Wandering on the Coast

As we often do, we stopped at the first spot we could see the ocean, this time in Ocean Shores near the north jetty. I was suprised to see a bulkhead that appeared to be quite recent, along the driftwood line.

As we rounded the corner, the source became obvious. In researching it, it turns out there had been TWO fishing boats go around within a couple weeks of one other. The 74' shrimp boat, Privateer, grounded first in heavy surf and then two weeks later the Jamie Marie ran aground about 1000' north but was pulled off the next morning with minimal damage. Since we took these pictures, the Privateer wreckage has been removed from the surfline using two large excavators.

While we were at South Beach, I went back to wander around Lake Quinault again. This time, I wanted to check out the Rain Forest Nature Trail, and managed to do it on a day without rain!

I was quite taken with this old growth cedar stump, complete with springboard notches still visible that has become the base for a hemlock (I think) that has taken root. Eventually, the stump will rot away leaving a tree with chair shaped roots.

While the signs along the nature trail were pointing out important features on the ground, I was continually looking up at the beautiful, straight timber. There were placed where cedar, spruce, hemlock, and fir were all growing side-by-side. Most of this growth is less than 100 years old, growing over and through the windfalls of a major windstorm in the 20's.

Much of the road around the lake was a tunnel through the moss-covered trees.

I had to stop and check out a waterfall along the way. Couldn't get an angle to get a photo of the whole thing, but loved the moss-covered rocks and logs at its base.

Enjoyed watching the left-handed fly fisherman for a few minutes. He hadn't caught anything, but he was having fun!

I found myself taking mossy fence pictures, including one that I then realized had been used in the blog post two years ago. Looked like the gate hadn't been opened since. This one is part of the fence around the pasture at the Kestner homestead, now park of the Olympic National Park

I enjoyed a quick walk around the Kestner homestead, especially the bits and pieces of old equipment that were around. I was disappointed, however, to see that all of the building had been 'restored' and now featured bright, new shingles. Maybe in a few years it will look more realistic.

When we left the coast headed towards Port Angeles and Port Townsend, we spotted a Pacific Northwest hedge trimmer on the move. We spotted it again a few miles up the road, pulled over by the State Patrol, apparently doing a weight and safety check.