The Ghosts of headlands and the bones of a rainforest

Ruby Beach, Olympic Peninsular, Washington.

 The Ocean comes as somewhat of a shock and Ruby Beach gave us our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. After the still blue waters of the Sound and the surrounding islands, the boiling white sea reminds one of its wild beauty and the destructive force that comes with it. The view could have been painted by JMW Turner and he would have been in his element.

 The bones of a rain forest

The ghosts of headlands

Wild sea and wind

I have heard of sea stacks referred to as the ghosts of former headlands and there were many at Ruby Beach. In addition to the sight of breakers crashing onto the rocks, the other unforgettable image was of countless logs washed onto the shore forming a impenetrable wall of discarded timber. These were once majestic trees and are now the bones of a past rain forest.

Happy girl!

Rocky

The road now hugs the coast and we drive through a constant fog of mist generated by the rough pounding sea. Still we see the snow-covered peaks of the distant Olympic Range. Rote 101 was built in 1931. Until then there were no roads into the Olympic Peninsular. The few inhabitants were First Nation tribes and some early settlers, farming some of the more arable and accessible land available. We tend to think of roads as means of getting from one place to another but in early 20^th century America, they were transformative agents which opened up the country by bringing people in, allowing natural resources to be taken out and impacting adversely on the indigenous peoples who had lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years.

The beautiful Lake Quinault

Lake Quinault is a beautiful lake situated in the Quinault Valley. It was formed by glacial action and a natural dam caused by the depositing of a terminal moraine at its western end. It is surrounded by part of the only sizable temperate rain forest in the Northern Hemisphere. The area was home to Native American peoples who lived in an area, which had abundant resources and a mild climate. Trees grow well here and as a result the area hosts some of the tallest trees in the world (of 6 native species).  We followed a trail, which took us deep into the forest, with giant tress towering above us. Rain forests are dynamic echo-systems and the forest floor is filled with the carcases of giant tress, which have fallen as a result of age, wind or flooding. The most damaging are the occasional hurricane strength storms that batter the area. The last great storm was in 2007, which left millions of great trees uprooted. The disappearance of a great tree in the canopy allows new trees to grow, while animals, insects and fungi ensure that the tree’s resources are returned to the perpetual cycle of nature. Just counting some of the rings on these fallen trees shows that many were well over 400 years old.

Towering giants

These are big trees!

Refreshed by our walk and some tea we moved on to Aberdeen. This is traditional logging country but it has seen a recent collapse in the industry, leaving the area poor with significant deprivation. One of the largest paper mills in the area closed in 2009. The area provides a stark contrast with the lush beauty of the Olympic National Park. Aberdeen was home to Nirvana lead Kurt Cobain who died in 1994 at the age of 27 (the same age of other rock legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse) Kurt Cobain was a spokesman for his generation and his premature death by suicide left countless fans bereft. He once said “The finest day I ever had was when tomorrow never came”

Kurt Cobain 1967-94

The last part of the journey through Washington and down into Oragon was one of the most beautiful and sublime car journeys that I undertaken for many years. The road hugs the sea as it winds down the coast. We motored past mud flats with large numbers of wading birds, set against a magnificent sunset, made even more unforgettable by a fuel gauge on zero and no sign of a fuel station!

Wading birds at sunset

 Farewell to Washington