The American West is like no other. In one (giant) place, you have mountains, deserts, canyons, oceans, sounds, bays, and basins. You can drive from one landscape to the next in mere minutes, where not only the landforms change but so do all the plants and animals. Here in Seattle, you can dip your toes in the saltwater of Puget Sound and then stand on a glacier 45 minutes later at the pass. Another 45 minutes after that and you're in a desert dominated by sages and balsam root. My backyard is where volcanoes rise, killer whales roam, rainforests grow, glaciers creak, deserts thirst, tides cylce, wolves lurk, waterfalls thunder, salmon jump, geoducks slurp, waves crash, and mountains soar.
Its a helluva backyard.
I digress...
Adrienne and I can get bogged down in grocery lists and home repairs just like everyone else, but this weekend we broke the chains of society (am reaching back to my hippie roots here) and bolted for the outer coast of Washington. This particular part of our backyard is a finicky one, a place where storms relentlessly roll off the Pacific feeding the only rainforests we have in the lower 48. But our 10-day long stretch of 75+ degree weather meant it was probably pretty nice out there - which it was.
For $9, we got a permit and a bear canister and hiked out to Second Beach in Olympic National Park. I've been here many times, but it was AJ's first glimpse of the WA coast (that wasn't from a research vessel). The hike is short, so I packed about 100 lbs worth of stuff (beach chairs and grill included!) on my back and set out through the rainforest. We were treated to a nearly desolate beach, calm seas, a super-low tide, and scenery that wouldn't quite.
Below are a few pics from a great overnight adventure.
I love the approach of this hike. You're walking through the rainforest, then first you hear the ocean, then you see it and the sea stacks offshore.
First, get camp set...
then do some yoga...
then take advantage of the low tide!
Every last inch of this rock was covered in anemones, sea stars, barnacles, limpits, snails, mussels, algae, and other unidentified sea creatures.
Low tide reveals a broad sandy beach
Venturing into a scary beach cave
Venturing out of a scary beach cave
Sea stacks at the south end of Second Beach
The sea life here is spectacular! On top of this, we saw many bald eagles and about a half-dozen feeding humpback whales.
Gratuitous person shot
Sun's setting, so time to head back to camp.
Relax, get a campfire going.
Grill some veggies and dogs, open some vino
And enjoy the great sunset
Good night!
We stopped for a quick forest hike on our way out in the Sol Duc - so beautiful to be in an old growth forest!
Sol Duc falls
AJ loves the many-hundred-year-old trees
Trillium!
