Our Oregon Trail

The King Columbia River

We crossed into Oregon over the great Columbia River after dark last night. It was not until morning that we realised the scale and majesty of this great river and the vast bridge that crosses it.  The bridge, finished in 1966 linked the Washington section of Route 101 to the remainder of the West Coast highway.

Crossing the great river

I remember that one of the first musicians that I listened to when I was a boy was Lonnie Donegan.  My brother is 7 years older and I used to listen to his records all the time. I always loved Donegan’s “The Grand Coulee Dam”. It was many years later when I learnt that the original song was written by one of the master songwriters of American folk music, Woody Guthrie. He described the majestic and grand Columbia River.  I always wanted to see it and it lived up to its reputation as it passes into the Pacific Ocean  at Astoria.

Master Song writer Woody Guthrie

We drove back across the river today, just to get an idea of the scale in daylight. Its rather sad but I played Bob Dylan’s version of the song as we crossed the bridge. My three companions thought me a little touched!

The first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Ocean, known as “The Lewis Clarke Expedition” after its two leaders Meriwether Lewis and William Clark came to this place in 1805. The expedition lasted 2 years and the explorers and their team met considerable hardship and danger. During the second winter of the journey they camped on the South Shore of the Columbia River, building a fort called Fort Clatsop at a spot, which is now known as Astoria.

Lewis and Clarke

Astoria is the oldest US settlement on the West Coast of the USA. It was established by John Jacob Astor in 1811. His Pacific Fur Company failed to make a success of the settlement and the enterprise was taken over by the British until it was ceded to the USA under the terms of the Oregon Treaty in 1848.

John Jacob Astor

The city fathers have built a column on the high ground overlooking the city. The 360 degree view from the top is breathtaking. We could see both Mount St Helens and Mount Rainier in the far distance.

View from the Astoria Column

The Oregon coast is fabled for its beauty and wildness. 101 hugs Oregon’s coastline  for over 300 miles surprising the driver with sudden spectacular vistas as they emerge through gaps in the tall trees that line the road . Parts of this journey can match some of the spectacular coastal scenery seen further down the coast in Southern California.

Skeletons on a skeleton coast

We visited a number of beaches today. Cannon Beach is known for the Haystack Rock that dominates the area and we joined the many people taking a leisurely stroll along this beautiful beach

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beech

A gentle reminder that we live on a fault line!

Depoe Bay is known for the whales that inhabit the coast at this time of year. We believed that the sea was too rough but just as we were about to leave we suddenly saw a solitary Grey Whale just outside the forest of Giant Kelp.

Depoe Bay: Looking for Whales

We are half way down our Oregon Trail with hopefully more thrills to come despite the threat of bad weather.

Rouge Public House, Astoria

P.S. We visited a great pub and micro-brewery in Astoria last night. It’s called The Rouge Ales Public House and is based in an old tuna factory on the Columbia River. It sells some great beer and the atmosphere is worth sampling. Special thanks to Donald who looked after us and exposed us to some great beer and food.

Grand Coulee Dam: Arlo Guthrie

Grand Coulee Dam: Lonnie Donegan

The Ghosts of headlands and the bones of a rainforest

Ruby Beach, Olympic Peninsular, Washington.

 The Ocean comes as somewhat of a shock and Ruby Beach gave us our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. After the still blue waters of the Sound and the surrounding islands, the boiling white sea reminds one of its wild beauty and the destructive force that comes with it. The view could have been painted by JMW Turner and he would have been in his element.

 The bones of a rain forest

The ghosts of headlands

Wild sea and wind

I have heard of sea stacks referred to as the ghosts of former headlands and there were many at Ruby Beach. In addition to the sight of breakers crashing onto the rocks, the other unforgettable image was of countless logs washed onto the shore forming a impenetrable wall of discarded timber. These were once majestic trees and are now the bones of a past rain forest.

Happy girl!

Rocky

The road now hugs the coast and we drive through a constant fog of mist generated by the rough pounding sea. Still we see the snow-covered peaks of the distant Olympic Range. Rote 101 was built in 1931. Until then there were no roads into the Olympic Peninsular. The few inhabitants were First Nation tribes and some early settlers, farming some of the more arable and accessible land available. We tend to think of roads as means of getting from one place to another but in early 20^th century America, they were transformative agents which opened up the country by bringing people in, allowing natural resources to be taken out and impacting adversely on the indigenous peoples who had lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years.

The beautiful Lake Quinault

Lake Quinault is a beautiful lake situated in the Quinault Valley. It was formed by glacial action and a natural dam caused by the depositing of a terminal moraine at its western end. It is surrounded by part of the only sizable temperate rain forest in the Northern Hemisphere. The area was home to Native American peoples who lived in an area, which had abundant resources and a mild climate. Trees grow well here and as a result the area hosts some of the tallest trees in the world (of 6 native species).  We followed a trail, which took us deep into the forest, with giant tress towering above us. Rain forests are dynamic echo-systems and the forest floor is filled with the carcases of giant tress, which have fallen as a result of age, wind or flooding. The most damaging are the occasional hurricane strength storms that batter the area. The last great storm was in 2007, which left millions of great trees uprooted. The disappearance of a great tree in the canopy allows new trees to grow, while animals, insects and fungi ensure that the tree’s resources are returned to the perpetual cycle of nature. Just counting some of the rings on these fallen trees shows that many were well over 400 years old.

Towering giants

These are big trees!

Refreshed by our walk and some tea we moved on to Aberdeen. This is traditional logging country but it has seen a recent collapse in the industry, leaving the area poor with significant deprivation. One of the largest paper mills in the area closed in 2009. The area provides a stark contrast with the lush beauty of the Olympic National Park. Aberdeen was home to Nirvana lead Kurt Cobain who died in 1994 at the age of 27 (the same age of other rock legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse) Kurt Cobain was a spokesman for his generation and his premature death by suicide left countless fans bereft. He once said “The finest day I ever had was when tomorrow never came”

Kurt Cobain 1967-94

The last part of the journey through Washington and down into Oragon was one of the most beautiful and sublime car journeys that I undertaken for many years. The road hugs the sea as it winds down the coast. We motored past mud flats with large numbers of wading birds, set against a magnificent sunset, made even more unforgettable by a fuel gauge on zero and no sign of a fuel station!

Wading birds at sunset

 Farewell to Washington

Having Fun on Route 101

The Waterfront at Seattle

The Journey starts on 101

I can think of no finer way to leave a city than the ferry from Seattle across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. None of the usual terror of negotiating an American urban freeway system, just a short drive to the terminal and a mini-cruise to boot! The Seattle rain held off and the sun shone as the city disappeared into the mist. 

Almost "Ferry Cross the Mersey"

The ferry takes you onto quiet roads more reminiscent of New England; beautiful fall colours and a relaxed pace of life. The parallels with New England were even more apparent when we visited the small town of Port Gamble. Saltbox houses line the small main street leading down to the deserted harbour. The town’s past prosperity came from the lumber trade and the now abandoned ferry terminal. The magnificent general store has been turned into a restaurant and gift shop. What must have been a three story “emporium of everything” has lost its soul and its purpose. A reflection of the fate of this sad but attractive little town.

The main street of Port Gamble with the general store on left

The old physicians house at Port Gamble: Shades of New England

The guidebooks identify Port Townsend as the start of Route 101 despite the fact that the road starts way down the state. This is one of the oldest towns in Washington. Its prosperity is reflected in magnificent commercial architecture and fine Victorian villas up on the hill overlooking the main street.  The railways sadly focused on Seattle and the town’s importance dwindled. Jack London spent a night in jail here on his way to the Klondike Goldfields in 1897. He reputedly got into a brawl when he changed steamers. The town has obviously seen a revival, with galleries, restaurants, B&Bs and gift shops. A clear contrast from the depressing empty high streets at home in recession hit UK.

Jack London

One of the grand buildings of Port Townsend

The star attraction for us was an Ice Cream Parlour called “Nifty Fifties”. The shop is not original but everything in it is and the owner has collected items from across the US. Its like walking back 60 years into an “American Graffiti”  fantasy, complete with a great selection of records on the juke box. I don’t know how the other customers tolerated our rendition of songs such as “Crazy” to the dulcet tones of Patsy Cline, but we had a great time, topped off by Liz’s ice cream soda.

The highlight of the visit was undoubtedly the cashier at the Bank of America who thought that Martin’s Yorkshire accent was sexy. We were delighted for him but at the same time somewhat perplexed.

The "Nifty Fifties" Ice Cream Parlour

A great selection on the Juke Box

Cream Soda at the parlour

Port Angeles looked rather grim and industrial, so we drove into the heart of the Olympic National Park on 101.  The park covers over a million square miles and has a diverse and unique flora and fauna. It was the threat to this magnificent landscape from logging and human encroachment that led conservationists to persuade Teddy Roosevelt to declare in a National park in 1938. The great man visited the Park and stayed at Crescent Lake Lodge where we spent the night in one of the cabins overlooking this beautiful lake. This is a great setting and the Lodge and cabins have a unique position. One can describe the accommodation as quaint rather than luxurious. The last make over must have been many decades ago. Americans tend to be more critical of accommodation than we do and I am surprised that it has survived as it is. It seems to have been living off the Roosevelt legacy for too long!

Lake Crescent Lodge

Lake Crescent 

The surrounding mountains are majestic, often lost in the clouds. The moist atmosphere has led to a wonderful temperate rainforest with gigantic ancient trees set in a primeval forest, with lichen and moss giving the lower branches a ghostly appearance. Thank goodness that the logging was stopped soon enough to save them.

The ghostly Rain Forest trees

Shrouded in moss

Off tomorrow to the coast and our first view of the Pacific Ocean which will be our close companion for the rest of our trip.

We Start in Seattle

Me, Jacqui, Liz and Martin.

Some cool girls!

Among the many US travel/road books that I have read, two stand out. Firstly the mad crazy brilliant “On the road” by Jack Kerouac (which I have read many times and am reading again as we travel), and the more measured thoughtful “Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck. This was written during the later part of his life and reflects on the America he knew and wrote about decades earlier. Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California and knew the West Coast well.

In 1960 he travelled around the USA with his giant poodle, Charley and drove into Seattle, then a small but growing successful city. This was long before the Microsoft revolution and the growth of Boeing and many other household names. It is difficult to think that in Steinbeck’s youth, this was just a small fishing port.

John Steinbeck

He wrote:

"I remembered Seattle as a town sitting on hills beside a matchless harborage -- a little city of space and trees and gardens, its houses matched to such a background. It is no longer so. The tops of hills are shaved off to make level warrens for the rabbits of the present. The highways eight lanes wide cut like glaciers through the uneasy land. This Seattle had no relation to the one I remembered. The traffic rushed with murderous intensity. On the outskirts of this place I once knew well I could not find my way. Along what had been country lanes rich with berries, high wire fences and mile-long factories stretched, and the yellow smoke of progress hung over all, fighting the sea winds' efforts to drive them off. "

Pike Market

A fishy tale at Pike Market

He goes on to describe the port area and its cobbled streets, which have now been turned into trendy bourgeois districts such as Pike Place.

"The old port with narrow streets and cobbled surfaces, smoke-grimed, goes into a period of desolation inhabited at night by the vague ruins of men, the lotus eaters who struggle daily toward unconsciousness by way of raw alcohol. Nearly every city I know has such a dying mother of violence and despair where at night the brightness of the street lamps is sucked away and policemen walk in pairs. And then one day perhaps the city returns and rips out the sore and builds a monument to the past."

Steinbeck went on to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962 and died in 1968

The wharfs have been transformed but they don’t seem to have the vibrancy and charm that similar areas of San Francisco have achieved. One climbs up from the water’s edge to the Pike Market, which has become one of Seattle’s major tourist attractions. The old market now buzzes with restaurants, grumpy tea shirt sellers and the ubiquitous Seattle coffee house. Seattle is the world capital of coffee.

Pike Place entertainment

This city was responsible for the invasion of coffee chains into nearly every city in the world. And it all started in the Pike Market. Two teachers and a writer started a store on Western Avenue, which was swiftly relocated to Pike Place. Starbucks is the world’s biggest coffee chain with19,972 stores in 60 countries, including 12,937 in the United States and 790 in Great Britain. Seattle literally has a coffee house on every corner and I am told that over 80% of Americans live within 20 minutes driving time of a Starbucks. Not bad for the small store that we visited today.

The original Starbucks at Pike Place

Despite the success of the Aerospace industry, computers and coffee, Seattle will be remembered also for its contribution to popular music. Younger music buffs will champion Nirvana and the birth of Grunge but to my generation, the city stands out as the birthplace of Johnny Allen Hendrix

The Seattle Music Experience

Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle on November 27, 1942. To many he was one of the greatest electric guitarists of all time. I still remember that first time that he appeared on Top of the Pops, playing Purple Haze as one of the defining moments of my musical upbringing. We simply had never seen or heard anything like him before!

After a hesitant start to his career he was spotted in 1966 by Keith Richard’s girlfriend playing in a club in New York. He was persuaded by Chas Chandler (former bassist for the Animals) to move to London. Following a series of auditions, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell joined him to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience. 

 Jimi's colourful jumpsuit

Hendrix’s famous white Stratocaster

Hendrix’s famous white Stratocaster on which he played his rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in the early morning of August 18^th 1969 is on display in a disappointingly small Jimi Hendrix museum (part of the Seattle Music Experience Project). He bought the guitar in 1968 and played it at many concerts including the 1969 Newport Festival and his final concert at The Isle of Fehmarn (Germany) on September 6^th 1970. Twelve days later he died of a fatal overdose. Other memorabilia include a series of his guitars (whole and smashed), some of his clothes, personal effects, writings and an excellent timeline wall with a musical history played through headphones.

My mental image of the man is a larger than life character, filling the space that he inhabited. The museum has one of his colorful jump suits that he often performed in. What a surprise to see how small and diminutive he really was.

It was great to visit one of my favorite cities again One of the most relaxed and comfortable places in the world to live. Tomorrow we leave on the ferry across Puget Sound and our journey begins for real.

P.S. I forgot another great travel book: Woody Guthrie’s “Bound for Glory”

Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze

Jimi Hendrix: Star Spangled Banner: Live at Woodstock