Ah, Astoria

  The first time I visited Astoria, it was because of The Goonies 25th Anniversary. I grew up watching that movie and loving it. What can I say, I have a thing for maps and adventures. The city is little more than an hours drive away from Portland, and there's bound to be other interesting things in the area, right? The city doesn't disappoint.

  Situated on a steep-hilled peninsula, the city is home to such beautiful views that it has been the setting of a dozen or so films, many a fond memory from my childhood. This small beacon of civilization amid the scenic wilderness is surrounded by water. The Columbia travels it's last couple miles to the Pacific on the north. On the west side is Youngs Bay. This estuary is the confluence of two of the first (or last depending on the direction one is traveling. WE are headed UP stream) of the Columbia's tributaries: the Lewis and Clark and the Youngs rivers. The latter of these forming the southern boundary of Astoria. As an aside, the first true tributary of the Columbia is the Skipanon river, which drains a bit of the Clatsop Spit through Warrenton.

  These two rivers represent our first chunk of the Columbia river basin. While they drain about two-fifths of Clatsop County and have a combined length of 40 miles (the Youngs has two tributaries of it's own with a combined length of 41 miles), it represents little more than one-tenth of one percent of the whole. 

  What we have here, though, is a bit like a baseball glove. Acting like webbed-fingers, this glove is a ring of mountains: Davis Point, Humbug, Saddleback, Elk, and Wickiup. They catch all the rainfall and funnel it out to the Columbia, the rivers like well-worn flex wrinkles on a palm. The bowl is bisected by the 202 Hwy and few other roads. Other peaks, like the sibling Green mountains, dot the interior of this pocket, causing the rivers to dance around their mighty feet. This land was formed via the always lovely forces of plate tectonics. Massive lava flows poured down the Columbia valley into the inland Astoria Sea, cooling so quickly they exploded, and became equally massive piles of rock.

  A line of hills separates the basin from the Clatsop Spit and cities like Seaside and Gearheart (a steam-punk name if I ever heard one). The US Highway 101 travels up the Spit, and when the hills give way, it crosses first Youngs Bay, and then makes the dramatic leap over the Columbia itself. This bridge, the Astoria-Megler, is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. Taking the bridge from from the Oregon side is a bit like riding a roller coaster. Over a very short span you climb to the bridge's impressively highest point, then take a 4 mile descent to the opposite shore. The trip home is fun too, with a slow climb to the top and a sudden drop through a 360 degree corkscrew.

  Astoria serves well as the guardian of the Columbia's first basin. Atop it's highest hill stands the Astoria Column, which provides a stunning view of these many waters coming together. The city has stood sentinel for a very long time, boasting of it's two centuries of history, the oldest city this side of the continental divide. It was settled less than a decade after Lewis and Clark left Fort Clatsop (just on the other side of Youngs Bay).

  Next, I'll play a little game of subtraction and talk about the first basin that is NOT part of the Columbia river.

Happy hunting,

Brett