Barbara and a 101 year old shipwreck on the beach at Ft Steven State Park beaches.
We checked in to Ft Steven's State Park last night. We are in the middle of a Sitka spruce forest; very quiet and picturesque. The Ft was first an earthen battery constructed by order of President Lincoln in 1865. After several periods of expansion and modernization it was decommissioned in 1947 after duty defending the Columbia River access during WW II.
The Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel bark built in Maryport, England, in 1890 and owned by British shipping firm Iredale & Porter. On September 26, 1906, the Iredale left Salina Cruz, Mexico, bound for Portland, where it was to pick up a cargo of wheat for the United Kingdom. Despite encountering heavy fog, they managed to safely reach the mouth of the Columbia River early in the morning of October 25. The captain of the ship, H. Lawrence, later recalled that, as they waited for a pilot, “a heavy southeast wind blew and a strong current prevailed. Before the vessel could be veered around, she was in the breakers and all efforts to keep her off were unavailing.” The Iredale ran aground at Clatsop Beach, hitting so hard that three of her masts snapped from the impact. Fortunately, none of the crew were seriously injured. Captain Lawrence ordered that the ship be abandoned, and rockets were launched to signal for help.
This morning I went down to get a picture of the wreck at Sunup; found a pod of whales feeding incredibly close to shore. The pix is of one of them blowing (the white smudge with the black hump next to it in the picture.) You can see the sand beach at the bottom of the picture to show how close to shore they were.
Wonderful start to the day - coffee, cool breeze, and whales.
