It is a rare air found in this place, a bracing cool on the face and hands, each breath drawn reminding alveoli in the deeper recesses of the lungs what it feels like to exchange high grade oxygen. Dampness pervades unsurprisingly, given the Cape Disappointment heavy rep for inclement weather.
Late morning sun filters onto the shaded, north facing abandoned battery wall. The reinforced concrete surface wears armor colored in a slate gray and dried mustard color palette interrupted by cracks of ivory and human etched scrawlings. A medium roast coffee bean colored rusted metal door still clings to its one remaining hinge while English Ivy and Sword Fern, among others, launch an offensive topside.
The imagery conjures a juxtaposition in symbology. On one hand, human made fortifications of steel and reinforced concrete capable of withstanding and repelling a formidable enemy testify to a potent will and intelligence. On the other hand nature and time counter, a glacial enveloping, inflicting a slow but sure death by a thousand cuts.
There is an unwarranted overconfidence in us it seems, evidenced in scenes like these. We think ourselves masters of this place, strutting the gait of an apex predator. Civilizations rise and fall, entire species laid waste, whole ecosystems collapse before us. Meanwhile the sun rises and falls, the planets hurtle through space and time with assured precision and the cosmos is as it is, an ever-expanding inconceivable vastness.
Abandoned Battery Walkaround
A series of photos shot on location at Cape Disappointment State Park, Fort Canby, Ilwaco, WA.