It Suits the Gods: A Quiet Hike at Kalaloch Beach of Olympic National Park

Kalaloch Beach, view south

Date: July 18, 2021

Place: Kalaloch Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington

Coordinates: 47.651442, -124.387740

Length: 2 miles

Level: easy

Taking the time to catch up with past travels and hikes I am returning to the road trip I did with my chikas and their friend to Washington and Oregon back in the summer of 2021. On the first part of our trip we a long drive north along the Cascade Volcanoes, camping along the way. We visited four notable Cascade volcanoes and hiked near two of them: Mount Rainier and the notable Mount St. Helens. After a few consecutive nights of camping we were all yearning for a good shower, a real bed, a comfortable kitchen and a laundry facility. The next destination I wanted to go to was Olympic National park, a park I had visited with my family a few years earlier, and was thoroughly smitten by its beauty. As it turned out we could visit only a couple of places in that park and for a shorter time than I originally planned. The first of which was the famous Kalaloch Beach. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

Kalaloch Beach has several entry points. We arrived at the middle-south access point, parked, and looked around. Just above the beach we had a lovely view both south and north. 

Kalaloch Beach, view south

Although most of the coastline seemed neat, there were some rock clusters that protruded into the sea. I don't recall if we were there during low tide, but some of those rocks provided some nice tide pool wildlife viewing. 

Kalaloch Beach, view north

Closer, just south of the view point, was a small waterfall that cut through a large mass of conglomerate rock. 

To get down to the beach we needed to take a short trail that cut through a thick coastline vegetation comprised of wide, shading broadleaf trees and tall bushes. 

West Washington is known for its frequent rains. When we were at Olympic National Park we actually had a lovely, sunny day. The vegetation along the beach access trail was thick, green and lush, as expected in a place where water isn't limited. 

Ferns

Eager to get to the beach, we didn't linger in the vegetation to look for wildlife, but I did note the beautiful spider webs that glistened in the sunlight. 

There were a few wildflowers too that were blooming along the path, but most of them were of species I was all too familiar with already. 

Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

There were also some representatives of the angelica family. White-blooming and delicate, but also pretty common. 

Water Parsley, Oenanthe sarmentosa

As soon as we descended to the beach I went to check out the little waterfall from up close. It really was a tiny creeek that cut its way down through the rock layers. 

From where we landed at the beach we could walk either north or south. The north side of the beach seemed a bit more rocky and rugged. 

Kalaloch Beach, view north

Since we were already leaning to the south to look at the small waterfall we simply continued walking southward along the beach. 

Kalaloch Beach, view south

From the beach below I had a nice view of the trees we just walked between. In past time these trees would have been part of a continues forest, the forest that cover much of the Olympic Peninsula. Nowadays, there is a road that separates the line of trees from the rest of the Olympic. Thankfully, that road wasn't visible from the beach. 

The sand of Kalaloch Beach is black - an erosion of the dark basalt which makes much of the Olympic Mountains. The mountains aren't volcanoes, but rose up from volcanic rock that was layered down below sea level eons ago. 

On top of the black sand were many rounded, smooth pebbles. Most of the pebbles were of the same black or gray color, but some were of very different color, and were standing out to the eyes. The elder chika found a lovely heart-shaped pebble of red stone. It would have been a perfect image for Valentine's Day, except I didn't finish this post on time. 

We strolled south at a leisurely pace, looking for all kinds of beach treasures. After some distance, the rocks became smaller and the pebbles more scarce. 

Kalaloch Beach, view south

Big ravens flew by every now and then and the elder chika, always looking out for the birds, took plenty photographs of the ravens. 

Common Raven

Meanwhile the younger chika found some evidence of other beach life form. In this case - the remains of a deceased crab. 

The human population on the beach wasn't very dense, there were only a few other people walking on the sandy strip. THere were however, plenty of other evidence of human activity on the beach. 

Cairn

Sea gulls were lined up along the strand line to me they all looked the same but the elder chika was already taking photographs. 

One of these gulls turned out to be an Olympic Gull - a hybrid of the western and glaucus-winged gull species that meet in this area and interbreed.  

Olympic Gull

Besides the gulls there were also terns about. The terns weren't standing on the beach but flying back and forth over the water. 

Caspisn Tern

Gulls and terns are the usual inhabitants of the waterfront. There were other birds there - American crows. The crows were not right by the water though, but were pecking at something on the sand, well away from the waves.  

American Crows

When we got near the place where the crows were they took flight and revealed what they were pecking at - a rotting piece of human-processed driftwood with barnacles attached to one of its ends. That piece of wood may have been part of a dock that detached and drifted to the shore where the dying barnacles became crow-chaw. 

Goose Barnacles

We continued south on the beach to where the cliff on the east was meeting the water in the form of separating rocks and boulders, some of which still topped with vegetation. The water invaded the rocks, creating an small area of tide pools. Naturally, we went over to explore. 

Kalaloch Beach, view south

Barnacles is a common name for a group of beings that attach themselves to a stable substrate and live by filtering plankton from the water. Those beings aren't necessarily related biologically. Some are crustaceans, some are mollusks. 

Barnacles

We took off our shoes, rolled up the trousers and wandered on and between the sleek, shiny rocks. The gentle waves filled the cracks between them and drained back to the ocean in a peaceful, relaxing rhythm. 

Still submerged under water were sea anemones, fully open and receptive to what the waves bring to them. There were many small and dark anemones and also groups of giant green anemones. 

Giant Green Anemone

The anemones, barnacles and mussels were the most visible beings in the tide pools. On a closer look we could also see some starfishes glued to the rocks. All and all, the tide pool life we saw there was pretty similar to what we commonly see on the Californian beaches. 

Starfish and Giant Green Anemone

We spent a long and lovely time at that part of the beach. To continue more south would necessitate bypassing other rocky areas and perhaps getting trapped by the rising tide. We decided at that place to turn around and start heading back north. 

Kalaloch Beach, view south

We started slowly walking back north. Going close to the coastal cliff I had a chance to take a closer look at the rocks. It was interesting to see the dark patina that covered the ight part of the cliff. 

Of shore on the northwest was a long and flat island. A tall pinnacle poked the sky on the left tip of the island. 

Destruction Island 

I called the elder chika over to take a photograph of the island with the powerful zoom of her birding lens. The pinnacle turned out to be a lighthouse. 

Destruction Island 

I returned my attention to the cliff rocks. One of the big rocks that was separated from the main cliff had an interesting pattern of eroded holes which ad smooth pebbles nestled inside them. I very much suspect that these pebbles weren't placed there by nature. 

One of the things I remembered from my first visit at Kalaloch Beach 12 years ago was the numerous gray driftwood logs that were strewn on the black sand. This time there were much fewer of these logs, but we did see some. They reminded me of whale bones. 

The group of gulls seemed to have grown larger whike we were at the tide pools. Most of them stood idle by the water line but some were in the shallows, poking the mud for edibles. 

Kalaloch Beach, view north

We paused for a little bit by the gulls so that the elder chika could take some close up photos of the birds. 

Western Gull

There in that group of gulls were both western gulls and the glaucus-winged gulls, the parental species of the Olympic gull hybrids. 

Glaucus-winged Gull

Meanwhile I found a cluster of small eggs on the sand. These were likely sea snail eggs, and having been swept on the shore, were likely dead. 

Sea Snail Eggs

The beach seemed to have emptied of even the few people it had before. We had this gorgeous beach almost all to ourselves now. 

Kalaloch Beach, view north

The elder chika exclaimed ad pointed at the waves - a single seal was bobbing up and down in he water. He seemed to be checking us out. 

Harbor Seal

On the wet mud area that was routinely washed by the waves were the shiny, transparent remains of a jellyfish. We didn't sea any others. 

Jellyfish remains

There were other dead things swept onto the shore. A small deceased fish among them. I thought it was interesting that the gulls didn't find it. Not yet, anyway. 

Pacific Tomcod

Other than the birds, the only other wildlife we saw on the beach were a few flies and a pretty ladybug that settled on one of the gray pebbles. 

Ladybug

Wildlife however, don't necessarily make the most interesting sights. On that beach were also wood pebbles - pieces of wood smoothened and polished by the waves. One of these pebbles was holed, by what force, I don't know. Inside the holes the inner wood was bright orange. 

We reached the place where we have descended to the beach. I proposed going north for a little bit but the youth expressed their hunger and so we said goodby to the beach and started ascending the trail back to the parking lot. 

Kalaloch Beach, view north

I took that opportunity to check out once more the vegetation along that trail from the beach to the parking area. 

Angelica, Angelica sp.

Apparently there were a few wildflowers blooming there, that I have missed going down the trail earlier. 

Creeping Buttercup, Ranunculus repens

Although the vegetation was nice and pretty on its own right, my remaining impression of Kalaloch Beach is of the great dark beauty of that gem of a coastline, almost empty of human presence. 

Red-berried Elder, Sambucus racemosa

We drove out of there to look for a place to eat, and for another hike at the Quinault River after lunch.