Rialto Beach, WA

Sunday 9/2/2012

 

Just 10 miles west of Forks, WA on Hwy. 110 is the small town of Mora. As we entered into Mora we saw this sign. 

 

In Mora, you take Quillayute Rd.to the right and go two miles to get to Rialto Beach.

Rialto Beach is rugged, beautiful and isolated.

When we left Forks it was warm and sunny, but at Rialto Beach it was foggy and cool. Big difference in a 12 miles distance.

Because it was Labor Day weekend, there were many people on the beach.

We wanted to walk to the "Hole in the Rock"which was a 1 1/2 miles walk north on the beach.

Joe spotted this poor seal, who had met his demise.

Made us wonder what happened to it and why you do not see more of them on the beach. But I guess as they get old, they become someones dinner before they end up on the beach.

It's little flippers.

If you want to walk through the "Hole in the Rock" you need to get there at low tide. We had been walking at a rather fast pace to get there before high tide.

Because we are late risers, we never get any where early.

By the time we got there, the tide was coming in, and we watched this couple scale the rock wall carrying their backpacks. There must be a trail and camping beyond the "Hole in the Rock", because as we walked on the beach to this spot, we had seen many people coming from the hole carrying backpacks and over night gear. They all knew they had to get to the hole before high tide if they were going to make it back to the parking lot that night. I though we were too late as I watched this couple struggle back to shore. Then a guy came from behind us and took the lower road to the hole. Joe looked at me and asked if I wanted to try to get there. I was surprised, because Joe tends to play it safe. I said sure, and we parked our backpacks and stuff, up the beach by a log, and started our climb, staying lower and timing the in coming waves.

We didn't actually go through the hole, but we made it to the hole, for the picture.

The tide was coming in and we didn't want to be stuck on the other side without camping gear.

As we made our way back to shore, I stopped to see these purple clams,

and other sea creatures that live in the tidal pools,

and can be seen at low tide.

Burgundy star fish.

I think this was my favorite beach in the state of Washington.

Even though it was foggy, there was something very special about this beach.

The tide coming through the two giant sea stacks.

Since we were at the "Hole in the Rock", Joe and I, have since seen the commercial for Priceline with William Shatner separately at different times. When I first saw the commercial, I right away thought Shatner was standing on the other side of the hole. Latter Joe saw it and said he thought that the commercial was shot there. When he mentioned it to me, I said I thought the same thing. Next time you see that commercial, remember it was shot in Washington at Rialto Beach.

We had to walk much higher on the beach as we went back, because the tide was coming in.

Some of the logs are 6 feet in diameter. That is what I read before we came to that beach. There are signs in the parking lot telling you not to walk on the logs at high tide, because the rolling logs can be very dangerous.

The beach was filled with wonderful smooth round rocks like other Washington beaches have had.

There were several fishermen there that day.

We wished we had brought Mallery that day, because it was cool enough, and she would have enjoyed it. But we also would not have been able to carry her, and make it to the entrance of the "Hole in the Rock", so it was good we didn't bring her.

Joe spotted this rock balancing on another rock.

Wow, how did someone get that to balance like that! That was pretty incredible!

 We decide to bring Mallery the next day and walk the south end of the beach to the point.

Driving back toward Mora, I took a picture of Quillayute River that flows out at Rialto Beach.

There is a campground one mile from Rialto Beach. We pulled in to check it out.



It is the Mora Olympic National Park Campground. There are no hook ups, and the sites were fairly short. Joe didn't think our 40 foot rig would fit in them very easily. If they did it would be very tight. There is a dump station at the entrance of the campground.

As we drove through Mora we saw another sign welcoming Twilight fans.

Before we even got to Mora the fog was lifted.

Another beautiful sunset in Forks that evening.



 

Lake Crescent, & Lake Crescent Lodge, WA

Saturday 9/1/2012



We left Sol Duc Falls and got back to Hwy. 101. While in the car I got my hiking shoes off and got my regular shoes back on. So glad I had my regular shoes in the car. On Hwy. 101 we headed north. After a short drive, we went down a steep hill and got a glimpse of Lake Crescent.

Hwy. 101 runs along the south side of the lake.

The water was a real turquoise blue color.

There were cabins and homes along the north shore of the lake.

We saw just one boat pulling someone tubing behind him on the lake.

On the southeast end of the lake is Lake Crescent Lodge.

These are some of the cabins that you can rent at the resort. These cabins are called the Singer Tavern Cabins.



 

Cute with their front porch and chairs.

Walking to the lodge from the parking lot.

Beautiful 1916 Lake Crescent Lodge.

Bar for your 5 PM cocktail time.

Sun room off the lodge main room overlooking the lake.

Covered porch with wicker chairs at entrance of lodge.

Large dock out from the front porch of the lodge.

Beach next to the dock out in front of the lodge.

A few kids braving the water.

Joe and I fell in love with this lake.

I caught two people jumping off the dock into the water. Brave souls they are. The water was crystal clear.

Looking north on the lake. The resort provides rental boats for a fee.

View of lodge from the dock.

View of the beach to the north of the dock. This pictures give the true color of the water.

Joe and I would love to come back here for a week or so when we stop RVing.

We continued around the lake and found this public beach on the north east corner of the lake.

The beach is called East Beach.

Further up the road on the north side of the lake we found Log Cabin Resort.

There was a small RV park with a few lake shore sites.

There were two cabin types.

Other cabin types.

We had a couple at our campground in Forks tell us about a cafe in Joyce, WA that had a variety of blackberry desert, pancakes, and sauces for salel. We figured we would make a point to stop and check it out.

I ordered a blackberry cobbler with ice cream. Joe ordered nothing. Does that surprise you? The cobbler was good but it was served with ice milk, not ice cream. That was my only complaint. Ice milk is colder and not creamy, so the coldness made the cobbler not as enjoyable.

We thought there was a road that went completely around the lake, but there wasn't. There was a road that took you to the homes and cabins on the north shore, but we didn't know if it went completely around the lake and didn't want to take the chance and drive it, to only have to turn around. At Joyce we turned around and went back the way we came around the lake.

Lake Crescent is approximately 12 miles long with an average depth of 300 feet and a maximum depth of 624 feet officially, and over 1000 feet unofficially.

The lake has a surface area of 5,127 acre. It is the second deepest lake in Washington.

At the west end of Lake Crescent we made a stop to get a picture looking east. I would love to own a home on this lake, but with it being located in the Olympic National Park, it is on the edge of the rain forest. It has more than normal rain fall annually and the average high summer temperature is 72.

That evening we had another beautiful sunset in Forks, WA.