Fort Clatsop
After a full exciting trip in the Wake of Lewis and Clark on the Sea Lion, during which the warm sun has shone through cloudless skies all the way, we are at Fort Clatsop on our final day. Cold gray skies are overhead, and a fine drizzle greets us. Though nearly mid-day, under the dense trees it is quite dark.
Looking through the replica of Fort Clatsop where the Corps of Discovery lived in during the very rainy winter of 1805-06, we begin to feel a kinship with them. Water drips into the rain barrels, just as it did then. All our surroundings are uniformly wet, as though the sun would never shine again. Dampness finds its way into our clothing, just as it saturated their tattered uniforms.
Other differences exist, however, some of which they couldn’t have imagined. They simply had to endure the wet and the cold, knowing that it would be springtime before they really were dry again. We are able to retreat to the comfort of a motor coach taking us back to the Sea Lion where we have dry clothing and a hot lunch. Even these differences though, remind us that we can study and develop a perspective about their trip, but never really know the tremendous challenges that they overcame. Our sense of respect for what they accomplished will grow, as we think on these things.
After a full exciting trip in the Wake of Lewis and Clark on the Sea Lion, during which the warm sun has shone through cloudless skies all the way, we are at Fort Clatsop on our final day. Cold gray skies are overhead, and a fine drizzle greets us. Though nearly mid-day, under the dense trees it is quite dark.
Looking through the replica of Fort Clatsop where the Corps of Discovery lived in during the very rainy winter of 1805-06, we begin to feel a kinship with them. Water drips into the rain barrels, just as it did then. All our surroundings are uniformly wet, as though the sun would never shine again. Dampness finds its way into our clothing, just as it saturated their tattered uniforms.
Other differences exist, however, some of which they couldn’t have imagined. They simply had to endure the wet and the cold, knowing that it would be springtime before they really were dry again. We are able to retreat to the comfort of a motor coach taking us back to the Sea Lion where we have dry clothing and a hot lunch. Even these differences though, remind us that we can study and develop a perspective about their trip, but never really know the tremendous challenges that they overcame. Our sense of respect for what they accomplished will grow, as we think on these things.
