Follow the Tide Down

Went out Rialto Beach to the arch at the end of the beach, Hole-in-the-Wall. The information lady in the Quileute Visitor's Center on Highway 101 said that her family lives in La Push and goes clamming at Rialto; and that it is easy to walk the beach, and cross Ellen Creek, if you follow the tide down, and then come back as the tide is rising. She said her mother would have them start about an hour before low tide. It was dark and sometimes raining. Ellen Creek wasn't running at all across the long sandy stretch. Then you get to the rocks.

It was a 2' tide, barely low enough to get up on the rock platform, though the floor of the arch was above the waves.

The rain let up, so I stayed at that end of the beach and sat on a log for a long time. I'm not sure I've ever been on such a beautiful beach.

The Washington Coastal Atlas has a picture taken on a sunny day, at a much lower tide. Can't figure out how to make a direct link into the Atlas, so here is the pertinent part of image #0208131105_141.