Restoring the Ravenna Centenarian: 06/23/16

Second Beach is the official name given by the Olympic National Park to a particular swath of shallow-sloping terra firma sandwiched between two rocky headlands on Washington's coast. I wonder what the Quileute Tribe used to call this piece of land---surely its ancestral name was more descriptive and inspiring. Second Beach sounds so blah, and begs the question---second to what?

Second to nothing, as far as I can tell. Perhaps that is why I've visited this beach probably more times than any other along the west coast (barring Carlsbad, of course). I first set eyes on in its sea stacks and rolling waves in 1997 and have probably been back a dozen times or more.

AJ is a bit of a newcomer to this beach. It was the first spot she put her toes in the frigid Pacific along Washington's expansive coastline. This was our third trip out there together, and let me tell you...this place never ever ever disappoints.

Each time we've been, its been different. This time, we were greeted with a stiff northerly wind that prompted us to build a barricade near our camp to get out of the sand-blasting. But once that was built, no problem---it was plenty sunny and the winds died down in the early evening. Couple that with the fact that the sun sets around 9:30 and there was lots of time to explore.

We were treated to a gorgeous sunset and flat calm seas, which would have been just fine. But then the full moon rose over the headland behind us. It was stunning. Check out this photo---not that great, but look closely and you can see the moon lighting up the southern headland while the setting sun lights up the north.

A fire and some s'mores followed, but the next morning was the coup de gras. We woke up to all sun, no clouds, and one of the lowest tides of the year. We were able to walk to the sea stacks offshore, usually separated by water. And because its so rare to have human visitors to those low low tidepools, the sea life is bursting at the seams. For two ocean nerds, this is about as good as it gets.

So back we are now in Seattle. But Second Beach will always be a place we'll return I'm sure.