20250329 Saturday, March 29, 2025 Cape Disappointment Day 3

20250329 Saturday, March 29, 2025

By the Wind Sailor jellyfish (Velelle velella) skeletons

carried by wind onto the beach by the tens of thousands.

We got up and donned our headlamps at 6 a.m. to hit the beach.  The winds had eased to under 25 mph and the rain had ceased, but there was dense cloud cover and it was very dark on the beach.  We used our headlamps in conjunction with some LED work lights to try to spot some clam shows.  Ben did get one to appear after pounding, but it wasn’t until after daylight arrived that we were able to spot any other clam shows.  Pounding didn’t yield many other shows, so despite this being a daylight tide, the tide was turning around as daylight made it possible to see the beach.  We called it quits at 8 a.m. as the tide chased us up the beach. We had managed to find a total of 18 clams today.  We got those cleaned and put up in the freezer, and then drove to the ranger hut to see if we still needed to relocate.  

Someone had changed their reservation on our site so we could stay another night, but tomorrow we will still have to relocate.  Fortunately, there is another very similar site nearby that we can move to that is still close to the beach.  

We then took the Bronco into Long Beach to do our Duolingo lessons online and find lunch. Ben checked out Denis Ace Hardware in Long Beach, which is a pretty amazing store with huge outdoors gear and clothing departments, as well as pet gear.  It was like combining an Ace Hardware with a Tractor Supply Company or Cenex Farm Supply, and Holiday Sports stores. 

We decided to check out a Mexican place for lunch. The first place we tried had rave reviews for its Pozole soup, but it was closed for the season.  The next choice was El Compadre, which looked like a local family-owned restaurant.  The restaurant was quite large, clean, and decently decorated. The service was prompt and attentive, but the food was uninspired, and not particularly generous portions for the price, which for a two-item combination was $20 per person.  We each had a leftover chimichanga to take home to the RV for dinner tonight.  It’s too bad there isn’t a Dairy Queen in town with the same $7 Meal Deal (3 chicken strips, fries, drink, and sundae).  

The sun came out for a bit in the afternoon, so we walked around the campground loops, including a closed loop.  There were a few huge rocky outcroppings in the middle of the closed loop, and a sign board which explained that these were actually seamounts which had been offshore at the turn of the 19th century, but after the Columbia River jetty was built, sand from the Columbia River deposited to the south of the jetty, filling in and burying a lot of the coastline.  But the story doesn’t end there, because after the Columbia River had multiple dams constructed for hydroelectric and irrigation uses, sand is getting trapped behind the dams, and the beaches are receding again, so someday in the remote future, these outcroppings may again become seamounts.

Seamount now stranded in the Campground

After a nap, Ben walked from the campground to the jetty, which is about 1.75 miles.  The tide was going out and uncharacteristically, there was very little wind.  This made the tide waves much more predictable, but he still didn’t see any clam shows during his walk.  Despite the lack of wind, the surf coming in off the Pacific remains quite impressive, particularly around the end of the jetty where 15-20’ tall waves were breaking.  

Breakers on the South Jetty

Lost Crab Pot buried in the sand.

We had leftover chimichangas supplemented with a new camp concoction made with pinto beans and stovetop stuffing.  Necessity is the mother of culinary invention. 

Tomorrow the low tide is closer to 8 a.m., so we may not need to use headlamps to get to the beach.  We’re hoping for less wind and more clams tomorrow.