Moving down the west coast of Olympic NP, we found ourselves at a series of beaches. We hiked around Rialto Beach, La Push, then aptly named First, Second, and Third Beach.
Day 3 | Olympic National Park
It was overcast again, and the weather was cool with occasional showers. The hiking terrain was diverse, from beaten earthen paths, to sand, rocks, and driftwood. One trail was overtaken by pieces of wood which had washed ashore, creating a hazardous boardwalk of sorts.
Once we arrived at the parking lot for Rialto Beach, we realized that there must be a massive swarm of people on the beach. We climbed up the trail anyways, and sure enough, it was crowded with other visitors. We walked a little ways down the beach, away from the people, but we decided to leave in favor of other, hopefully less-crowded beaches.
All the beaches had a plethora of driftwood. Most of it was bleached white, although there were logs that had clearly washed ashore more recently than others. First Beach at La Push had an enormous wall of massive driftwood logs. Tom and I enjoyed climbing over and around them, the perfect adult jungle gym.
On the other side of the beach, along the Quillayute River, the slight trail was almost completely covered in slippery vibrant green tuft algae. We moved very slowly along this quasi-trail, careful not to slip to our slimy doom.
We watched the fog curl over the rocks and slide across the water on the far side of the river, before making our way back to Ogre. We were just in time to stay dry!
