La Push and Rialto Beach

Lake Crescent

When we were in La Push and Rialto Beach this past Sunday, we did not get to see much due to the fog.  But it didn't stop people from surfing and being on the beach.  I had found a live web cam of various locations around the Peninsula and now we could monitor going to the ocean again but on a clear day.  Yesterday morning was the GO, so off we went.  We just are amazed at the amount and color of the wildflowers that grow along the roadway.  Just so pretty.  And driving through the Olympic National Park's Lake Crescent region is so pleasing to the eye, the sapphire blue of the water and seeing people kayak or sail/boat on it.  Very calming.

Wildflowers along road

One thing we have noticed from day one being here on the Northwest Peninsula, the amount of logging that goes on.  As you drive along Route 101 you see huge swatches of empty land where the trees had been cut down.  Sometimes you see a sign that says when it was harvested, then planted, then harvested again, then replanted.

Harvest Verbage

Fogged in Sunday

Clear - Who Put Those Sea Stacks There?

Fogged in Sunday

Sunny!

First arrived at Rialto Beach, again part of the Olympic NP, and walked the beach for about a mile and half, saw an eagle perched up in the trees and another fly right over our heads and land.  Looking out over the ocean we saw a sea otter just drifting around.  A number of hikers that were traveling along the beach going north towards a Norwegian Memorial about four miles north only reachable by hiking along the beach, then returning. This is a memorial to a sailing vessel that wrecked on the coast in 1902 and 18 died, 2 survived. One thing we did see as we crossed path with the hikers - they were carrying large buckets and found out that this was a bear container for their food - a mandatory item they have to carry.  Cumbersome, but required.  Have to have a backcountry permit from the National Park to do this (camp overnight on the beach).  Would not want to do this at all - the tides would limit some of the beach area and therefore would have to transverse the large tree logs.  Ugh. And have to be prepared for the weather - the water is a chilly 48 degrees and the wind that is constantly blowing - brrrr.  What struck me the most being on the beach was seeing the sea stacks - they were not there on Sunday and now they are!  How did that happen? When we first started our walk northward it was an easy stroll along the waters edge on wet sand but the tide was coming in and we got pushed up onto the rocky beach - very hard to walk on, no sure footing. We returned back to our car and drove to the Quinault Indian town of La Push and looked at the beach where they were surfing on Sunday.  Again - how did those sea stacks get there - they weren't there Sunday?

Hello George!

Rialto Beach - Tide Coming In

Second Beach 

We had packed a picnic lunch and decided to head over to Second Beach and had to hike about a half mile down to the water's edge - dropping down in zigzag pattern, dropped fast, but dreaded the hike back up. Picked a HUGE tree that had been washed up and sat with our faces to the ocean and had a picnic with the waves crashing, the birds screeching, the wind - very cool.  I have seen the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, Los Angles and San Francisco; seen the Atlantic Ocean from New Brunswick, Canad all the way down to Miami, Florida and been on the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, Israel but I have never seen sea stacks until we came here.  Kinda eerie and at the same time awesome.

I DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE HERE!!!  I have found my new home in the northwest peninsula of Washington.  Maybe, just maybe.