Border to Border Day 4

After a Crummy nights sleep in a crummy hotel we hit the road early. Our plan for the day was just to meander down the road taking pictures wherever we could. We had actually traveled a little further south then I had planned yesterday so we really did not have to travel that far today.

The first place we went to was Cape Disappointment State Park. It is located at the southwest corner of the State of Washington and it overlooks where the Columbia river ends it journey into the Pacific Ocean.

At this park you will find many places to see and things to do. Many hiking trails criss cross this scenic landscape and there is some great camping spots.

Here you will also find the Lewis and Clark interpretive center, where you will learn many facts about this, their final destination. It is called Cape Disappointment because after traveling thousands of miles across the country they arrived at this spot, took one look around and said "This is it?" Just kidding, they were disappointed because they expected to find many ships in the bay but there were none.

You will also find a lighthouse here. I thought it the perfect place to take a drone flight but thought I should ask the Park service first. I was told that the Washington state parks system had decided not to allow drones in their parks. But they also told me that the lighthouse was on Coast Guard property and that it was not in the state park. I would still need to access the trail from the park but I would need the Coast Guards permission to fly there. So Miss Lynn and myself went down to the Coast Guard base at the bottom of the hill. I was floored when they said OK.

Cape Disappointment lighthouse 1

The Cape Disappointment Light house from the Lewis and Clark interpretive center.

So we gathered our equipment and headed out on the trail from the interpretive center to the lighthouse. The trail is about .9 miles long and it has some very steep parts but overall the trail is very well maintained. So with my legs and feet screaming we took out on another hike through the forests of Washington. It was the toughest hike so far but well worth the effort.

The supervisor of the coast guard base granted permission for my flight on the condition that I post the footage on their facebook page, which I was happy to do. Now lets take a look at the flight. It started off good and then I suddenly lost connection with the app. I was now blind in the sky and I thought I had also lost control of the drone, which turned out was not the case but it still took a couple of seconds to realize it. Then it took another couple of seconds until I was able to get the app back and my eyes in the sky. Once the connection was restored I breathed a little easier but thought I needed to get it down out of the sky. At this point I thought it was all of the electronics here that disrupted my controls.

I got the drone down safely and realized later it was all user error on my part. HEY! I am still learning!

I did not get the clip I had wanted but it is still some beautiful footage.

We spent a good chunk of the morning and early afternoon hiking and exploring this beautiful park before taking off again south on the 101. About 5 miles north of the Astoria bridge that crosses into Oregon over the Columbia river we discovered Fort Columbia and decided to check it out.

This fort was active from 1896 to 1947 and has some of the last remaining coastal defense fort buildings and artillery batteries left intact. In fact there are 2 of the buildings that are available to rent.

Historic Fort Buildings

One of the few intact Artillery Batteries left.

Another view.

One of the intact guns.

After exploring the fort we took off across the Astoria bridge and into Oregon where we wandered down to a little town called seaside for the night. We stayed at the comfort inn and had a great evening walking through this quaint little town.

Below are the photos from the day.

Astoria Bridge