EXPLORING the TIDEPOOLS of POINT of ARCHES

Can you guess what the above image is? You normally wouldn't see these creatures in this form. They are even less recognizable because we were at the tide pools on a cloudy day. Both of these images are very monochromatic for that reason. 

These are sea anemones. The name "anemone" even made the "Most Beautiful Words in the English Language" list. Normally you see anemones as beautiful flower-like creatures in an underwater setting. The above images show the anemones as they appear in their shrunk-down state when the water has receded from the tidepool.

Because of the cloudy skies, the full array of color is absent in the above tide pool image, but if you look carefully you can see that the anemones are turquoise in color. I hope we have sunny skies for our future treks to Point of Arches.

Have you seen my other blog, Bron Smith's Flights of Fantasy?

THE TIDEPOOLS of POINT of ARCHES

As part of our trek to Shi Shi Beach, we spent the day exploring the tide pools at Point of Arches. It's well worth the 2.3 mile hike to the south end of Shi Shi Beach, especially on a warm, sunny day. Star fish at Point of Arches come in a variety of decorator colors...a tribute to the endless variety of nature.

Mussels grow by the millions at Point of Arches. There were areas, like the photo above, that were a virtual carpet of mussels.

Have you seen my other blog,  Flights of Fantasy?

SHI SHI BEACH: TREK to POINT of ARCHES

It was a blustery day on the North Pacific Coast as we began the 2.3 mile trek down to Point of Arches. We were camped on the far north end of the long crescent-shaped beach. The glistening sand was so smooth, we seemed to be hiking on soft pavement. 

 At Point of Arches, we spent the rest of the day exploring tide-pools  Point of Arches is a wonderland of colorful tide-pools. Standing is Ross Hamilton, a renowned Northwest nature photographer.  My sister, Brenda Williamson, photographs a sea star in the tide pool. It was hard to say farewell to Shi Shi as we hiked back to civilization the next morning. 

Check back soon for more words and pictures of Shi Shi Beach.

Have you seen my other blog? It's called Bron Smith's Flights of Fantasy.

TROWBRIDGE TREK to SHI SHI BEACH

Every summer I look forward to treks into the Olympic Rain Forest wilderness where Mrs. Trowbridge once lived. My last trip was to Shi Shi Beach, on the Pacific Coast in Washington State, a stretch of coastline considered to be the most rugged and untamed on the West Coast.

The above view from atop the 150-foot high bluff overlooking the beach offers the first glimpse of this fantastical realm. There are more sea stacks here than anywhere on the West Coast





















As we hiked southward along the 2.3-mile long crescent shaped beach toward Point of Arches, I kept an eye out for a patch of forest just off the beach where I could begin sketching, and writing the words you are now reading. I found the perfect spot that you see above. It was almost as if a little patch of pristine forest had been prepared for me. I'm writing this in longhand while sitting on the log in the foreground. The grass in front of me looks almost like the domesticated grass in my back yard. The large-leaf plants growing from the grass are Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridus). The steep high bank begins abruptly, where you see the sword ferns (polystichum munitum) growing. The entire hillside above is an enormous sword fern garden.

There was a purpose for our trek to Shi Shi. I have suspected that Mrs. T and her family visited Shi Shi on their summer treks to the shore over 200 years ago. I have seen a number of her sketches that resemble the features of Shi Shi Beach so I wanted to see the beach for myself to confirm my belief that she was here many years ago.

Shi Shi Beach is not just another beach. One visit is all it takes to realize that this is a very special place. As part of the Olympic National Park, Shi Shi Beach is an Unesco World Heritage Site. The Travel Channel named it the "best nature beach". And it was declard one of the Top Five Wilderness Beaches in the World.

Next episode: Point of Arches at Shi Shi Beach

Have you seen my other blog? It's called Bron Smith's Flights of Fantasy

NEW TREND: TATTOOS ON BUTTERFLY WINGS!

This page from Mrs. Trowbridge's journal takes me back to those summer days in the high meadows of the Olympic Mountains, where Mrs. Trowbridge once lived. It brings back memories of a summer skinny-dip swim in Sundown Lake with our son, Brad. Or strolling through the high meadows among the lupine flowers swaying in the summer breeze, while rare endemic butterflies fluttered around us. This page makes me long for summer. It doesn't come to the high meadows until mid or late summer.

You may recall from a previous episode that Madam Lucy opened a tattoo parlor so that ladybugs could get their shells tattooed. Now she's tattooing butterfly wings...