Day 83 - July 25 - Hudson-Parcher County Park, OR to Fort Stevens State Park, OR - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

July 25, 2023

Day 83 - July 25 - Hudson-Parcher County Park, OR to Fort Stevens State Park, OR

The Pacific!!!

Ed’s Story

Today we near the end of the journey…we make it to the Pacific Ocean. We left Hudson-Parcher around 7:00 this morning knowing we would have a longer hillier ride.

It was cooler this morning so I headed out with a jersey, my blue l/s shirt, and jacket. Outerwear went on & off throughout the day as the weather changed.

We had multiple hills climbs today, some much longer than others, I actually climbed the 560 ft, 2.2 mile long hill without stopping. That is a first for me. The thing is though, we started at around 500 ft elevation, so when we head back to Hudson park on Thursday we will repeat all of today’s climbing plus 500 ft.

We made it back to the Columbia River and Astoria. Several large and empty merchant vessels were in the river.

You can tell the ship is empty by how high it’s riding.

There was a maritime museum downtown. It would have been nice to visit but didn’t allot any time for it.

Beer and lunch at Astoria Brewing Company.

We crossed Youngs Bay and headed toward Fort Stevens State Park . This fort was completed near the end of the Civil War and was still in service to some extent in World War II.

We then headed up Jetty Road to find where the Pacific Ocean and Columbia River meet. Unfortunately, there was construction and we could not make it to the actual point. We did climb the rock wall and found the Pacific Ocean.

From there we headed to the state park campground where John and Dorothy had already checked in and set up camp.

Tomorrow is a short day as we are only heading down to Seaside OR to dip our wheels and get souvenirs. We will then head back, clean up, and do car touring with John and Dorothy.

So until tomorrow happy biking!

John’s Story

Programming Note: Due to circumstances beyond the control of management publication of today’s journal entry is delayed until tomorrow when a cell phone signal or wireless becomes available. Tomorrow’s journal entry will be published simultaneously with the next day’s on the day after tomorrow. Had we known this would happen we would have published today’s entry yesterday…….

52 degrees this morning. My breath actually fogged when I exhaled. I wore a long sleeved jersey for the first time in weeks, plus my rain jacket. The sky was mostly clear where we were, but to the west there were dark clouds. They receded as we proceeded so the threat of afternoon rain evaporated.

We started above 500’ elevation, and I thought surely we would be coasting downhill as we rode west. Instead, we climbed to well over 700’ before we zoomed down almost to sea level. We’ll have that hill to climb from the west on Thursday.

At about 20 miles we came to the one big hill we knew was coming up, the Clatsop Crest. It was the last notable climb on our westward journey. It was long but not difficult, and the other side was not as steep, so it won’t be too much of a chore on the way back.

Looking back partway up the last big hill on the way west.

When I saw this sign I knew we were approaching a coast.

We found our way to the southern shore of a now very wide Columbia River at Astoria. We rode the trail along the waterfront to Astoria Brewing, where we met John and Dorothy for lunch.

On the waterfront path we met Eric from Hawaii. We spent the night at the same hostel in Dubois, Wyoming, weeks ago, then crossed paths again briefly a few days later at Twin Bridges. Eric and his friend made it to the Pacific Ocean two days ago south of here. They were waiting for a friend to pick them up to take them to Portland for their flights home.

Most of the waterfront is lined with rotted pilings. It would be interesting to know the stories behind some of them.

Astoria is the western terminus of US 30, the third longest highway in the United States. It ends where it intersects US 101, the west coastal highway. We had to cross a two mile long causeway and bridge to continue.

Going north took us to Fort Stevens, a military installation dating back to the Civil War and earlier. Fortifications built during the Civil War were never used. The Confederacy never invaded the West Coast by sea. The mouth of the Columbia River was mined during World War II. There was a Japanese submarine attack here in June of 1942.

We rode north as far as we could go until we were as close as we could get to the point where the Columbia River meets the sea. We were blocked by fencing and heavy construction equipment where they are working on the jetty. We climbed up the rock and got our first view of the Pacific Ocean! It was too rocky to haul our bikes over the top and down to the water.

There was a beach just south of us, but the two rough paths leading to it on our map were blocked by debris, gates and “Authorized Personnel Only” signs. No wheel dip today. Hopefully at Seaside tomorrow.

The campground here at Fort Stevens State Park is jam packed with humanity. And there are many hundreds of campsites here in loops A to O. At one campsite I counted at least 15 bicycles leaning against the trees and strewn upon the ground. When we tried to get a reservation here a couple weeks ago there was no room at the inn. We tried over and over again until one site finally came free. If that hadn’t happened I don’t know where we’d be tonight.

Today's ride: 64 miles (103 km)
Total: 212 miles (341 km)

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