North Cascades and Olympic Coast

Some photos from hikes and camps in the North Cascades and along the Olympic Coast.  Rains are beginning and it's time to be moving south soon.

Trying to hide up there.

The glacier runoff water becomes an unreal turquoise. 

Great National Park sign -- mountain with a glacier on top.

Rialto Beach is beautiful especially in rain and wind.

These huge trees on the beach are great -- one big playground unless it is a super high tide in a storm -- then they are deadly.  Warning signs are on all the beaches along with the Tsunami evacuation signs.

Waves and sea stacks are always good together.

Ozette Trail

The Ozette trail is a beautiful 9 mile triangle train starting out three miles through the dense coastal forest to the coast, then a 3 mile walk down the coast, and a 3 mile walk back through the forest to the trail head.  What a wonderful trail that allows so much variety.  When we arrived at Cape Alava on the first leg of the walk there were seals out on an island cloaked by the fog but making themselves known by loudly yelping and barking.  Must have been a large number out there because they were loud.  Some backpackers heading back out said that the seals never got quiet -- all day and all night.

Boardwalks on the trail over wet low areas

A whale vertebrae on the beach. Looked like either the first or last.

The trail included finding ways through fallen trees and walking through slippery rocks.  This trail works best at low tide and we made it there for a good low.

A bald eagle on a perch.

Seals hanging out on the rocks

A lot of strange rocks shaped by the ocean.

Two dead baby crabs -- looks like a dungeness and maybe a snow crab.

Ravens - maybe mating behavior on top of a sea stack

Sea otters eating as the tide comes in.

Another seal trying to stay on its rock while the tide takes it away.

There have been a large number of these Vella Vella along the coast having been blown in from further out in the Pacific.  They are jellyfish like creatures and are beautiful blue with a little clear sail on top.

  

Washington Coast

We left Oregon where we were planning to do some hiking and backpacking around mount Hood and headed for the coast of Washington State on the Olympic Peninsula.  We left because of the hot weather in Oregon and the cool weather along the Washington coast. It was great on the coast with temps between 75 and 45.

We started out camping along the coast at South Beach just south of Kalaloch Lodge.  The campground is just a big gravel lot with grass edges and a grass center strip with picnic tables and fire rings sitting on bluffs overlooking the ocean.  We were lucky and got the first site in the campground that was higher (which meant windier ) but was separated from the nearest site.  The waves roared all night and sleeping was wonderful.

View of our camp from the ocean

Exploring the beach.  Huge weathered logs along the beaches.

A driftwood bridge at Beach 4.

Beach 4's tidal pools were wonderful - full of star fish and anemones - very colorful.

Razor clams and other bivalves on the rocks.

Low tide is when we could walk out in the rocks to find these tide pools but knowing when the tide is coming in is important and don"get caught out too far when it starts.  

Lots of people on the beaches enjoying the low tide.

I wanted to join these folks - it looked like they had come to spend the day on the beach and were set up for it.

Susan heading back to the trail up and to the truck from beach 4.

On the way to the drift wood bridge was this interesting rock view.

A reminder that we are on the Pacific coast and these things can happen.

Our closest neighbor in the South Beach camp - a retired navy man hanging out on the coast.

Our camp with the fire going and wine available.  These are the last photos of our little sling light chairs that we purchased in the 80s and took backpacking with us many times.  Soon after these photo the wind blew the chairs into the fire and toasted them while we were visiting Hans - the retired Navy man.

One day we walked at the Hoh Rain Forest on the Hoh trail.  The trail starts in the rain forest with big trees and ferns ending up on Mount Olympus at a glacier.  We just walked the rain forest before the climb.  Going all the way up was a multi day backpack.

Big ferns

Susan standing below a big cedar

A cedar that had fallen and was cut to clear the trail

Saying good bye to the campsite

Looking down into the campground

Ocean view