Fort Stevens adventure part 2

There is so much to explore at Fort Stevens (hey, I should get paid by the fort for this blog, I better put that on my "to do" list).

Sandy really liked the inside of the batteries - so many secret passage ways and areas to explore.

A circular staircase to the top of the battery just in case Sergeant Sandy needs to protect the fort. 

Sandy and I relaxing at the lookout station.  

Time to explore another part of the fort.  These ruins cannot be explored as in-depth as we want but we can still look around. 

Some sort of secret building built into the earth.  Actually they give tours of this during the summer if you sign up early in advance.  Something else to put on my "to do" list.  I wonder what secrets this building holds?

A nice view of the river that this fort was designed to protect.  If you look far enough you might be able to see Canada. 

Some of the weaponry used to protect the fort (replicas of the weapons as the real ones were either shipped to Europe or scrapped during WWII. 

Finally, a nice overview of the battery.  The park closes at 4pm so we had to leave (don't want to be in trouble with the parks department) so we will have to further explore the park another time.

Fort Stevens adventure park 1.

Sandy I are had a great lunch (fish and chips) and did I mention the $.25 cookies?  Now that we are recharged it's time to explore Fort Stevens.  Fort Stevens was originally set up during the Civil War to protect the Union (the North) from an invasion from Canada in case the British decided to side with the South in the Civil War.  It was an active fort from 1863 to the end of WWII.

The fort has a few building still in tack like the guardhouse (see below)  but most of the buildings were scrapped for supplies during WWII.  Both Sandy and I were particularly interested in the commissary but that was long gone.   

Fort Stevens is on the strategic location to the mouth of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean.  From 1904 to 1944 various batteries were built at Fort Stevens to protect the entrance to the Columbia River.  The first battery we visited was Battery Russell.  Battery Russell is open for exploring. 

Battery Russell looks good for an old building. 

Lots of areas to explore. I am glad an experienced adventurer like Sandy is here to help me explore.

Should we go?

So the batteries were designed as two story structures.  The top floor had the long range guns and the bottom floor has the storage.  There were control rooms, ammunition storage, and crew quarters. 

Periodically you would see a shaft in the battery. The ammunition was stored below so they had hooks in the concrete to lift the ammunition from the first to the second floors. 

Lots of shelves built into the concrete structure.

The park staff has put some chains around the pits where the guns were stored.  The guns at Battery Russell were dismantled and sent to Europe during WWII and/or scrapped for parts. 

Just two friends hanging out at the battery. 

There were all of these low building built into the earth (kind of) where soldiers would watch for ships trying to enter the Columbia. There were batteries on the Oregon side and also on the Washington entrance to the Columbia. 

Finally, the Columbia was once view-able from these low buildings but after the fort was decommissioned they let the trees grow and blocked out the view of the Columbia.

Don't worry friends there is more to explore at Fort Stevens.  Stay tuned.

s

An outing to the beach.

Sequoia and I love the beach and we hope that Sandy will enjoy a day's outing to the beach as well. Today, we are off to the Northern Oregon Coast near the location where the Pacific meets the Columbia river.  I have our parking pass so let's go. 

Right off of the parking lot is the Peter Iredale (or what's left of it).  The Peter Iredale was aiming for the Columbia River but in 1906 it ran ground about 4 miles south.  Due to high tide Sandy and I can't get much further without getting wet. Just in case you didn't know salt water is NOT good for a stuffies fur.

The locals have embraced the wreck of the Peter Iredale (the most accessible shipwreck in the graveyard of the Pacific, thank you Wikipedia).  In the small town near the wreck there is an Iredale street and a place Drunk Fox might have visited had he joined us called the Iredale Inn.  We didn't go to the Iredale in but to the restaurant across the street for fish and chips and they had fresh baked cookies for $.25 a cookie. 

Enough talk about cookies (sorry Jerry). We continued walking along the beach and it was pretty busy for a day in January. 

Cool driftwood

More driftwood

Don't fall in.

Off to another section of the park for a little military history. See you next time.