I found the pictures from 8 years ago on my laptop of the trip with the Blankenbillers and found a cool waterfall we went to. I couldn't remember the name of it, so I Googled waterfalls near Astoria, Or and found one called Youngs River Falls. The picture looked real close to the pictures we took eight years ago, so off we went!
First to Astoria and then a right turn at the round-a-bout to highway 202. About 9 more miles and there was the sign for the falls! Three more miles down the small road and there was the parking area.

Young River Falls

What was different this time was although the viewing area was still there, this time there was a trail to take you down to the river.

Trail sign

We are pretty sure this was not here last time, because Scott and Matt certainly would have gone down the trail and we even have the Blankenbiller's pictures on our laptop. There are no River pictures of the falls. We later asked at an info kiosk and they said the trails have been added since we were last here.

Trail to falls

We headed down the trail to the river. The trail is in good condition. There are stairs that have been built at the bottom. They are really tall, almost knee tall, so without a handrail uncoordinated people like us take our time going down them. We did however make it and man was it worth it!

Big steps

When we got to the bottom of the hill we had to cross a fallen tree and then we came across this Trolls Lair! Bring your kids or grand-kids here when they misbehave! Actually it was a really cool root of a tree that had actually made into a cave like area.

Trolls Lair

We had to work our way through some brush to get to a great place to see the falls, but what a great place! You can see in the left side a log has gone over the falls and lodged in.

Youngs River Falls

This is one of those happy places to remember! Patty is really enjoying it, and I love this picture!

Patty and the falls

this is the pond area below the falls. Just beyond this area there was a tire swing. I am sure the water was COLD! Brrrrr.....

Cold but clear water

We spent some time down here enjoying what God has made! We then headed back up. These steps were nice because they did have a handrail. They then made a left turn to the steps without one shown above.

Up the stairs!

Patty made it all the way up. We love waterfalls. There is another one near Tilamook that we will probably go see. 

Patty and trails end!

After this awesome adventure it was time for a picnic. We drove to Fort Stevens State Park and drove out on the beach to eat.

Lunch with a view!

Somehow everything taste better with a view like this! Sandwiches and Oregon cherries! Wahoo! After lunch we drove around Fort Stevens for awhile. We went to the South Jetty. There is a viewing platform that allows you to see both the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean at the same time.

South Jetty viewing platform

We went up on the platform and Patty took this great picture of the Jetty, the River, the Ocean and some pelicans. She's getting pretty artsy!

South Jetty

We then drove to the Peter Iredale shipwreck. The Peter Iredale wrecked in 1906 on route to the Columbia River. They intended to pull it out to sea, but she listed to one side and it was too late. She was salvaged for parts and metal and back then they would just leave the rest to rot. It is now a cool relic to visit in the sand! When the tide is up she gets covered with water. When the tide is down as you can see you can walk among the wreckage.

Peter Iredale

Here is the front of the hull of the Peter Iredale.

Hull

The Peter Iredale was about 290 feet long before she wrecked. You can see pieces sticking out of the sand for several hundred feet. 

Pieces of the Peter Iredale

Wednesday is July 4th! We believe we are going up to Long Beach, Washington for the celebration. If so we will leave early and spend all day in Washington. We will go in the morning to Cape Disappointment State Park. Among other things there are a couple lighthouses up there and Patty loves lighthouses. 

In addition we are seriously considering using our option to spend an extra week here at Seaside. The week of the 9th -16th is supposed to be really nice weather. There is so much to do here, we are probably going to stay one extra week. We will cut down Pacific City to just one week to stay on track.

We miss and love you all!

Brian and Patty