Altoona-Pillar Rock Celebration
from 5 Songs from the Mouth of the Columbia R. by the Academic Challenge Team Enlarge Just east of Ilwaco, Washington, along State Route 4 is Altoona-Pillar Rock Road. A five-mile trek down the road leads to a gravel parking lot and a plaque denoting the area as a National Heritage Site. Readers learn that the Corps of Discovery camped at Pillar Rock, a nearby landmark that juts out of the Columbia River.From this campsite, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark believed they could see the Pacific Ocean for the first time since setting out on their famous journey more than one year earlier. Clark’s journal entry on November 7th, 1805 states, “Ocian in view! O! the joy.”The water they were viewing, however, was that of Gray's Bay; they were still twenty-plus miles and a week or so away from the Pacific. Their mistake was a viable one, though, as the water in Gray’s Bay is effected by the Ocean’s tides and the smell of salt hangs in the air.The parking lot may be a disappointment for the modern tourist as the five-mile drive requires a five-mile return trip back to Route 4. However, the careful observer will find much to be grateful for along Altoona-Pillar Rock Road. Tall grasses surround abandoned homes and taverns. Vultures scour the roadside. Boats lay desolate in the bay. And, if one is lucky, a happy family might be dancing in their front yard.Next: this Dismal Nitch!	listen read Lyricsreference The Lewis and Clark Expedition: November 7, 1805 A Photographic Journey: Altoona, Washington HistoryLink Essay: Captain Robert Gray The Nature Conservancy: Grays Bay Language Log: Ocian in view! Washington State Historical Society Publications Health Benefits of Social Dancing Google Map: Pillar Rock purchaseCD BabyiTunes
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