Day 72: Neah Bay to Ocean Shores

Exiting the Dead Zone, Passing Through the Rain Forrest, and Landing in Tourist Central

M on the Beach in Neah Bay

Today we left our cabin on Neah Bay, along with the desolate beach and the cell phone dead zone and headed off to the Virginia Beach of Washington-- Ocean Shores.  This was not on our list of places to go, but it seemed like a good stopping point on the way to Astoria, Oregon (since our hotel there had no vacancies tonight).

The main picture today shows M ready to hit the road for the final week of the trip, and today will take her to an even more sensational beach, a rain forest, and then to a hotel on the tourist strip of Ocean Shores.

This video starts with leaving Neah Bay, provides a clip of driving by Ruby Beach, and then a clip of driving into the Quinault Rain Forest near Lake Quinault in Olympic National Park, and ends with hitting real rain along the way that put an end to further hiking.






If you know the area, you're probably wondering why we did not stop at the Hoh Rain Forrest in Olympic National Park as well.  That's because when we passed the turnoff it was raining quite heavily, and the detour would have been well over an hour.  So, we passed up Hoh in favor of Quinault-- which was less of a detour and a shorter hike in case we got poured on and needed to race back to the car.

The first real town we hit after leaving Neah Bay (and the first real cell signal we got), was in Forks Washington.  If you are or have a teenage child, you probably know this town as the setting for the Twilight movies-- as did the family in the Visitor Center with us.  If you are Bob and Lisa you completely ignore the life-size cutouts of Twilight Movie Stars in the Visitor Center and tell the woman manning the desk that you're really just interested in the hikes at Quinault.


Our first real stop of the day (Forks didn't count), was Ruby Beach.  The views were truly spectacular, and the amount of driftwood on the beach was impressive as well.  In order to get to the water's edge, you needed to pick your way through the large logs.

Bob's video from the top of the trail gives you a good idea of the proportions which you can see from the tourists moving in the background:



This shot of the driftwood from the beach provides a different perspective:

Driftwood on Ruby Beach

In addition to driftwood, Ruby Beach is also known for its large sea stacks, several of which you can see in the picture below:

Sea Stacks on Ruby Beach

The waves were thundering into the shore while we were there, as the tide was definitely coming in-- we found ourselves having to rush from our spot if a particularly large wave hit.

Bob was right at home on the beach:

Bob Holding Up Driftwood on Ruby Beach

Bob Sitting on Driftwood on Ruby Beach, as the Tide Comes In Around Him

Bob Touching Water on Ruby Beach
(You didn't think I'd forget this one, did you?  If you're still counting, Bob Touching Water #15)

After the Beach we headed for the Rain Forrest.  

Lisa Hiking in the Rain Forest

These were again rather short and very well marked paths, but you really did get into the forest among the old growth trees which felt a bit like another world.

Meadow in the Quinault Rain Forest

We met some interesting creatures as we walked:

Does this look like a duck to you too?

Part of the hike took us through an abandoned farm, but this truck was still standing guard (and smiling):

Abandoned Truck in the Quinault Rain Forest

The trees were indeed huge, as you can see clearly from this stump:

Lisa Dwarfed by Tree Stump in the Quinault Rain Forest

After we finished our hike, which we luckily did before the rain hit again, we headed back on the road toward Ocean Shores, and you guessed it the rain began to pour down within about 5 minutes.

Today was one of those days where the side trips were far better and more interesting than the destination.  Happily the tourist trap of Ocean Shores is merely a place to lay our heads tonight. There is not too much to say about it other than it is full of cheap hotels, souvenir shops (including one selling salt water taffy--need I say more), and mediocre restaurants. Tomorrow morning we head out for Astoria, OR.

Until then...

--Lisa