Beach walk to Kalaloch WA

Kalaloch, WA

We pulled off two miles south of the lodge at a path to the beach, and walked north to the lodge where we had lunch.

Map: Kalaloch beach walk

We walked north from South Beach, along the beach, up to the Kalaloch Lodge, walking through a short stretch of forest before reaching the beach.

Click on the images for a larger view

More growth upon growth.

The trees in this stand had many burls.

More burls.

Maribeth describing the forest through which we were walking.

False Lily-of-the-Valley (Maianthemum dilatatum).

Regan and Lynne.

Regan and Lynne showing just how big some of those burls are.

Looking down on the beach.

White flowers - to be identified.

A spider's web moist with the fog.

Steve on the path through the bushes.

Salal again.

The path down to the beach.

You can see Lynne coming down the path, but that red/orange spot to the left is Jonathan behind a bush.

More white flowers to identify.

Piles of driftwood that accumulate at the top of the beach - that we needed to cross to get to the beach.

A stretch of pebbles that lined the path made for a pleasing pattern / texture.

The path over the driftwood marked three-stone cairns on a couple of the logs.

Looking back up the path, with a cairn in view.

The driftwood along the beach.

A Dungeness crab shell on the left, and a razor clam shell to the right.

Steve is a tracker and described the running movement of the river otter that produces the pattern.

An orange/pink stone amidst grey basalt.

Another Dungeness crab - something had crab for lunch.

Kathryn walking along the foggy beach.

Peter and Ann (L), and Kathryn (R).

Peter and Ann.

On the path off the beach to Kalaloch Lodge, looking back to the beach.

Jonathan and Ray coming up the path.

Tsunami warnings. Text of the sign is below.

Tsumamis (from a sign at the beach)

Devastating waves called “tsunamis” can strike Washington’s coast at any time. These giant waves are usually caused by great undersea earthquakes. Such earthquakes can occur along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, one of the largest active faults in North America. The fault zone lies 32 to 70 miles offshore and roughly parallels the coast. A tsunami on the Washington coast may also result from a earthquake striking areas as far away as Alaska or Japan.

Tsunamis are dangerous and destructive. They have struck the Washington coast repeatedly and will again in the future. Tsunamis can follow within minutes of an earthquake. They move rapidly, but quickly run out of water as they sweep inland and uphill. Flooding can occur several miles inland along rivers and streams. Remember, most tsunamis are not solitary giant waves; instead, many large waves.