A Day on the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington

We got a pretty early start this morning an ended having a long and wonderful day on the Long Beach Peninsula. We woke at about 6:ooam and showered, dressed and had breakfast at the hotel. The day started out a little cold with clouds and a light misting rain. But that wasn't about to deter us. After breakfast we headed for the Astoria-Megler Bridge to make our way into Washington. We had a nice drive over to Cape Disappointment State Park. We started our letterboxing day at the boat launch area. The area was actually closed for construction but we were there early enough to avoind the construction workers. We parked at the laundromat and bait shop next to the entrance to the boat launch. We then walked to the viewing platform to find the box. We found Standing Watch easy enough and sat on the platform to stamp in. After rehiding the box we headed back to the car and on the way we saw a seagull sitting on a pole (just like the image we just stamped). Next we drove over to the North Jetty area to find North Jetty. It took a little work to find the right spot but eventually we located the box and stamped in. The view from here was great - the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was incredible sitting up on the cliffside.

We next made our way to McKenzie Head. There is a short trail that leads to the top of the hill and an old Battery. The trail to the top is all uphill but isn't too difficult. We stopped about halfway up to find York's Fleeting Freedom and along with a great stamp we had some spectacular views. After getting York back into his hiding spot we continued to the top. We walked through the old Battery and found the second box - McKenzie's Head. Once we were done stamping in we walked around the Battery and also enjoyed the views from this great vantage point. Definitely worth the climb to the top. From here we decided to head to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse but I remembered a clue I had that I wasn't sure where to start and it dawned on me that we were at the main entrance and that could be the starting point. It turned out to be a good assumption becaues I found the first landmark. We did miss a turn and ended up at the beach so we decided to take a walk first and then go back to find the box. It was a nice walk, the area was covered with driftwood and we had a great view of the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. We headed back up the trail and made the turn we had missed and found the box. Now it was time to head to the Lighthouse so we made our way to that parking area. The first box we looked for was on the walk to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. It was a Silver Eagle box called Lewis & Clark in WA. It was an easy find and we stamped in and rehid the box. We decided to go into the Interpretive Center for a look-see. It was quite enjoyable and I learned a little more about Lewis and Clark. Now it was time to hit the trail to the lighthouse. We had clues for three boxes on this trail. Unfortunately we only found one of the boxes. For one of the boxes we were pretty sure we were in the right place but couldn't find the box and the other one we just couldn't find the beginning landmark. Anyway, we stamped into the box we found and then walked around the lighthouse and took pictures and enjoyed the views.

We decided we were hungry and decided to head back into Ilwaco for some lunch. We stopped and ate at a place called Portside Cafe. It seemed to be a pretty popular local hangout because everyone there seemed to know each other. I thought the food was great - I had a seafood melt with crab (lump crab meat, cream cheese, garlic, parmesan cheese and tomatoes on an english muffin) - it was sooooooooooo good. Thomas is not a big seafood eater so he had chicken fingers. After eating we headed back to Cape Disappointment but this time to the North Head Lighthouse. We had clues to six boxes in this area. We found five of the six. The one we didn't find we think is missing. We followed the clues to the letter and even backtracked and tried two more times and never found the box. All the others were right where they were supposed to be. Two of the boxes were hidden in the same place - not sure if the owners know but it seemed weird. We took time to enjoy to the views and take pictures between looking for boxes. We wanted to tour the lighthouse but it was closed so we decided to call it a day at Cape Disappointment because we wanted to go to Long Beach and walk the boardwalk.

We drove the few miles up to Long Beach and went to The Breakers to park and start our first hunt for a letterbox there. We walked along the Discovery Trail to Clark's Tree and found the letterbox right away. While I was stamping in Thomas took a walk on the beach and when I finished I joined him. By this time the wind had picked up and it was getting a little colder. So we headed back into Long Beach and tried to get a box at a kite shop but the store was closed today. We instead found a parking place at the Boardwalk and headed out to find six boxes. I tried to organize the clues to look for the boxes in order of the way we were walking - that didn't work and we ended backtracking a few times. We found four of the six boxes. One that we didn't find we think may be missing because we were pretty sure we were in the right place - at least all the landmarks made sense. The other one we couldn't find involved triangulation and we never could find the box. We tried for about 45 minutes but finally gave up because we were cold and hungry. One of the nicest things about the day was the sunset we got to see as we stamped into the last letterbox of the day. We enjoyed our walk in Long Beach and saw a few statues some whale bones and lots of people flying kites. We started heading back but soon spotted a restaurant called the Crab Pot and stopped to eat. Thomas had a steak and I had double crab fettuccine alfredo. I really liked the food and we had a nice quiet and relaxing dinner after our long day of hiking and letterboxing.

We returned to Astoria after dinner and made our way to the hotel. We are both tired and are looking forward to a good night's sleep.