The Olympic Coast at Rialto Beach
Coastal lands are foreign to me. Growing up in Montana, mountains and forests and streams and plains are what make me feel at home. But coasts, with tidal basins and strange smells and weird plants? Nope. That's why I was so excited to spend a weekend in Olympic National Park exploring Rialto Beach, a miles-long beach with rock formations at the southern end of the Olympic Wilderness Coast.
I love patterns. And the Olympic coast delivered. Every step you take delivers a mosaic of lines, shapes, and colors. The three rocks above are just a few of the equally-diverse patterns that were all around me. And it's not just rocks, it's the beach itself, the trees, and the water.
Looking out to the ocean are spires of rock, almost like castles of bygone eras eroded away by time. Between me and them were tidal basins and smaller rock formations forming patterns of their own. Everything is still so foreign.
The Olympic coast is not just about looking westward at the ocean and rocks. Turn around, look east, and an almost-equally impressive world emerges. Trees. Giant trees. Fallen and dead and battered by the sea. Bark gone, roots exposed, and just lying there. Driftwood, but on a giant scale. Beyond the forest is still alive. But for how long? This is a dynamic landscape.
While I wouldn't call myself an ocean or coastal person just yet, I am definitely coming back. I'm just so intrigued by it all. Next time I want to spend all day -- and multiple days -- on the beach, though, which luckily you can do in Olympic National Park with the right permit. From my experience in the mountains, mid-day is just so different than the morning and evening. I got a brief glimpse of what the coast is like at night when Paulo and I went on a brief hike the night before our big hike. But I want more :-)
How to get there
It's a bit of a haul, but worth it if you can spend two or more nights on the coast.
- From Seattle, take the Bainbridge or Kingston
- Drive highways 104 and 101 towards the west
- Make sure you have plenty of gas, because gas is scarce and expensive after Port Angeles
- Go slowly around Lake Crescent, because that road is sketchy after dark
- Take a right on Highway 110 go to Rialto Beach
- We camped at Mora Campground, which was quite nice. Quileute Oceanside Resort in La Push also looks great, although bring your own groceries for cooking meals
- Next time we're going to camp on the beach, although that does require proper backpacking gear and permits
