recent spot I discovered was the mystical charms to be discovered atop the Great Dune of Cape Kiwanda.

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SILVER FALLS – MAGIC IN THE VALLEY

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Power and the Glory of South Falls.

Waterfalls in Oregon means the Columbia River Gorge to most people. That in spite of the beautiful falls found in the Coast Range and other parts of the western slope of the Cascades – then there is Mt Hood, as well. The obvious second choice for the newcomer would be Silver Falls State Park.

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TOKELAND – MAGIC OFF THE BEATEN PATH ON THE WASHINGTON COAST

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Former site of the Coast Guard Lifeboat station on the end of the Tokeland Spit.
Former site of the Coast Guard Lifeboat station on the end of the Tokeland Spit.

Tokeland is a small spit sticking into the northern entrance of Willapa Bay.  The estuary is an amazing body of water.  Some write the bay as the second largest estuary on the Pacific Coast.  That depends upon one’s definition of an estuary.  Some include the Puget Sound in the estuary category.  While parts of the Sound are estuarine, the Sound is an inland sea.

Definition of an estuary reads a partially enclosed body of brackish water with one or more rivers flowing into and an open connection to the sea.  The freshwater-saltwater intermix provides high levels of nutrients in both water columns and sediment making an estuary a wildly productive natural habitat.  West Coast Estuary Explorer also includes the Columbia River as an estuary.  They have split the river reaches into eight separate interconnected sections, from the river mouth to the furthest point of tidal influence, Bonneville Dam.  The enormous amounts of freshwater flowing through make the Columbia a special case.

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