• Summer camping NW
    A canoe of red cedar was what many tribes used to hunt on the open sea.
    A canoe of red cedar was what many tribes used to hunt on the open sea.A whale skull at the Ranger StationThis old tree is fostering other trees even in death.Beach #4 at high tideThe other side of the beachSea otterMan catching smeltsSea lion or sealOld cedar tree that has fallen and is still living and still providing shelter to other young trees.Part that has fallenThese are the rootsSome deciduous trees also taking hold on itSo amazingPhil by another big treeSo many of the huge old trees are protected on this areaAnother oneRoots are massiveHere's one that has fallenBiggest red cedar. It is on state lands.SignSome white foxgloves. Most here are pink.They really are robust.This one is taller than our car!

    Sea lions, otters, fishing, and big trees

    July 12 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Today we had a pancakes and sausage breakfast at the campsite. I buy the pancake mix made with Almond flour by Birchbenders (keto friendly mix). That doesn't make my blood sugar go up and I use the no-sugar syrup. It was good to have some big fluffy pancakes!

    After breakfast and showers, we drove to the Kaloloch Ranger Station. On the way back we stopped several places. Beach #4 is supposed to be the beach with tidal pools, but it was high tide so they were all covered. Instead, we watched several men fishing for smelts in the surf with nets. One in particular had more success because he was working while watching a sea lion. Wherever the sea lion moved, he moved there as well. I think the sea lion was literally chasing the fish into his net! We also saw an otter further off shore. Apparently they are more rare here than in Alaska, mainly because they were hunted almost to extinction. The whole scene was fascinating and we watched nearly an hour.

    Then we drove to two different big cedar tree sites. One was on the National Park and the other was on state of Washington lands. It was really cool to see how these huge old trees were continuing to support the forest ecosystem.

    There's been and still is a lot of logging in this area. The town of Forks is a logging community and everywhere you can see the aftermath except on National and State lands. Some areas are replanted as a renewable resource, but you can still see the stumps of what were trees that were hundreds of years old in their midst. People do need wood for lots of things, but its sad that the really old trees were sacrificed.    Read more