Kalaloch Beach 1 and Beach 2

South of the Kalaloch Lodge, Beaches 1 and 2 offer scenic views, rocky/sandy beaches, and lots of driftwood.  Beach 1 has an easy, but beautiful, hike down with large spruce burls along the way. Beach 2, meanwhile, is the place to go for a beach currently covered with driftwood.  We start at Beach 2 (the first stop heading south).

The walk through the forest is serene, then we descend on a short path to the beach.

Over to the beach

Reaching the water

Along the beach

We return to the highway and, a little further down the road, head through the forest to the path down to Beach 1, passing more signs to beware of drifting logs and riptides.

Heading to Beach 1

Descending to the beach

The beach is almost completely covered by driftwood and we have to climb over driftwood piles to get to the small strip of sand along the water.  Now we're beginning to understand how there was enough wood available on the beaches to build the lodge.

Climb over to get to the beach

Along the beach

 

Climb back over to get to the path

Leaving the beach, heading up

Wallking on the path back to the higway, we spot may burls on the Sikta Spruce trees.  These bumps or growths can appear on the trunk or root systems and are caused by bacteria, fungi, insects, enfironmentsl stress, or genetic predisposition.  This trail from the highway to Beach 1 is named the Burl Trail for its high concentration of these growths.

Along the Burl Trail

We get a few last glimpses of the Beach 1 and the Pacific Ocean from above before we return through the forest to the highway and back to the Kalaloch Lodge.

Beach 1 from bluff above

It's been a fun deay exploriong beaches and climbing over driftwood and its now time to explore the area around the lodge.