Kelly and Alan had planned a backpacking trip on the Olympic National Park Coast,
and invited Chris and I along. This was our first trip in Washington since we've
moved back. Kelly's friend Erica also came along. The hiking was different than
we were used to, as we were hiking in the sand and along slippery rocks the whole
way. I think we ended up going about 6 miles up the beach. We had great weather
- no rain - and a good time!
The hike starts out from the parking lot at Rialto Beach, and we just got on the sand
and headed north from there. We started hiking on Friday evening after driving 4 hours
from Seattle.
Alan and Kelly, Erica, and Chris.
We came to a river outlet we had to cross. Most of the group went over a log, I opted
to take to the many driftwood logs higher up on the beach. I didn't trust my balance
and didn't want to end up all wet just at the start of our hike.
Some of the beach rock formations.
Chris taking pictures.
Here you can see the four of them getting closer to the rocks. This picture puts the
rock's size into perspective.
I took a liking to all the rocks and driftwood on the beach. A very different scenery
than the hikes we're used to in the Sierras.
There were a lot of huge tree trunks washed up on the shore.
There wasn't a lot of sealife around, but there were a few of these green sea anemones.
Alan trying to get a closer look. It was starting to get darker and we were trying
to find the campsites. We finally did, but it was dark by the time we got there.
The waves crashing up.
The next day, we day hiked north of our campsite to see what was there. We had to watch
for the high tides, because they wouldn't allow us to pass at certain points. We got back
to camp for lunch and waited out the high tide. Then we decided to head out that afternoon.
While we were waiting for the tide to recede, Kelly couldn't resist putting her
feet in the water. Brrr!
Chris spent some time hitting rocks with a stick.
More of the rocks I liked.
Alan making his way across the driftwood on the beach.
The tide was still up pretty far.
Erica and Kelly making their way through.
There was a LOT of driftwood logs in this spot.
Looking back toward the way we hiked in the day before.
Chris hiking through the tree in our way.
Heading back to Hole in the Wall.
Going through the Hole in the Wall.
The waves South of Hole in the Wall were the best, nice and frothy!
Kelly and Alan hiking back together.
"Wait for us guys!"
I got distracted by the frothy waves.
When we got to the trailhead, Chris and I stayed to see if the sunset would be
good for pictures and to take some pictures the waves at Rialto Beach.
