Roll On, Columbia!

Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through. 

Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew. 

Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue, 

Roll on, Columbia, roll on!

On Wednesday, we explored where the Mighty Columbia's flow crashed into the not-so-Pacific Ocean.  Today, we decided to take a closer look at the Lower Columbia River.  The weather was forecast for temperatures over 80F, so we thought this would be a perfect hike for the day.  As it turned out, the brisk ocean winds blowing upsteam kept us cool all afternoon long and we never really felt hot from the sun.

We found the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge for White-Tailed Deer, downstream from Longview on the Washington side.

The Refuge was established in 1972 to protect and manage the endangered Columbian white-tailed deer, which were federally listed as an endangered species in Washington and Oregon in 1967, but then recently delisted from "endangered" and categorized as "threatened" because the herds have rebounded due to federal conservation efforts, particularly in this refuge.  Today, about 300 Columbian white-tailed deer live on the refuge.  The rare and elusive subspecies is only found in the wild near the Lower Columbia River of the Pacific Northwest, which gave the animals their name, and near the valley floor of the Umpqua River Basin. Lewis and Clark noted this species of deer in their journals in March 1806 when they were in this area.

The refuge contains over 5,600 acres of pastures, forested tidal swamps, brushy woodlots, marshes, and sloughs along the Columbia River.  The refuge also serves as habitat for a large variety of wintering birds, a small herd of Roosevelt elk, river otter, various reptiles and amphibians including painted turtles and red-legged frogs, and several pairs of nesting bald eagles and osprey. 

We picked the refuge because it has over 6 miles of hiking trails and also includes shoreline of the Columbia River.  The Columbia River part was a major, pleasant surprise!  Here is a photo looking downstream from the refuge, with some low-hanging, misty clouds on peaks on the Washington side of the river:

This view looks upsteam and catches a lone kayaker plying his way up the shoreline.  We wouldn't want to try to paddle upstream against the Columbia River currents this far down the river!

The refuge boasts a beautiful, remote, empty beach, graced by birch and fir trees and some dramatic driftwood:

We walked upstream to the end of the spit and took a selfie back downstream:

Small clams dotted the beach, and we found one with a ladybug buddy sunning herself on his clammy shell:

Kathy found a slab of Ponderosa Pine bark that she claimed as her own, but since we were in a national wildlife refuge (and, not incidentally, we have no room in our RV), she had to leave it on the beach and content herself with a photo:

Here is a panoramic view of the Columbia River (to the right), an estuarial river (to the left) and a lone log sitting on a spit of sand in the center:

After exploring the river and the beach, we started down a trail into the heart of the refuge.  We learned that the longest interior trail was closed to hikers because it is the fawning season for the deer, and the internal trail runs right through their bedding grounds.  So we took a trail out along the estuary.

Eventually, we found a nice spot along the river for lunch:

The estuary itself boasted many water birds, including innumerable geese, great blue herons, ducks and various smaller shore birds.  Here, a flock of geese is going for a swim in the tidal pond:

The refuge is laced with rivers and what appear to be old agricultural drainage canals.  These form perfect habitat for migrating birds.  The following photo gives an idea what this area looks like:

Although we were only about a half hour's drive downriver from Longview, we felt like we were out on a wild, unspoiled section of the river and its tidal wetlands.  We saw another pair of hikers, a pair of bikers, the kayaker, and a friendly woman with an even friendlier puppy.  But, otherwise, we were alone and able to enjoy the wildlife without noise or bother.  We watched the fishermen in their boats, some barges steaming upstream, and one or two pleasure boats.  But, otherwise, the Mighty Columbia was ours for the day!