October, 2022
Let’s get back down to that beach for a closer look, ok? Let’s get down those switchback roads!
I took both photos below while driving down those switchbacks (from up on the hill where the campground was to down on the beach). I was looking out my truck’s side window out over the hill … the cliff … that led down to the beach WAY below.
You can’t see the beach, or the salt water, but it’s down there, way down there.
The photo below was my first view of the water from those switchback roads. This part of the road was the last, the very bottom section of the switchbacks. With tight turns!
How gorgeous.
And a little further down that last incline of road there was a view of the dock/pier, below.
And finally I got down to the parking lot … wow, LOW tide. The water was way out. That’s cool, more beach to see.
Some of you may already have noticed that the big white truck is parked over to the left in the parking lot. So, yes, I drove down, parked, and then walked partway back up the road to get these two photos. 🙂
You might also notice in the photos above that there is a boat ramp (the large “V” of fence) leading off that parking lot and down onto the beach and into the water.
Hmmm, well, ok except that the tide was WAY out when I was there this day … way out! So the boat ramp was useless. The end of the boat ramp was no where near the water. Anyone trying to launch a boat right now would have the wheels of the boat trailer sink into that sand, not a good idea. But I sure got to see the beach … mud and rocks and seaweed and the black holes where geoduck clams lived. That’s geoduck, pronouned gooey-duck, honestly, cross my heart, that’s how that word is pronounced.
That sailboat out there was anchored. It seemed awfully close to shore. Of course, maybe the owner had anchored when the tide was in and there was lots more water, but right now, today, it seemed like it was in really shallow water. And yet, what a beautiful place to be.
So then I walked up onto that pier and walked part way out to the end. Then turned and simply stood and stared and watched the birds and the water, and listened to the sounds of everything. So beautiful. And warm, inordinately warm for October here, in the mid 70’s.
Oh, but there’s that sailboat. From this perspective (out on the pier), the sailboat has plenty of water and plenty of room. Kind of reminds me not to judge things from just one perspective, yes?
Yes, that’s my shadow in the photo below. Hi everyone!
This state park had very nice, clean restroom facilities, garbage, recycle, even a fish cleaning station with a place to dump your fish waste … all with either stairs or a ramp for access.
Behind the restoom was the beginning of a path that led up the hill, back up to the campground area. Keep in mind that there were at least four seriously tight switchbacks by car on this steep hill. I looked at that path for a few moments, was tempted for a second or two, and then realized what the climb up that hill would entail. I walked to my big white truck in that parking lot, got in, and drove up those switchbacks, thanking my big white truck profusely.
And yet … it sure seemed like a nice trail to follow. Maybe another day. 🙂
After taking the photo above, before I drove back up to the campground, I spent another hour walking on the beach, sitting on a log, chatting with a few folks, and enjoying all of it. I highly recommend “doing nothing” like this, which is actually doing a lot for yourself.
Amen! Doing “nothing” is sometimes doing everything you need, peace and quiet and just settling the mind and the body.
Nice beach.
Amen, Joe. Thanks.
Great beach. I always thought Pacific Northwest beaches were full of big rocks, but that’s obviously not true. This is saltwater, yes? This would be a great beach to walk along and explore.
Is the sand actually mud tho? Would you sink into it?
Gorgeous day.
Yes indeed, salt water. It flows in and out from the ocean, hence the tides. And yes, there are many beaches here that are made of very big rocks, from glacial activity, etc, but there are obviously nice sand beaches as well. And yes, the sand is sort of muddy, especially when the tide is out and the sand that is then exposed is more often under water than not, so it’s wet! But it’s not the kind of mud you would sink into very far although your shoes would get pretty muddy. The other common problem on these types of beaches is that the sand can be slippery, either from the amount of water in it or the seaweed growing on it. So if you ever come here, Greg, bring some good beach walking boots and slosh around! 🙂
Loved your beach story! As with lots of Pacific NW beaches, you can walk, explore & enjoy miles of beach. Growing up here, I have so many I love up and down the coast, around different islands, along with hundreds of more miles to explore!
Love & big hugs!
My gosh, you’ve spent years exploring everything here, Melly, mountains and beaches and everything in between. I thought I knew stuff, but I’ve mostly just been boating. You know stuff!!! As you mention, Washington State has lots to explore … about 500 miles of beaches that directly face the ocean (including in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the west shore of Whidbey, etc), and probably thousands of miles of Puget Sound beaches around hundreds of islands and inlets and bays. It’s a treasure trove of places to explore the water’s edge.
Love & big hugs back! 🙂
I’ve lived in eastern Washington all my life, been to western WA almost maybe twice, maybe? I know nothing about beaches there or salt water. But, I’ve read online that geoduck is pronounced, as you say “gooey duck”. I always thought everyone was making a joke and pulling our legs and telling us a story that wasn’t true. But I trust you, Ann. So “geoduck” really is pronounced “gooey duck”?! Why didn’t they spell it that way? You, I’ll believe. 🙂 You loved both of your camping trips to the Yakima area so much, and explored so much that most other people don’t, and reported all of it so well, that I’ll believe what you tell me. What’s up with that?
Yes, Paul … it’s gooey duck. That pronunciation comes from the original Lushootseed word for this clam … gʷidəq. On the other hand, why the “scientific” (or not so scientific) name of this clam came to be spelled “geoduck” is a mystery. I can’t find anything online that definitively explains it. Lots of ideas on different websites, but none of them convince me that anyone knew what they were doing with that spelling. So that’s just the way it is. But absolutely yes, the original pronunciation was gʷidəq, and it still is “gooey duck” or “qwee-dek” today.
Thank you for the trust and the nice words. I appreciate that. I do sometimes tell a tall tale or pull your legs here on the blog, but I always fess up in the end. 🙂 This gooey stuff is real.
I wondered about that too, the geoduck, gooey duck thing. Who would want a “gooey” duck anyway? LOL!
Fascinating beach. Do those geo/gooey duck clams really live down those dark holes in the sand/mud?
Beautiful day. Great photos. 🙂
Ha! You are so right … a “gooey duck” sounds awful, doesn’t it? 🙂 Read my response to Paul, hopefully that will explain some things. Unfortunately, it will also leave some things unexplained. But I’ve shared what I know and what I could find out.
And yes, those clams do live deep down in the sand/mud. The holes are what’s left after the clam has burrowed down into the sand, and then retracted its neck. Often water will squirt up out of those holes as we walk on beaches here. When that happens, you KNOW there is a clam down there. The clams themselves are much larger than the holes. Different varieties of clams have different size holes. When we see those really big holes, we know there are geoducks down there. People dig them up to eat them. Most people like the smaller varieties of clams here, not the geoducks as much, but they are all good to eat. Great question, June. Thanks. 🙂
I could live there! Right in one of those homes right above that beach! What a magnificent place to live. The water, the beach, the birds, the sky. Wow.
Oh Lori, you read my mind. I could live right there too. How beautiful.
I love those kinds of ‘do nothing’ days! Most of my camping is filled with days like that. My husband asks what I do all day and the reality is there’s a lot of do nothing going on, which is exactly why I go camping in the first place! Not doing laundry. Not cooking big meals, not dusting, not cleaning the floors, not mowing the grass, not weeding the gardens, definitely not cleaning toilets. Sometimes I realize it’s not that I love sleeping on the ground that makes me love camping, it’s the do nothing part of it that I love. It’s the taking a nap when I want to. Going for a walk when I want to. Eating what I want to. Yep, that’s why I camp.
Yes!! Exactly what you said, Dawn! 🙂 There’s a lot of prep work that goes into camping, but once we’re out there, what can we do? Laundry … nope. Pick up the mail and pay bills … nope. Cook for other people … nope. Clean the house … nope. Yard work … nope. I don’t listen to news when I’m camping. And yes, the freedom to do anything at any time … no one to answer to (well, except Penny the pup). Ah me, sigh … spring is coming soon, right? Perfect comment Dawn, thank you. 🙂
Using Google Earth, your campsites are about 280 feet above sea level. The switchbacks that go from your campsites and then down to the beach are made up of four sections of tightly turning road, so that means each section takes you down about 90 feet … so that’s about a 3% grade. That’s not terrible, but I’m not sure I’d like to walk up a 3% grade for the distance of those switchbacks. I’d be in my “big white truck” too! 🙂 Beautiful beach and water and green trees all around. Gorgeous place.
Wow, great research and great information!! Thanks Jamie. I usually forget that Google Earth gives altitude for every speck of land. That was fun. But what would I expect from another MCSE-er. 🙂 Super!
Oh, the water. We here in Santa Fe have the river that runs through town, but it’s NOTHING like the water of Puget Sound up in Washington. More water photos please. Oh my gosh this is so wonderful.
Thanks Shawn. You bet, more water photos coming from this camping trip … and I’ll be sure to include water in the future too. Puget Sound is so magnificent.
Thank you! I don’t own a boat anymore. You know what your photos mean to me. Thank you!
Yes. I sure do know. I stand on the beach and stare at the water and the boats that are out there. You’re welcome Rob. More coming.
Lovely. Peaceful. Fascinating about the switchback roads and the goo-y ducks. 🙂 You don’t say much about other people in your blog posts but it seems like everywhere you go you chat with other people. I like that. You know enough to care about that sailboat and whether they have enough water under the boat. I like that. I bet if they were aground, you would wade out there and save them!! 🙂 And you’d bring reader Rob Arnold along to help (hi Rob).
So my question is about tides since I know nothing about them (I’m from Wisconsin). Does the water come in fast? How far does it come? And how long does the water stay deeper? or up? or in? or out? or whatever? Does it vary? Is it predictable? Ok, maybe you could just post a link to information? Or describe this in a future blog post? AAAACK, too many questions. 🙂
In the end, I really just loved thinking about sitting on a log on the beach and just sitting there. How wonderful.
Ah, another excellent question Pat. Tides. Maybe I should find and share a link to lots of detailed info, but let me just share a bit here. The water comes in very slowly, you hardly notice it. And yet if you’re standing on the beach for several minutes and watching the water, you can definitely see the water rising, or falling, but at a fraction of an inch at a time. It will certainly not come in so swiftly that it would endanger anyone. In the Pacific Northwest, here in Washington, there are 2 high tides and 2 low tides every day, usually. Altho, sometimes one of the high tides is so low (or one of the low tides is so high) that you can’t really tell the difference. But mostly it’s high tide, then low tide, then high tide, then low tide. Most of the influence is from the moon, so it’s not on a strictly 24 hour schedule. But it IS absolutely predictable. And yes 🙂 … high tide is usually said to be “in” and low tide is usually described as “out”. There are also “spring” tides and “neap” tides but those get more complicated too. Basically, the water comes in, then goes out, then comes in, then goes out … for millions of years. In narrow passages between islands and the mainland, the fact that water is coming in (or going out) can create a lot of current or movement of water such that boat traffic is affected … and fish movement is affected. We boaters (or we who used to be boaters) hardly went anywhere in our boats without checking the predicted tides and predicted currents.
Hope that answers your questions, Pat. If you have more questions or want more info or details, please let me know.
And yes, sitting on a log on the beach, on a lovely sunny day, watching the tide come in or go out, which takes hours and hours, is absolutely the best. Doing nothing is the best. 🙂