Olympic Peninsula, July 2021: Kalaloch Beaches

For our trip around the Olympic Peninsula, we rented a converted Mercedes Metris from Peace Vans in Seattle and camped in a different spot every night.  One of those nights was spent in some beautiful woods right off the coast just south of the Kalaloch Beaches. 

The beach itself was just a short walk, littered with striking (and large) pieces of driftwood.

I liked this driftwood so much I shot it with both my zoom and wide-angle lenses.  I think the zoom shot is a little sharper, but the inclusion of the water in this wide-angle image tells a better story.  It's OK to like them both, right?

Driftwood is beautiful in and of itself, but visitors had taken it upon themselves to subtly dress some pieces up a bit more.

This adornment was pretty elaborate, and seemed to have an equally intriguing tale to go with it.

My favorite wildflower could be found alongside the trail to the beach -- foxgloves!

The next morning we drove in a light rain to visit the Tree of Life, a grand Sitka spruce sitting almost in midair with all of its roots exposed and hanging below.  There's speculation that it might not be around much longer before gravity finally wins, and I'll confess that it certainly looked precarious!

Even the stairs to the Tree of Life looked cool.

One final stop at Kalaloch Beach 4, where I found a nice overlook but didn't make the walk down to the actual shore.  Thick clouds along the coast were starting to become the norm, so we decided to head inland in search of sunnier skies.

More From Olympic Peninsula:

• Dungeness and Sequim
• Salt Creek Campground
• Tongue Point
• Lake Crescent
• Hoh Rainforest
• Rialto Beach
• Northwest Corner
• Bogachiel State Park
• Hurricane Ridge
• Camp Forever Young