Forks, Washington

Rialto Beach

Rialto (some maps have it as Mora Beach) 17 miles from Forks, is part of the Olympic National Park Coastline section. We were there at noontime, and the sun was just trying to peak through the fog and clouds. Temperature about 55 degrees.

The beach is shallow and covered with smooth gray stones and enormous piles of bleached driftwood that most-likely floated in left-over from logging. There are signs warning that the beaches in some places disappear at high tide and that hikers must mind the water level and direction of the tides. Just north is a high headland that the signage indicates hikers must climb to avoid being swept away. We walked a little, but the stones make footage difficult and we didn't get very far. Doogie ran around in complete joy. Put that doodle on a beach and he's a happy boy.

 

Heading back to Forks, we stopped at a little luncheonette and I indulged in fried, fresh, local oysters. Don and Janet, in the trailer next to us, whom we met at the KOA campground in Sequim, bought a whole salmon, caught this morning, from a local who put out a "fresh fish" sign in his yard. He paid $3.00 a pound and is butchering it himself. I almost bought one yesterday, but they weigh almost 10 pounds, and I'm really intimidated at the thought of filleting it myself. Steve isn't crazy about salmon, gets turned off by the bones, and I'm afraid I would end up throwing half of it away. The only pliers we have with us are not approriate for pulling pin bones off a salmon fillet, and the small freezer in the trailer is not dependably cold enough.

We're heading south tomorrow. First stop, Westport, WA on the southern, western tip of Washington State. It'll be another three days in cold foggy weather, but we're enjoying the beaches and little towns. On the way we will visit the Hoh rain forest and Ruby beach. On Sunday we'll head southeast into Oregon to the Columbia Gorge. After that we'll head more due south and be slowly homeward bound.