APRIL 13, 2017 // 7 Learn about grave of youngest Lewis and Clark expeditioner PHOTO BY DAMIAN MULINIX Black, stormy skies produce a slight rainbow over the yellowed dune grass along the Discovery Trail in Seaview, Wash. Long Beach Peninsula offers nice spring hiking options LONG BEACH, WASH. — Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula boasts 28 miles of public beach and a system of hiking trails that cut through forest and wetlands. For spring hiking op- tions, consider: • The Coastal Forest Loop, a 1.5-mile round- trip that features ancient Sitka spruce, views of the Columbia River, and fauna and flora, such as newts, frogs, bald eagles, owls, foxes, otters, huckleberries, mushrooms and flowers. Trail access is near Serious Pizza and the park office at the entrance to Ilwaco’s Cape Disappoint- ment State Park. A Discovery Pass is required for cars. Dogs on leashes are permitted. • The Bay Loop, a 1.1- mile trail that offers birding sites, scrub pine forest, marsh grass fields and flat terrain. A Discover Pass is required for parking at Leadbetter Point State Park. • Three trails at the PHOTO BY REBECCA SEDLAK The short, 0.57-mile round- trip trail at Teal Slough guides hikers to old-growth cedars. Willapa National Wild- life Refuge headquarters: the quarter-mile Art Trail, consisting mostly of board- walk; Cut-Throat Climb, a fern-laden loop three-quar- ters of a mile; and Teal Slough, a trail one-third of a mile with Western red cedar and Sitka spruce trees. The refuge headquar- ters is near milepost 24 on Washington State Route 101. Teal Slough is 1.6 miles northeast. • Discovery Trail, an 8.5- mile coastal path stretching from Ilwaco to Beard’s Hollow wetlands, through grassy dunes to a mile north of Long Beach, with a forested spur to North Head Lighthouse. The entire trail is paved except for a short section on the west side of the Cape Disappointment headlands. Access points with free parking are at the Port of Ilwaco, Beard’s Hollow, the Seaview and both Long Beach beach approaches, as well as the south end of the Breakers Resort. In Long Beach, the trail parallels a one-half-mile wooden boardwalk. Cyclists share the trail, and dogs on leashes are permitted. FORT CLATSOP — The next In Their Footsteps event at Lewis and Clark Nation- al Historical Park will be “Identification and Preserva- tion of Jean Baptiste Char- bonneau’s Grave,” featuring Michael Hanley and Roger Wendlick, 1 p.m. Sunday, April 23. Jean Baptiste Charbon- neau, the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was born Feb. 11, 1805, to Toussaint Char- bonneau and Sacagawea. They spent the following winter at Fort Clatsop. After a life of travel, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau died May 16, 1866, at Inskip Station at the hamlet of Danner in eastern Oregon’s Malheur County. Hanley, a rancher, illus- SUBMITTED PHOTO Jean Baptiste Charbonneau’s grave in Eastern Oregon. trator and author of several books about eastern Oregon, was instrumental in identify- ing and preserving the grave of Jean Baptiste Charbon- neau in the 1960s. Wendlick spent decades acquiring the premier collection of liter- ature related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His collection is now at Lewis & Clark College in Port- land. Both historians were involved in the refurbishing and rededication of the gravesite in 2000. This monthly Sunday forum is sponsored by the Lewis & Clark National Park Association and the park. These free programs are held in the Netul River Room of Fort Clatsop’s visitor center. For more information, call the park at 503-861- 2471, or check out www. nps.gov/lewi, or Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on Facebook. SUBMITTED PHOTO Clatsop County Stringband No experience needed at Stringband dances ASTORIA — Join the Clat- sop County Stringband with caller Dave Ambrose 7-10 p.m. Friday, April 14, at the Astoria Arts and Movement Center, 342 10th St. Cost is $5 to $10, depending on what you can pay. All dances will be taught, and no partner is necessary. Clatsop County String- band members are Knox Swanson, Larry Moore and Gina and Hobe Kytr. Knox and Larry are members of the Beerman Creek String- band. The Kytrs formerly played in the Blue Heron Stringband with Ann Bald- win.