Quillayute River and Rialto Beach

I initially wanted to write about these two neat coastal visits along with a couple other things we saw on one of our trips HOWEVER I took so many pictures that these get their own post entirely. Rialto Beach, located along the Olympic Coast, is decorated with tons of smooth and flat rocks, different degrees of driftwood, beautiful green forestry and many many sea creatures. The day we went it was foggy and on/off raining. We left early enough to get to the beach at low tide. We specifically wanted to get there at low tide so we could hike the 1.5 miles (roughly) to the sea carved arch (Hole-in-the-Wall). Along our hike to The-Hole-in-the-Wall you could see many "islands" that I later discovered are called "seastacks". On our hike we also had to cross over what I thought was just a tiny stream but later found out it was actually the Quillayute River, and when the tide is high it helps completely separate the 3 beaches. The first beach is on an Indian Reservation and is not accessible to anyone except those who have permission to be on that land, however the other two beaches have public access. It is incredible to think that something that looks as small as a stream can ultimately cut off your access if you don't pay attention to the tides. While exploring the sea carved arch we found many different sea creatures. Star fish (Madison calls them sea stars), Giant Green Anemones, Pink Coralline Algae, and even purple sea urchins.

The water has a healing property for myself and for my daughter. She is at her happiest when she is around water and has control over it...and I am at my calmest when the crashing waves seem to take over whatever problems I am dealing with. One thing that I realized when we were on this coastal beach with such a foggy view is that any view is still amazing. I initially was super bummed that I wouldn't get such a clear view out to the ocean because of the heavy clouds. I wanted that picture perfect view, HOWEVER the greyness of the clouds brought out an even prettier view I was not prepared for. While biting on my lips ( an anxious habit I have) it was unclear if the salt I was tasting came from my sorrow filled tears or the healing mist of the ocean but I was happy to be there in those moments soaking wet by the end of our hike and not caring about anything other than the natural healing I was receiving. Since I was so wrapped up in my experience I ended up taking a ton more pictures than I had originally thought I did. I edited them (fixing the clarity and the brightness) to show what we had seen that day and then decided that I would upload them all (well all 40 of the edited ones). I added some pictures I took via snapchat. Also one thing I didn't touch on in this blog were all the Cairns we saw. These are very controversial as some people hate them and believe they hurt the area while others use them as land markers. Some use them as memorial mounds, some will say a prayer for each rock they add to the cairn and some see an incredible beauty in rocks being positioned in a way that end up created a monument. Madison and I each built one. If you happen to see any cairns while you are out exploring please do not knock them down. You don't know why someone took their time to build one.