Creature from the Tide Pools and the Attack of the Stinky Seaweed

October 16, 2011 Christine No comments

October 2 – 6, 2011

Cougars in the area! No, not the dating kind altho we did see a fantastically funny commercial while watching tv for a dating site in Canada for them.

A big ole cougar had been spotted at the park and so when B ventured out at 11 PM to check out low tide with his handy dandy 2 colored flashlight and saw glowing green eyes moving toward him, unhappy thoughts were racing through his brain. The glowing pair of eyes slunk down, and then came up higher, slowly stalking closer… his heart pounding, B backed his way up the steep steps and then ran for the safety of Horton.

C: What was it?

B: I don’t know – there were 2 glowing green eyes coming at me!

C: How big were the eyes?

C: Oooo was it the cougar? Maybe a raccoon?

B: I don’t know – there were 2 glowing green eyes coming at me!

We ventured out together both armed with flashlights. No eyes were seen – just a mess of seaweed uncovered from the tide.

A few days later while standing on the same rocks where the glowing green eyes were witnessed we saw an otter. It came up on the rocks near us. First slinking down low and then raising up to check us out. It wasn’t dark, but if it was I bet his eyes would be green

While at Salt Creek we did a bit of hiking, biking, watching the water for wildlife and tide pools. We also ventured into Olympic Peninsula National Park.

Our visit to the Hurricane Ridge was short as it was cold (37), windy, and socked in. We weren’t prepared for the cold weather as it was 65 where we were at and hadn’t stopped into the park yet to realize how high Hurricane Ridge was (~6000′)

Our visit to Lake Crescent and the falls there was ok nothing super special.

Our visit to Lake Ozette to hike the Ozette Triangle trail was… well read on….

Giant Kelp, Bull Kelp, Sea Lettuce, Surfgrass, Winged Kelp, Turkish Towel, Wakame, Sea Cauliflower, Split Kelp, Rockweed, Feather Boa

What may you ask is all that?

It was the rotting mass of seaweed at our feet covered in a bazillion, kagillion flies as we walked for 3 miles along the rocky shore during our hike at the Ozette Triangle. I won’t lie, that walk down the shore wasn’t easy. To avoid the thick masses of seaweed which covered up most of the little sandyish area that there was, we walked/hopped/skipped for a good amount of time on rocks big and small. Pluses to that is that we saw lots of critters in tide pools. We also saw a bald eagle and some seals which were lots of fun to watch. But would I walk along that shore again for 3 miles this time of year – NOPE! From speaking with a local who was also on the trail, turns out we hit it at just to right time of year to experience the seaweed. Oh lucky us. The trail is pretty awesome though – I especially liked the beginning part of the hike (Cape Alava) which was mostly boardwalk to get to the beach. IMO it was better than the one we took coming back (Sand Point); however, I think the shore near Sand Point was more interesting.

Our plan after our hike was to drive on up to Neah Bay to check it out and get us some smoked salmon, but by the time we finished up with the hike it was 4:30 and would take about an hour or so to get there. Would the joint be open? (side note: many of the roads up there are cuuuuuuuuurvy so if you are prone to car sickness load up on some dramamine and/or drive slow to avoid any unfortunate incidents) As we turned onto the highway we finally got a 3G signal and found their phone number.