August 14
Today we went to Cape Disappointment Park. We stopped at Beard’s Hollow on the way.
North Head Lighthouse!
Visible from the parking lot is the area of the Keepers’ homes. The first home we came to was a duplex for Assistant Keeper 2 and Assistant Keeper 3, along with their respective families.
The Head Keeper’s house was closer to the path that continues to the lighthouse.
Carriage house (now the gift shop):
It was a nice little walk out to the lighthouse.
This is a working lighthouse that was completed in 1898. The U.S. Coast Guard took jurisdiction of the lighthouse in 1939, but is now maintained by Washington State Parks. It sits on solid basalt rock 190+ ft above sea level.
Lighthouse Facts:
- 65 ft tall
- Characteristic: Two white flashes every 30 seconds, flashes separated by 7.5 seconds.
- Range: 30 miles (26 nautical miles)
- Day mark: white conical lighthouse with a black cap
North Head Lighthouse has a connected area to conduct official lighthouse work. Nearby are two fuel houses.
We paid $6 for the two of us to go up to the top of the lighthouse. They only take a few at a time, so it is important to get your name on the list and pay before you take outside photos. A volunteer is at the top to give information about the lighthouse.
It took three Keepers, each working an 8-hour shift, to keep the light burning for 24 hours. Now it is a simple 12-volt bulb that does the work.
The original 1st order Fresnel lens (on display at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center) took up the full circular area of the floor seen in the picture below.
Today, a 12-volt bulb lights the lighthouse. Below is a sample device that is used. It holds 6 bulbs. When one burns out, the device rotates the next new bulb into place.
Heading back down.
Beautiful views:
From here we walked across the road from the parking lot to the Bells View Overlook Trail. The old growth trees were awesome. Along the way we saw an old water tower. They call it Bell’s Tower. Not much is known, but it is believed to have been an old water tower for Ilwaco.
We thought our timing for a week at the beach wasn’t the best. Then I saw this: WOW!
Next on the trail we came across a WWII Battery. It was pretty creepy. Overgrown, with graffiti all over it, but we checked it out. There were 3 levels to it. We walked down to the lowest level, found our way in. There were stairs up to the next “window” area, but there was not a way up to the third level. We had to go back down to the lowest level and out. Barry went around and up to the third lookout.
Bell’s View Overlook
We walked back to the car. Cape Disappointment Lighthouse is our next destination.
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse –
The small parking lot was full. The lot was for both the lighthouse and the Lewis & Clark Interpretative Center. When a lady coming off the trail saw us waiting in the Jeep, she came up and asked if we were waiting for a parking place. She graciously offered to move her vehicle out of its spot, and wait for the rest of her crew so we could park. How sweet!
We wanted to see both the Lighthouse and the Lewis & Clark Interpretative Center, but the trails were in opposite directions. We quickly agreed to go to the lighthouse first while the skies were blue. It was a bit farther to walk than we expected, but it was a beautiful one with a couple nice surprises. Old growth trees are so cool.
Beautiful view
Coast Guard dock (and Station) for the Cape Disappointment Station
When you come off the dirt trail, you turn onto a large paved walkway. There were white painted lighthouse “arrows” to point the way UP the walkway to the lighthouse so people would continue to the lighthouse. Someone must have thought people may not realize there were lighthouse stencils leading the way, so that person added, “This Way” to one of the early ones.
Deadman’s Cove Overlook
Almost there. Another WWII battery–at least this one wasn’t as creepy looking. It bordered the path and had little to no graffiti. 🙂 It didn’t have additional levels or overlook the water to protect from invasion/attack with guns/cannons like the previous one we saw.
Here was where their fire power was. This old tower still had a small cannon mounted on it.
The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse (Cape D’s Lighthouse). Even though it definitely needs to be repainted, it is a working lighthouse. In fact, it is the oldest fully working lighthouse on the west coast of the U.S. The locals refer to it as Cape D’s Lighthouse. We were not able to go into it.
Lighthouse Facts:
Height: 53 feet
Shape: Conical
First lit: 1856
Characteristic: Alternating white/red 30 seconds
Day mark: black cap, white conical body with black band around the center.
Since the light was not visible to ships approaching from the north, North Head Lighthouse was needed (only two miles away).
An observation deck/building was built for the U.S. Coast Guard stand watch of the weather and the sand bar conditions and immediately report that information to those navigating these waters. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains the lighthouse and are in charge of getting it re-painted.
View of the Interpretive Center from Cape D’s Lighthouse
We headed back using the same path until we came to a path to cut across to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center without having to go back to the parking lot.
Wow – what a great view of the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse from the outdoor viewing area at the Interpretive Center! For those who have limited ability to walk up and down on a dirt trail with roots, or for much of a distance, go directly to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center from the far right side of the parking lot. It is a paved trail! 300 yards up to the Interpretive Center and a fabulous view of Cape D’s Lighthouse! We met a group that was on their way to the lighthouse, but turned back prior to the “good stuff” along the way because it was too much for one of the ladies. I wish I knew to recommend the paved option to the Interpretative Center for this view! I’m glad we did the walk to both for what we saw. I’m sure we would have walked to the lighthouse even if we had come here first. 🙂
The white building to the right of the lighthouse in the pictures above is staffed by the U.S. Coast Guard. They keep a watchful eye on the weather in this treacherous area for water vessels. They relay the current information to the mariners out on the water. If they detect someone in need of assistance, they get help sent out right away from their very near Cape Disappointment CG Station.
There was an additional WWII Battery near the Interpretative Center. It had the name Battery Harvey Allen on it. This had all been a part of Fort Canby. This one was more “inviting” than the smaller one we came across earlier! Unfortunately, my phone battery was about dead.
Above the area of the Harvey Allen Battery is the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center
We went into the Center and checked out the main floor. This is where the original 1st order fresnel lens for North Head Lighthouse is now housed. The large room also displayed a boat from the U.S. Coast Guard.
It was at that point that we decided we weren’t up for paying the nominal $5 fee for adults for the lower level. The lower level is the in-depth Lewis and Clark section and history of Cape Disappointment. We weren’t up for a museum-like visit at this point in the day. Plus both of our phone batteries were about to shut down. It was a sign. LOL
We realized we were hungry. I didn’t feel like throwing something together after we get home, so we decided to check out the town of Ilwaco and eat at a restaurant there.
It certainly wasn’t what we were expecting. There was no sign of life. It was a pretty depressed area. The painting of “ILWACO” on a building was the highlight, so we just went back to Long Beach to eat. We went to Castaways Seafood Grille.
We sat at a table in the bar area. Looking at the bar I noticed “Wilson”!
(Wilson is from the movie “Castaway” with actor Tom Hanks, and that’s the name of the restaurant minus the “s”.) We also had the perfect view of the Mariners game. 🙂
Coming to Castaways for dinner was a GREAT choice!! Their clam chowder is gluten free!! I honestly don’t know why more places don’t make their seafood chowders gluten free. It isn’t hard to do or expensive to do. We each ordered some clam chowder, and a order of fried oysters to share. OMG. Everything was awesome! So so good!
We had just enough time to rest a bit before walking to the beach to catch a possible sunset.
Not a great sunset, but it was better than nothing at all. Today was an all around very enjoyable day.
Once again you guys got beautiful pictures. Looks like you’re enjoying your time in Long Beach.
So informative ! Thx for sharing!