Big Tree

A little south of Ruby Beach, on the other side of the 101 highway, the Big Tree, a western red cedar originally about 175 feet (53 meters) tall, is one of the most impressive trees in the Pacific Northwest.  Believed to be about 1,000 years old, it partially collapsed in a storm in 2014.  The National Park Service uses the sight of the tree to provide a lesson in the cycle of life.  As the tree dies and decomposes, it will become a massive nurse log for the new generation of giant trees, hopefully hosting other 1,000-year-old trees.

The cedar is just 110 feet (33 meters) from the trailhead.  The trail circles the tree and continues into the lush coastal forest to other impressive, slightly younger, cedars.

Trail to the Big Tree

Arriving at the Big Tree

Half fallen

We circle the tree and continue deeper into the forest to view more standing and fallen cedar trees.  It's not easy to take a picture of such tall trees when we're in the dense forest at the base of the tree looking straight up the trunk!

Continuing down the trail

Viewing more big trees

We circle around the end of the trail and return to The Big Tree, getting another perspective as we approach it from the other direction.

Back at the Big Tree

It's been an interesting walk through the forest to view the impressive trees and consider the cycle of life for these plants that can live for more than 1,000 years.

Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park

Ruby Beach is the northernmost beach in the Kalaloch area of the Olympic National Park, about 10 minutes north of the Kalaloch Lodge.  The beach is famous for its reddish rocky sand and rock islands known as sea stacks.  Driftwood lines the shore of the beach (and all the beaches), providing the lumber from which the lodge was built.  Signs warn us of flying logs in stormy weather that can move quickly in the water and hurtle onto the beach (and into people who might be out enjoying the storm).

Path to the beach

On the beach

Ruby Beach is part of the Graveyad of the Pacific, home to hundreds of shipwrecks on the reefs, shoals, and sea stacks.  On a peaceful day, the area provides wondrous scenery, but these all become  treacherous obstacles in the powerful Pacific storms.

Sea stacks range in size from very small islands to shear columns of rock, all of which are remnants of headlands sheared from the mainland and shaped by the erosive force of the sea.  Some lie close to the shore and often stand dry on the beach at low tide.  Others rest offshore by as much as 3 miles (5 km).

Sea stacks

Much of the beach is covered by driftwood logs which are mostly giant conifers from the rainforest that are picked clean by the sea.  They travel on the mountain streams when glacial melt causes the water in the streams to rise as much as six feet (1.8 meters), undermining the banks, toppling trees into the water, and washing them down to the river mouth and the beach.  Other trees fall onto the beach from eroding headlands and some are strays drifting in from tug-pulled log rafts. 

Along the beach

Driftwood hut

Driftwood covered section of beach

Ruby Beach is a great morning walk and rumored to be a great spot to watch the sunset over the Pacific (we don't do that this trip, maybe next time).

Kalaloch Lodge in Olympic National Park

We stay at the Kalaloch Lodge in Olympic National Park, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The lodge is adjacent to eight beautiful beaches (which we'll explore) and a short trip away from the mountain and rainforest trails.  We arrive and walk out to the beach at the lodge.

The lodge rests on a fifty-foot (15 meter) bluff overlooking the ocean, just north of the Quinault Nation reservation.  This spot was one of the few safe spots for landing dugout canoos between the Quinault and Hoh Rivers ("Kalaloch" loosely translating as "good place to land").

In 1925, Charles W.  Becker, Sr. purchased a 40-acre plat from the government and built the lodge and cabins using milled wood from driftwood logs washed up on the beach.  In the late 1930s, President Roosevelt designated about 1 million acres (1,560 sq. miles, 4,045 sq. km) as the Olympic National Park and in 1978, the National Park Service purchased Becker's property and opened the Kalaloch Lodge.  In 1981, the Olymipc National Park became a World Heritage Site.

The beach at the lodge

The bluff

The lodge

View out our cabin window

As the sun sets, we (and almost everyone else at the lodge) wander over to the bluff to watch the colors change over the Pacific.

Sunset begins

We dine in the Creekside Reseaurant in the lodge (the next closest restaurant is about 20 miles (32 km) away), which turns out to have fabulous locally-sourced meals.  We have fish and chips, made with locally-caught cod.

Dinner

The sun continues to set over the Pacific as we dine on our fish and chips and glasses of local white wine.

Sunset continues

We wind up our day, planning and preparing for some serious beach exploration tomorrow.