Fort Clatsop

Oregon, the Columbia River, Montana, the Missouri River are all in the Lewis and Clark area. The first time we were in this area, we learned a lot about the Corps of Discovery and their harrowing trip across the newly acquired lands of the Louisiana Purchase. President Thomas Jefferson sent them out to learn about this huge addition to the United States. They spent 3 months of the winter of 1805-06 just south of what is now Astoria. They built Fort Clatsop which is now located in the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park.

One day we visited the park and hiked maybe 3 miles on the Fort to Sea Trail through the forest.

You can get an idea of how massive the trees are today by comparing John to the tree to the right.  I wonder what the trees looked like 2,014 years ago.

We did stop in the National Park visitor center there to look briefly at the exhibits about Lewis and Clark. But our main purpose was to get in a good walk. I have read a lot about their journey and have read their journals. On our last visit we visited 2 or 3 museums with lots of information about the trip here in 1805.

A Walk in the Woods

Today we visited the Flagstaff, AZ, Arboretum.

We have spent lots of time over the years in Ponderosa pine forests and it felt good to be in one today. In places we had great views of the San Francisco peaks.

We think this is the Flagstaff Naval Observatory, which is nearby.

We saw Stellar Jays and horny toads, as well as mountain bluebirds and black-capped chickadees. (No photos of the last two.)

This is one of many bird houses attached to trees. Though this one looks broken, there was what appeared to be a fresh nest inside.

We are at 7,000 feet above sea level so the temps are much cooler than what we left in southern Arizona. There was a brisk wind and the temperatures were in the upper 50s. Look how we were dressed, both to walk around and during a stop for lunch.

There were lots of school children exploring the arboretum.

We saw numerous signs and information about the importance of fire and thinning to keep the forest healthy. Here we saw signs of a fairly recent controlled burn to remove smaller trees and encourage growth of native grasses.

There were lots of wild flowers, both those blooming outdoors and others in the greenhouses where they propagate plants to improve the natural vegetation. We also saw numerous sculptures in the gardens. I will save those for later posts.