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.
I posted about a beach on Vancouver Island that we had scoped out as a possible spot for later. While looking around, I spent a bit of time checking out some of the tide pools on the shore. As is often the case, they initially look quiet but, if you spend a little time waiting, you start to notice movement. I found a crab scuttling around in one of the pools and grabbed some photos of it. What I didn’t realize was that there was a second one alongside that had obviously been less mobile while I was watching. Lots of barnacles in the water too and a ton of snail-like creatures. Don’t think they were hermit crabs but who knows?
