Saturday of our trip to Tacoma Leighton and I made the 2 hour drive out to the Olympic Coast and Olympic National Park. We started at Quinault Rainforest which was of course rainy, but also beautiful. It was also cold but we still got a couple miles of hiking in before we headed to Kalaloch Beach 4. We hiked down to the beach and then spent the next 4 hours exploring and hiking along the beach. The tide was on it’s way out and Leighton wanted to see a starfish in the tidepools. When we first got there the tide was still too high and the tide pool areas too slippery and still too much water to explore much so we had fun going up and down the beach and getting chased by the waves. We found a number of whole muscle shells and saw a ton still alive all clinging to the rocks with both pink and turquoise sea anemones. We practically had the beach to ourselves and while it was chilly the sun did peak through the clouds although it didn’t really warm anything up. Our feet got soaked running from the waves but we had so much fun. Slowly the tide went out and we went back to exploring the tide pools. Just about the time that I think Leighton was ready to give up on seeing any starfish we found a bunch. We found both deep purple and orange ones. And really there is just something about starfish that makes everyone happy. After hiking nearly 5 miles up and down the coast we headed up north just a tad to Ruby Beach. We didn’t stay long there but it was good to see a different beach and how just a few miles up the coast the beaches can change. Ruby Beach had a ton of drift wood and sea stacks. We made the drive back to Tacoma wet, sandy, and cold, but refreshed and full from a day exploring the amazing creation and beauty.
Hiking Mommy 