A Snow Day in Astoria: N. Oregon Coast Photo Adventures

Published 12/28/21 at 10:22 PM PST
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Astoria, Oregon) – A mere dusting on the Oregon coast is cause for much celebration, maybe even whooping and hollering. It's a place that does not see the white stuff very often, going a year or two without even a glimpse of snowflakes. But if you get an inch or two of the powder, well, the mood becomes a bit more somber. All photo courtesy Angi Wildt of Angi D. Wildt Gallery

Getting icy roads on the Oregon coast is no fun, just like anywhere. Here, however, with almost no one used to this, it all becomes a serious problem fairly quickly.

This weekend through today, the north Oregon coast town of Astoria got hit with plenty of snow, a little more than it could handle, in many ways. Things began shutting down, including access to the lofty Astoria Column.

One local took all in strides, however. Angi Wildt, owner of Angi D. Wildt Gallery in Astoria, reveled in the wintry experience and snapped plenty of intriguing shots, documenting some fun and striking sights. Among the more memorable captures is above, with the docks covered in white. It's slow season, so they're empty.

The earliest of it began hitting on Sunday, early morning hours, and Wildt said she kept a close eye on the forecasts.

“Watching the weather, I deduced that it would be ok to go out capturing photos on Sunday before the temperatures dropped,” she said.

Hence, this batch of images. She lives in Seaside, and started to see some craziness there early Monday, which caused her to think about keeping the gallery closed for the day.

“I looked out at the street corner, cars were sliding to a stop and spinning out to cross the intersection,” she said. “An ambulance had to break, skid, break to a stop and then slid a little at a very low speed around the corner.”

As Sunday progressed, so did the snow. This shot is right outside her gallery on 10th.

Down the street, where it all dead-ends, Pier 11 was downright enchanting.

“On Sunday, I wanted to hit iconic places that people associate with the coast,” Wildt said.

Above: Astoria's Pier 11 in the snow.

So Wildt began heading southward, braving the bridge and bracing for icy issues.

“Just before crossing, Astoria became almost invisible behind the dense gray that one could see moving slowly across the bridge towards Young's Bay,” she said. “It was a snow flurry. It was very cool to be there during that brief moment in time when it occurred.”

Among the iconic Oregon coast places she snapped were the wreck of the Peter Iredale.

“The highway was well traveled on Sunday, so it wasn't too slick at that point during midday,” she said. “Once I turned off of 101 and headed out to Ft. Stevens, the roads were less traveled and much more packed with snow.”

At one point Wildt tried heading up to the Astoria Column and found the route closed off, though she didn't notice any signage saying why.

On Monday, she kept the gallery closed. She stayed inside at her Seaside home, not venturing out once.

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