Dave Knows Portland

February 4, 1999: The New Carissa Runs Aground

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New CarissaA storm was approaching so Captain Benjamin Morgado thought he’d anchor the wood chip freighter New Carissa for the night. Near Coos Bay on February 4, 1999 the New Carissa, unfortunately, ran aground.

70,000 gallons of oil gushed out of the crippled ship killing thousands of sea birds, and the state of Oregon was left with a big mess to clean up.

Then the slapstick cleanup, demolition efforts, and lawsuits began. Ultimately after tens of millions of dollars of fines, settlements, and demolition costs, the last pieces of the New Carissa were removed from the beach in September, 2008.

January 26, 1700: The Great Cascadia Earthquake

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Cascadia Subduction ZoneThe largest earthquake ever known to occur in the continental United States struck at approximately 9 p.m. on January 26, 1700.

Around magnitude 9, the megathrust Cascadia earthquake rocked the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which encompasses a 600 mile long swath of coast from Vancouver, BC to Northern California.

During the five minute long earthquake the shores lurched 50 to 60 feet westward, reshaping the coast and possibly triggering the Bonneville Slide.

One thing we know with more certainty is that the earthquake triggered a huge tsunami, which in addition to slamming the coast, also traveled across the ocean and devastated the Pacific coast of Japan. Evidence of the January 26, 1700 date includes the oral tradition of the Native Americans who lived in the earthquake area, studies of tree rings, and most importantly for pinpointing the date, written records from Japan of the tsunami’s impact.

January 7, 1806: Sacagawea Scouts Locations for The Goonies

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Ecola State ParkSacagawea wanted to see the ocean, and also the giant fish that had washed ashore and promised the potential for delicious blubber (yeah, the giant fish was a whale) for the wintering Lewis and Clark Expedition at Fort Clatsop.

On January 7, 1806 she got her wish. After several days of travel, the ocean was spotted, and the crew was able to purchase some salt and whale blubber (tastes like pork!) to help them get through the rest of the winter.

On that day William Clark wrote in his journal (long before spellcheck):

Set out at Day light, porceded up the Creek about 2 mile and crossed on a tree trunk the Salt makers have fallen across, then proceeded on to the Ocean ¾ mile . . . assended a Steep mountain, . . . we hauled our Selves up by the assistence of the bushes . . . the Steepest worst & highest mountain I ever assended I think it at least 1500 feet highr than the Sea imidiately under on the riht. we met 14 Indians loaded with blubber . . .

The explorers were near what is nowadays Ecola State Park, best known to movie goers as a location in Kindergarten Cop and The Goonies.

Video Interlude: Portland to Cannon Beach by Bicycle

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Portland To Canon Beach By Bicycle, July 2010 from goddestroyer on Vimeo.

Ahhh, remember July? Shawn Kilmer does. He road his bicycle from Portland to Cannon Beach.

And he made a video of the adventure: Portland To Canon Beach By Bicycle, July 2010 [sic]

At least a year of wanting to make the ride from the Willamette Valley to the Oregon coast by bicycle, finally decided I had the time. The ONLY drawback was not having a saddlebag rack setup and carrying everything on my back. I tried to go as minimal as I could, jersey for sun, thermal for normal weather, sweater for cold, bike shorts, jean shorts (for chillin’), sleeping bag, food, sunglasses. Just that small amount of stuff was still borderline on being too much weight to have on your back for a ride like this.