Sea Stacks, Rain Forests, Whales and Disappointment

No fear about the Disappointment title, I'm referring to Cape Disappointment…more on that later. It has been a great few days. We left Port Angeles early on Wednesday so that we could take our time heading down the West coast of the Olympic Peninsula. We had the trailer with us so we had to be a little careful where we stopped because as you can imagine there isn’t always an easy place to park and/turn around in a 50 foot vehicle. There were several beaches along the way that we wanted to explore and with the help of Google Maps satellite view I was able to be sure that we could access the parking lots and at least turn around. The hope was to be able to park also. The parking fairy was with us and we were able to find a great spot to park at Ruby Beach. We spent more than an hour exploring the driftwood strewn seashore and photographing the mist shrouded sea stacks (basically large freestanding rocks in out in the surf.)

It was a rather surreal experience and although there were a few other people there you felt somewhat alone at the edge of the Earth. It is hard to explain because you would think that it would seem the same as any beach but I think the low fog in combination with the huge expanse of flat grey ocean made you really feel isolated. We reluctantly left and started working our way further South on 101.
As a side note….the 101 in Washington is horrible. You would think that what is considered a major highway would be designed for heavy traffic. Well….I guess we thought wrong. Washington roads in general have been the worst of the trip but the 101 has turned out to be the worst of the worst. There are areas that are gravel or in disrepair but that isn’t the worst of it. A large portion has been newly re-surfaced….over a lumpy, bumpy, wavy mess. We literally porpoised our way down the coast for 200 miles!!! Not fun for the driver and certainly not fun tidying up the contents of the 5th wheel at the end of it all.
Our next planned stop was one of the Karloch Beaches (there are 4) but we weren’t sure which was going to be the most accessible for us. All only have parking alongside the highway so it was going to be hit or miss. We found a great spot by the trail to Beach 3 so we parked and started down.
These beaches are all accessed by trail switch-backing their way down to water level. We came around the corner and looked out over the ocean and there was something dark in the surf. I had thought it looked like a whale but Scott thought it was a log bobbing around…then it stuck a fin out of the water….Whale it was. We were really concerned because it was literally in the surf and we kept seeing fins and tails along with occasional blowing. We actually thought it was going to beach. After a little while with the tide coming in, it finally got in deeper water and swam off. We were really relieved but also were grateful that we got to see it. We stopped at the ranger station only to find out that this is normal behavior in unusual circumstances. Apparently this was a Grey Whale and they feed in the surf. They turn on their sides and use their pectoral fins to stir up the silt on the bottom to feed on the small creatures that live there. As a result their other pectoral fin and sometimes part of their tail sticks up. The unusual part is that they migrate North to Alaska in March and April and back down after breeding in October….they have never been here in August!!! At Karloch beach one we saw more whales and the Spruce Burl Trail. There is a whole forest of Sitka Spruce trees that have enormous burl growths on them.

We were very tired after a long day of driving and bumping our way along the 101 toward Hoquiam River for our next stop over. Our RV park was right on the river outside of town. It wasn’t the most beautiful place that we have stayed but the river was really nice, we were greeted with brownies by the owner and it was nice and quiet. All of the above made for a great stay. As a side note…we went through a town with what we have unanimously voted the strangest name on the entire trip. HUMPTULIPS!!!! I would love to know the history behind that one!!!!
On Thursday we made our way back up to the Quinalt Rainforest. We had been looking forward to this for a long time and it didn’t disappoint. We did a total of about 4 miles of hiking on their very well maintained trails. There was an abundance of plants and a couple of waterfalls. The other stop that we wanted to make was the World’s Largest Sitka Spruce tree. It was well worth the hike to see this behemoth. We are used to big trees living as close as we do to the giant Sequoia’s but this was impressive to say the least. After the tree we headed up the road looking for a picnic spot that was away from all of the people, once again we stumbled into the perfect spot. We had gone several miles up the narrow winding road and finally saw a turnout up ahead.

Well, it turned out to be a beautiful Waterfall just off the side of the road with temperate Rain Forest all around it with the sun filtering through the trees. Idyllic really, the perfect picnic spot. The other people left right after we arrived so we were able to enjoy this beautiful place and our lunch by ourselves.
On Friday we headed down the coast to Long Beach…Washington…to get together for lunch with some friends. Yes, we are 900 miles from home having lunch with our neighbors from Mariposa. Near Long Beach is Cape Disappointment where the Lewis and Clark Discovery expedition first saw the Pacific Ocean. There is an interpretive center and explains the journey and tells of many of the difficulties that they encountered once they reached the area. There are also several lighthouses to enjoy so overall the day was really super. We even stopped at an Oyster Farm on the way back and pick up some more of the wonderful fresh oysters that they have here in Washington.

Today we spent another 4 hours on the lumpy 101 and arrived in Lincoln City, Oregon 2 days prior to the Total Solar Eclipse that will touch land here first on Monday. The highlight of the drive was crossing the mouth of the Columbia River. There was a turnout on the Washington side that at the spot that Meriwether Lewis called the “Dismal Nitch.” A rocky portion of shore that the expedition was stranded in for several days at the end of their journey due to gale force winds and high water. The Columbia at this point is extremely wide and we crossed it via a very long bridge that had a steep uphill portion at the end. Interesting in any vehicle but an adventure pulling a large trailer.

Once in Oregon it was not far to our destination. We easily found our RV park on the North side of town. It is basically a parking lot with full hookups but we were lucky to find a spot here even having made reservations back in December. I got down to choice number 5 on my list before I found an opening even that far in advance. People were planning for this eclipse long before the general public was aware of it. We got set up in our very narrow spot and headed to the other side of town to meet up with friends that we met on the first week of our trip. They are here too for the eclipse so what could be more perfect to spend more time with them now, in the final week of our adventure. Things are definitely winding down for us. Only a week to do. I'll spend the day tomorrow preparing my equipment for the Eclipse and scouting shooting locations. Love to all. Prayers for clear skies and flawless photography technique on Monday.