My Cape Disappointment visit had started with a look at the area best known for big waves but I then decided to head off and explore the other parts of the area. I drove out along the shore until the road ended and started walking west along the peninsula. The water was to my left but I could hear the sound of waves from the right. I eventually came to the beach at which point I could see what the source of the noise had been.
A fantastic beach lay off to the north. It was a wide expanse of sand with another headland at the end with its own lighthouse. It was one of those scenes where it was hard to judge how far away anything was. Since I had not fixed place to be, I started walking north towards the Headland. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous morning to be out. There were plenty of people on the beach doing the same thing but the beach was so large, it felt like you could have been totally alone and, if you wanted to avoid everyone, it wouldn’t have been tricky.
I was certainly right about not having a clue how far along the beach things were. It was true that I was in no hurry and so was ambling along at a leisurely pace. Even so, I didn’t seem to be getting closer to the headland. In fact, it was quite a while before I realized I was almost there. At this point, I glanced back over my shoulder and realized the other end of the beach was disappearing from view. A look out to see suggested rain coming in from there and that I might be about to get wet.
I turned around and made the return leg with a little more urgency than the outbound leg. Even so, the rain soon reached me. Despite this, I actually wasn’t too unhappy. I had a good coat on and my pants seemed to openly get damp. The rain didn’t last long and I was dry again not long after. I did take a slightly shorter route back to the car, though, and a second rain shower hit as I was getting close so I was glad I had done so.
Later, as I visited the North Head Lighthouse, I got a great view from above back down the beach I had been on earlier in the day. It looked just as large and deserted as when I had been on it and I was quite taken with what an amazing place it was only a relatively short drive from Seattle. This is a place I shall definitely be back to explore, both in the nice weather of summer and when the winter brings storms.
Driving home from Steilacoom, I went up the coast rather than cutting straight in to the interstate. My route took me up towards the Tacoma Narrows bridges. The original bridge is well know to any engineering student and many people will be familiar with the footage of it collapsing in moderate winds. That bridge was replaced and, more recently, a second bridge was built alongside it. In the early evening light, both bridges were nicely illuminated so I stopped to get a few shots. Zooming in on the towers at the near end, I really liked the shapes of the towers and the pattern work on their surfaces.
