How can there be sand dunes and a Marine West Coast climate in the same state?

Astoria, Oregon

Sitting in the historic Coffee Girl inside Pier 39 where the employees of Bumble Bee tuna used to get their java. There is a museum here now and other small shops. The Oregonians are real coffee aficionados. I am finding it hard to find decaf coffee. Here at the Coffee Girl the lightest coffee brew is medium roast. To get to the pier I drove over a wooden pier bridge and can hear the croak of harbor seals on the headwall. Two large container ships are at anchor in the harbor and a Coast Guard vessel just passed by on it’s way up the mighty Columbia River.

Critters in the park

 the ultimate selfie

I am abandoning my campsite as the mosquitos are the largest and most ferocious I have experienced. The mosquitos must be wired from sipping all of the espresso that they have here. Florence, Italy has espresso bars where you step up and put your foot up on the railing and swig down a demitasse of espresso. Well here there are espresso drive thru’s. Gotta get that jolt!

No wonder there are marijuana shops everywhere so that people can mellow out from the espresso. I have a good mind to try the stuff for the first time in my life! I just asked a man next to me how to spell marijuana as spell check didn’t recognize the word! He runs a dungeness crab place here at the pier. He says the marijuana is strong and to only eat half a brownie as it is very strong here.

Now, you must be wondering when I will get to the subject of this blog. I have a degree in Geography and as I travel the coast of Oregon I wonder how there can be the Oregon Sand Dunes Nartional Rec Area and a climate known as the Marine West Coast Climate. The dunes run for 40 miles and apparently are the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes anywhere in North America. Some of the dunes are as high as 500 ft. There are several areas where board sand surfing and dune buggies are allowed. You can take a “Dune Adventure” or rent a buggy/ ATV yourself. The National Rec Area web site says “Tides, wave action and strong coastal winds move the sand up to 2.5 miles inland.” The basis for it all is the Dune Sheet of Marine Sandstone underlying the whole area. The seasonal change of wind direction reshapes dune sculptures and ridges. Some of the dunes are covered with vegetation. I climbed up to the top of one dune in the pouring rain. I was barefoot and wanted to see what was on the other side. I was rewarded with views of endless dunes and a mad looking ocean. Then I had wet, cold feet.

The Marine West Coast climates are typically found to the west of large mountain ranges that cause fronts to collide and release all of their precipitation. Wet warm air from the coast rises and cools as it goes over the mountains. This causes the water in the air to cool and condense, resulting in rain, drizzle, and fog on the seaward side of the mountains. Then drier air proceeds inland. This is known as the rainshadow effect. This results in a very special climate. This climate moderates the summer heat and the winter cold but it is known for being typically rainy and foggy. So I won dared how there could be sand dunes and this climate together. The sand dunes are not formed because of heat and dryness so they both can be compatible. This climate is also down in Chile. In the US it ranges from Oregon all the way north through British Columbia. All I can think about is rain (wet tent), humidity and grey skies. 

foggy and rainy

Lewis and Clark came down the Columbia on the north side of the river and first saw the Pacific at Disappointment Point. They didn’t like it there and crossed the river to found their winter fort at Fort Clatsop. My campground is just down the road from the old Fort. They went a ways down the coast to boil sea water to make salt and found a beached whale at Cannon Beach. They needed oil for the winter and their trip home so they boiled down the blubber to make oil. 

Cannon taken from the south

Cannon Beach from the north

I am reading three books: 1) The Journals of Lewis and Clark. It must be the original version as the spelling is almost indecipherable. 2) I am also reading Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi” and discovered the name “Mark Twain” was taken from a nautical term pilots used on the river. 3) The third book is a biography of Jeddidiah Smith. I stayed at a campground in CA by that name and traveled down the Smith River canyon. He was a beaver trapper and made the first trips to California and then up the coast to Fort Vancouver on the Columbia. I get into my snuggly bed at night, don my head lamp and read myself to sleep. 

Calla lilies grow everywhere

Lovely Oregon beach in the sunshine