Dungeness, to the Spit!

August-September, 2020

Let me admit right off that I may have given you an unrealistic expectation with the title of this post “…to the Spit!” I got almost to the Spit today. I promise, I promise that tomorrow I do actually get out on the Spit. But today I did head towards the Spit, and the day was wonderful.

You may remember that I spent this morning at that Lavender farm, mostly standing around and enjoying the farm and the smells, and taking photos or talking with the folks who work the farm. It was great. But in the afternoon I wanted to stretch my legs and get out for a real walk. And so I did.

The campground here sits right smack dab up on top of a very high bluff, right on the edge of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The saltwater of the Strait runs east-west … Canada is on its northern shore … the USA is on its southern shore. The Strait averages about 12 miles wide (north-south between the two countries), and the Strait is about 95 miles long … that’s a lot of water. The saltwater in the Strait comes in directly from the Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean on earth. As I was researching the history and details of this Dungeness Spit area, I found a Clallam County engineering document online that was MANY pages long, with MANY details. One of the items in that report was that storm waves off the Pacific Ocean in this Dungeness Spit area can reach a height of three meters … that’s more than 9 feet high! No wonder the bluffs here wear away and cave in, and huge trees and rocks fall down onto the beach. Granted, the average wave height is reported to be 1.5 feet, but I’m not sure this is the place to be when winter storms are in action. Your campsite might start out on top of the bluff, and by morning you might be down on the beach!

But today, this entire week, the water was quiet and calm and peaceful. 🙂

I was impressed with this bluff where the campground is. The bluff is reported to be about 240 feet high! Maps show there is a path along the top edge of the bluff. And there’s a path that leads from the campground to the Spit. Let’s go!

First though, let me show you where I am …

The RED STAR is my campsite. The base of Dungeness Spit is in the upper right corner of the photo. The water is the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Pacific Ocean is off to the left, many miles away, but always in everyone’s thoughts hereabouts. You can see the white waves/surf of the water on the beach … then there’s a dark area that’s actually the shadow of trees from the morning sun when this internet photo was taken … then there’s the fine line of the top of the bluff. On this particular afternoon, I drove my truck away from my campsite and parked at the YELLOW CIRCLE. I was actually heading to the parking lot that is a grey rectangle just to the left of the YELLOW CIRCLE, as it was reported to have a spectacular overlook out over the water. But I never got to that parking lot.

The photo above shows my big white truck parked … and it shows a fence across the roadway that led to that rectangular parking lot and the overlook. Hmmm, the fence seems to have some signs on it. Let me see what they say …

Well, that doesn’t sound good. But why can’t we go in there? I moved close to the fence and leaned in and snapped a photo of the parking lot …

Oh my, there doesn’t seem to be much room for parking in that parking lot. Let me zoom in with the camera and see what I can see …

Holy smokes!! There is no parking lot! It’s gone! One step over that edge, and I’d be falling 200 feet or more … straight down.

I borrowed the photo below off the internet. It was taken near this area. The white dot down on the beach is actually two adults walking on the beach. It’s a gorgeous day for a walk, and it’s a LONG way down.

As I walked along the bluff this afternoon, I found many signs that talked about erosion of the bluff and warned people to stay away from the edge.

I was happy to heed the advice. Since the “overlook” no longer existed, I simply headed west on foot along the fenced path along the top of the bluff.

I stopped every so often to enjoy the view. There was always a fence, along the entire path the entire distance, and always with warning signs at regular intervals. In spite of the warning signs, it was a very nice walk. It was a perfect day with outstanding views of the water and the sky, and of Canada to the north.

Looking out over the Strait, I saw a couple of commercial ocean-going container ships heading inbound to Vancouver, Canada, or to Seattle or Tacoma in the USA. Then this vessel (below) appeared. Not sure whether it was a commecial vessel or not, but it appeared to be a private vessel, heading out to the Pacific Ocean … to the sunny Pacific Islands? to Japan? to Australia or New Zealand? down along the coast of South America? or even maybe around the world?

I let them go, with my blessing. I’ve been a boater for about 30 years, and am now quite content to keep my feet on solid ground.

Eventually, I stopped heading west on this path along the bluff, turned around and headed back east (northeast actually) … back toward Dungeness Spit. What a gorgeous day.

 

In the very first map image at the top of this blog post, you’ll see a parking lot at the south end of the BLUE LINE. That’s where everyone must park in order to get out to the Spit. I was on the edge of that parking lot when I took the photo below of the sign welcoming us to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

Let’s get on that BLUE LINE path and get out to the Spit!

Oops, a gentle blockade and more signs greeted me just a few feet after the start of the BLUE LINE path.

Ah yes, this was the year of the COVID19 virus. The people who manage this wildlife refuge decided to route all foot traffic heading out TO the Spit on the Primitive Trail … then route all foot traffic returning FROM the Spit on the main trail … thereby separating people. It worked really well. The Primitive Trail wasn’t really that primitive. It was narrower than the main trail, but it was prettier too. The Primitive Trail, on my map above, is the GREEN LINE trail. Ok, let’s head out on the GREEN LINE trail.

 

 

 

Both trails … the blue and the green … rejoined each other while still up on the top of the bluff. Then just one wide trail led down a steep path, down to the beach, and to the Dungeness Spit.

But right where the two trails rejoined up on the bluff, I found a large, solidly-built deck in amongst the trees (the YELLOW DIAMOND in the map above), with places to sit and rest, several signs explaining many things about the area and, as you might notice in the photo below, two telescopes mounted so they looked out over the water.

I glanced briefly at the informational signs and moved fairly quickly to one of the telescopes.

I didn’t even get a chance to look in the telescope. As soon as I arrived in that corner with the telescopes, I could see the view below me with NO need for a telescope!

There it was … Dungeness Spit.

I stood and stared for a long time. I knew how long the Spit was (5 miles), but seeing it for real, with my own eyes, was so much more impressive than simply knowing the statistics or looking at photographs.

By and by, I backed away from this stunning sight and read some of the informational signs. But fairly soon I sat down and let the wonders of this walk along the bluff, the views out over the Strait, and this first view of Dungeness Spit simply wash through me and settle into my soul.

By the time I was ready to move on, it was 4 pm and I still had a hike to get back to my big white truck (still parked in the YELLOW CIRCLE) and then a drive back to my campsite. There wasn’t time to “do” the Dungeness Spit today. But I would be back!