Tongue Point Splash

Tongue Point on Olympic Peninsula

Tongue Point Splash © 2010 Bo Mackison

When we were traveling the Pacific Northwest, we walked out on Tongue Point just south of Point Crescent, Washington during low tide and checked out the tidal pools. We saw a bit of activity – a few purple and green anemones, some sea urchins. I was hoping to see a star fish or two, but that didn’t happen.

The shore at low tide was covered with mussels, sea kelp and seaweed, all slippery stuff. I wielded a hiking stick in one hand and my camera attached to a monopod in the other, and just barely managed to stay afoot. A few times we were splashed by incoming waves as the tide started rising — just added to the sense of adventure! At one point we were laughing so hard, I wondered if we’d get back up the cliff at the appointed time. Yep, we did.

I took only one lens, so my photographs of the tidal pools themselves are seriously lacking, but the scenery was still spectacular.

And it really was great fun. I’d go exploring at low tide if ever given the chance again. What amazing life barely under the sea!

Dungeness Spit

Dungeness Spit in Strait of Juan de Fuca in Puget Sound, Washington

View from Dungeness Spit © 2010 Bo Mackison

North of Olympic National Park and the city of Port Angeles, Washington is a National Wildlife Refuge called the Dungeness Spit. The refuge’s main attraction is a 5 1/2 mile long spit that stretches into the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Puget Sound. At high tide, portions of the spit are only 50 feet wide and are occasionally breached by the tides. The bay side of the spit is a calm harbor, and provides safety for baby seals and other sea creatures.

In the background are a few of the peaks in Olympic National Park. Some have glaciers, some mountains still have snow as it is still early in their “summer season.”

The spit is a wild place to walk, first a half mile walk through old growth forest hanging with mosses and filled with ferns, then a scramble down a cliff, and finally out on the spit for more scrambling over rocks and huge driftwood logs. What a majestic bit of wilderness!