The large body of water that lies between Washington State and Canada and goes between the Pacific Ocean and the entrance to Puget Sound (and Seattle) is named the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We explored several of the beaches along this waterway working our way from east to west. The first was on Dungeness Spit. This is a 5-mile long spit that extends out into the Strait and has a lighthouse at its end. It is the longest natural sand spit in the country. We hiked about a half mile through a forest to get to the spit and then about a mile out the spit before turning around (in a light drizzle). We saw a lot of birds and smaller critters. At one point a bald eagle few down the beach and was only about 20 feet over our heads.
Dungeness Spit as viewed from an overlook on the forest trail
Logs, rocks, and sand on Dungeness Spit
The next was Crescent Beach. This is one of the few sand beaches along this coastline. We found some sea creature remnants, some drift wood and a lot of interesting stones. Next was the beach in Clallam Bay. This was a pebbly beach that is famous for jasper (a reddish stone). Dawn found some nice specimens and I found some nice stones, but I’m not sure if they are reddish. : ) We also found various remnants of sea urchins, sand dollars, sea stars, shells, etc. In the end we came home with almost 22 pounds of stones from all of our explorations (about 14 for Dawn and only 8 for David). We were worried about the weight of our bags when we were packing before flying home, but we were okay…barely.
Dawn collecting stones on the exposed bedrock at Clallam Bay
A dead sea urchin we found on Clallam Bay beach
Stones on Clallam Bay beach - Yes Dawn, they are prettier when wet
One more stop along this coast was Cape Flattery. It is not really a beach, but it is definitely on the coast. It is at the north-west “corner” of the 48 contiguous states. It is on the Makah Indian reservation. This whole area is very remote and the drive toward the Cape is even more remote. To get to the cliffs on the coast required a hike of about ¾ of a mile on a muddy forest trail (supposedly this was improved recently). Toward the end of the trail there were nice boardwalks. There were several observation decks that provided nice views of the cliffs, ocean and Tatoosh Island, just off the cape.
One of the great views from Cape Flattery
Us at Cape Flattery - The most northwestern point of land in the lower 48 states
1 comment:
Looks like a fabulous time!
What gorgeous photos! (I know that Mr. R. and his camera ways: I've seem them at every youth camp-out. Really pays off! :)
Mrs. R, is there any way you could possible bring your hummus recipe on Thursday. That is, the one that's okay for Mrs. W's headache diet?
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