Now that it seems that winter and the worst of the rainy season is behind us, we've started to come out of hibernation and continue to explore the PNW! Ok, that was like the worst sentence ever created, but I'm going to just keep going!
We had a Saturday in March that nothing was planned so we took advantage and headed to the coast. Where we live in Yelm, you can find other water front areas to visit that are much closer, but if you really want to see the ocean you need to travel a ways. We've had lots of good suggestions on which beaches to visit, and for this trip we settled on Cape Disappointment.
Cape Disappointment was 3.5 hours from Yelm, and while we won't often drive that far for a one day trip, I'm super glad we did. If you're wondering why it has that name, here's what the NPS website says a quick summary. "A notable landmark of the Pacific Northwest, Cape Disappointment was already named by the time Lewis and Clark reached the site in November 1805. The first known documentation of the site was in 1775 by Spanish explorer Bruno Heceta, who named it “Bahia de La Asuncion,” or Bay of the Assumption. Then in 1788, British trader John Meares named it “Cape Disappointment” when he mistakenly believed that the mouth of the Columbia River was only a bay.
Meriwether Lewis laid eyes on the area in mid-November 1805 – he proceeded on by land while the rest of the Expedition sheltered at Dismal Nitch. He returned to camp on November 17 and Patrick Gass wrote in his journal, “They had been round the bay, and seen where white people had been in the course of the summer; but they had all sailed away.” For this reason, Cape Disappointment had a different, unhappy meaning to the men of the Corps.
Today, the Cape is a Washington State Park which pays tribute to the many different uses of the area, from military outpost during the Civil War and World War II, to iconic lighthouses. Hike through old-growth forest or around freshwater lakes, saltwater marshes and ocean tidelands. Gape at the breathtaking views. Launch your boat from Baker Bay. Benson Beach is a popular clam-digging destination, and fishers love to set up on the North Jetty to catch salmon and crab. The beaches at Cape Disappointment also lure kite-fliers, sand-castle builders and those who love to walk and explore."
There are so many areas to explore out here and we started out at Waikiki Beach. Nope, not the one in Hawaii! This was not quite as tropical, but certainly spectacular. The beach was littered with driftwood and the sand was black. The jetty and the rock cliffs created for some gigantic waves that we didn't tire of watching.
After Waikiki Beach we drove over to the jetty and caught some different views of the beach we were just on. It was also the perfect time for a lunch break!
Then it was time to visit the Cape Disappointment lighthouse. We'd heard it was a strenuous hike, and really it wasn't bad except I haven't done any hiking since becoming ill. It was rough there for me for awhile, but I stayed slow and steady and was able to soak in the views.
First we passed through an old military installation that still had bunkers and pits in the ground for massive guns.
Half way through the trail to the lighthouse there was a sign to go back down to ground level and visit Dead Man's Cove. I wasn't excited about the physicality of the detour, but this was an idyllic cove that seemed straight out of a movie. I guess it was called Dead Man's Cove because ships would end up getting stuck in there. It was so cool!
Then we went back up to the trail and up the rest of the way to the lighthouse. This is one of two lighthouses in the Cape Disappointment area. While it was closed for tours, it still was perfect for picture taking, and great to get out to the coast and see out to the ocean and all the way to oregon!
My new favorite picture of carson!
All of these adventures were in one area at Cape Disappointment state park. After spending most of our day here we still had one more lighthouse we wanted to see before heading home. It was just a short drive to find North Head Lighthouse.
Surprisingly, even though these lighthouses are fairly close to each other, of similar sizes and builds, the area at North Head Lighthouse had a very different feel to it. The area was so much more vast and you really got that ocean feeling. You could see down the coast for miles and just watch waves of waves approach the beach calmly.
I'm so glad we took a day to get away and explore. It makes us remember the things we were looking forward to about living in Washington. After all the housework and then the cold and rain, we kind of forgot. If things are feeling glum, get outside!
Oh and on the way home we saw the world's largest oyster!
