Olympic NP Day 3 - The Coast
We spent the entire day today hiking the coastal part of Olympic National Park. The coastal part of the park is made up of many rocky beaches with offshore "sea stacks". There are also lots of tide pools and marine life. And we saw five bald eagles and some otters. We also saw a mother deer and two fawns walk down onto the beach.
Once again we got up at 4am and headed out to photograph the sunrise. But this time the weather did not cooperate - we got to Rialto Beach and stared out at a thick fog cover. But we made the best of it and hiked and photographed anyway. The difference between high tide and low tide along the Washington Coast is amazing. It was high tide when we hiked back around noon and that forced us to walk two miles on loose stones rather than hard packed sand - not the most pleasant thing to do in hiking boots! We then went to "Second Beach" and hiked along the coast and finally ended back at Rialto Beach for the sunset. All told, we hiked about ten miles along the coast today and my feet are really killing me! The lead photograph above is from sunset at Rialto Beach.
The photo of the starfish below is one we saw clinging to a rock during low tide. For hours each day they hang in until the tide comes back in and they get covered in water. And the other photo below is one of the sea stacks on Second Beach. It really is an incredible place to see!