Bill and I took a short road trip, our first travel this year, to Salt Creek Recreation Area, where we camped for three nights with friends Leslie Boies and Rob Harris. Salt Creek is a premier marine life sanctuary, and offers a world class camping experience with views of the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, and British Columbia’s Vancouver Island. When I write ‘world class,’ I mean camping here fills my top drawers for scenery, flora and fauna, camping sites, clean bathrooms and ambience. We camped in site #36, next door to our friends.
On our first full day visiting the Olympic Peninsula we left camp and drove west along Hwy 112 to Neah Bay, located at the northwest corner of the state, and home to the Macah Tribe, indigenous people of 1500 full-time residents, and 3500 enrolled members. Shirley, who greeted us at the not-to-be-missed Makah Museum, suggested we visit Tsoo-Yess Beach, on the Pacific coast.
A Makah Recreation Pass is required when entering this tribal jurisdiction. View the Recreation Permit page for more info.
March’s mercurial weather was kind to us as we parked at the beach and the sun shone for a little while. Story poles depicting salmon, octopus, and other Makah icons greeted us at a wooden covered plaza. With the tide out, we investigated treasures left behind by the sea: mussel shells lined in mother-of-pearl long as my hand, perfect sand dollars, crab remnants, giant barnacles, and hundreds of velella velella–also known as ‘by-the-wind sailors,’ due to their mode of travel along the surface of the open ocean. Sometimes an unfavorable wind can strand them along the beach, where they perish. When in the water, velella velella are carnivorous, catching plankton with toxins located in their tentacles. They depend on the wind for locomotion.
We enjoyed this wild beach and its sense of place.
During the evening we went for a walk after dinner. Deer grazed in the campground from afternoon until dusk.
Another day we walked to nearby Crescent Beach through the woods from our campground. We were lucky to approach a sea stack at low tide.
All in all, a relaxing trip with good friends in some of Washington’s most beautiful settings.
