To the Pacific Ocean

Mon 24th Oct: The rain continued all night but the temperature only got down to 3.7°C, so not to bad. On the drive out of Sol Duc, we stopped and did the small Ancient Grove loop track. I was hoping they would had more information boards about the trees, but only the one at the start saying they were about 750 years old. Then just down the road there was a Salmon Cascade viewing point, the final obstacle in the 70 miles swim upriver for the Coho Salmon to return to their birthplace to spawn another generation. And we were fortunate to see some attempting the 11 ft jump. Everyone watching would be so excited if one made it, or breath a big sigh and a "oh no" if they didn't. One couple had watched for over an hour yesterday without seeing any jumping, so don't know if the rain made a difference. Hard to capture the moment, as it happens so quickly but we managed to get a few photos. After that we head to the west coast and the Pacific Ocean at Rialto Beach. What a wild beach, and there driftwood was more a forest of logs. We must have arrived right on high tide, but by the time I made scones, it was down enough - well most of the time - for us to walk the 1.5 miles down to the "split rock" and "hole-in-the-wall". About half way down I did miss seeing a wave come up and ended up wet to mid calves - at least it made it easier then because I didn't have to keep trying to avoid them. Loved the scenery and also all the log shapes etc along the beach. Would had been nice to stay there but with all the warnings about no camping thought we better not take the risk. So headed back east, this time taking the north east coastal road. Have stopped just off the road (a fairly quietest road) in front of a gated forestry road just before getting to the coast. Steps V 11944Read more