In November of 1805, Lewis & Clark’s Corps of Discovery spent six miserable days in a tiny cove on the north shore of the Columbia across from present-day Astoria waiting out a fierce storm. When they were finally able to escape what Capt. Clark called “this dismal nitch” and relocate downstream at Station Camp, he and 11 men set out to get their first view of the Pacific Ocean. On the way they passed through the sandy area below Cape Disappointment and camped on McKenzie Head, a small wooded rise that can be seen in this view, just visible in the distance at the far right.