NORTHWEST COAST Pt.4

Okay all you "Twi-hards"...I now arrive at FORKS, WA! While I am not a fan of the vampire/werewolf "TWILIGHT" book/movie series...my daughters are.  I didn't take very many photos of the small logging town, as most of my time was spent on the rocky coastline nearby.  I do have a few pics, though.  I love the sign below on the right...it's loaded with unintentional irony. (A town full of vampires...of COURSE you would need to have a blood drive!)

This is a favorite photo-op location at the Chamber of Commerce building.  Below are "Bella's Trucks".  (Well...a facsimile thereof.)

Before I headed out for my first morning of exploring, I had breakfast at the cafe across from my motel.  There was this really cool hand-made wooden toy created by prisoners at a near-by facility, with programs to help them re-enter society.

Also at the Chamber of Commerce building were these wonderful rusted-out pieces of logging equipment.  (Might have to do some sketching from these photos later!)

Now I'll show you more photos of nearby RIALTO BEACH.  (I did a gnarly tree sketch there...see Pt. 1 of this blog series.)  I was excited to try out my brand new sandals that I bought for beach walking.  It did not take long before I discovered an unfortunate detail about the terrain.  The holes in the sandals were the PERFECT size for letting in the small rocks that covered the beach.  Very frustrating!!!  So after I finished sketching, I went back to the car and put on my tennis shoes.

I was amazed by all the giant trees that cover the beach...they reminded me of the prehistoric bones of dinosaurs...or maybe even DRAGONS!

So many of the trees were bare and twisted...nothing like I see back in Kansas!

ELLEN CREEK empties out onto the beach...the gray foggy mist gives this "tree graveyard" an eerie feeling.  The perfect stillness of the creek contrasted with the crashing waves on the other side of the rocks.

I like this little "triad" of roots below...so many interesting shapes and textures.

If you stand on top of one of the fallen giants near the shore's edge, and look towards the surrounding forest, you can see that life abounds.

I decided to take the mile-and-a-half walk down the beach to visit "Hole In The Wall" rock.  Along the way, you begin to see several gigantic rocks ("needles") towering in the hazy distance.

Almost there!  You can just begin to see "The Hole" ahead...on the left side of the large mound in the center of this photo.

I managed to arrive just before the tide got too high for me to climb out to the natural tunnel in the rock.  The high tides also create danger for a walk along the beach, as those mighty trees can be shifted around by the water.  The bottom photo is the view from the other side of the tunnel.

The pic below left shows the view just as you come through the hole.  There is a trail near the tallest tree in the distance, that goes up and over the rocky ridge...for those who aren't paying attention to high tide and get stuck!  I wanted to see the view from up there, so I climbed through the dense underbrush, grabbing vines to pull myself up...ridiculous, but fun.  The pic on the right shows the view from the top of the ridge...and the 1.5 mile trek back!

Here's a composite of several photos of the cove...you can see the hole at the bottom of the rock-ridge.

All tuckered-out...but happy!

Next chapter...SECOND BEACH!