A Goodbye Hike: The Beach of Twin Harbors State Park

 

Date: July 19, 2021

Place: Twin Harbors State Park, Washington

Coordinates: 46.858240, -124.112532

Length: 1.3 miles 

Level: easy

 

On my 2021 road trip with the chikas and their friend we spent three days in Westport, Washington. My intention was to visit Olympic National park on all those three days but we had certain unplanned difficulties because of which we visited the park on only one of those days. We ended up only one corner of this magnificent park and hiked two locations - the Kalaloch Beach and the Quinault River.

On our checkout date we decided to explore one of the local coastal parks before embarking on our long drive south along the pacific Coast, so I chose the Twin Harbors State Park. Right at the parking area we were greeted by a shiny black American crow. 

American Crow

Terns were flying up above us, indicating the proximity of the ocean. We couldn't see the water yet, though. 

Forster's Tern

We had a long day of driving ahead of us, and I also planned to visit the Fort Clatsop National Historic Park (Where the Lewis and Clark expedition spent the winter of their legendary trip), so we only hiked a shrot loop to the beach and back.  

Our hike as captured by my GPS

The first part of the trail took us through a wooded area I haven't seen much bloom there so we walked through the trees fairly quickly. 

Trail

We did find birds in the woods, so we did pause to look at them and give the elder chika the chance to take their photos. 

Downy Woodpecker

Among the birds we saw there were the colorful cedar waxwings - birds that we were seeing consistently on this trip. These birds are fruit lovers. They can descend in flocks on an orchard and consume it within a relatively short time. I do love seeing them, they look like little joyful bandits. 

Cedar Waxwing

When we got out of the woods and into the open I was starting to see some wildflowers too. Most of these wildflowers were of the aster family, and there were many of them around. 

Dune Tansy, Tanacetum bipinnatum

Outside of the trees we had a nice view of the ocean, An open grass-covered plateau stretched from the woods to the water, and a thin trail was leading directly to the beach. 

Trail

Or so it seemed to us when we started on that trail. It did a few twists and turns before actually going down to the water line. 

Trail

Between the grasses I spotted more aster-family wildflowers. The pearly everlasting is a very common species, one I often see in California as well. 

Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea

Eventually we reached the beach. The long strand of sand stretched to the edge of our sight both north and south. The beach was long, but was almost empty of people. Eager, we made it down to the sand and started scouting. 

Gentle waves lapped steadily at the shore, their white tops forming little terrace-like levels that looked almost uniform in their ever-changing shapes.

Pacific Ocean

There were shorebirds running along the strandline. The first group of birds I was able to identify by myself without having to ask my birder chika - they were semipalmated plovers. 

Semipalmated Plover

The next group of birds I did not have the knowledge to identify. These were the western sandpipers, that to me looked like pretty much any generic shorebird. They looked very cute though. 

Equipped with long legs and long bills these shorebirds are experts in digging out little crustaceans and worms in the mud as soon as the wave recedes. When the wave returns they run back onto the shore, only to return to the ocean again in the wake of the receding wave. This way they make their cute dance with the waves, a dance that keeps them well fed. 

Western Sandpiper

We walked north along the beach, looking for birds and whatnots, and enjoying our peaceful time together. 

Pacific Ocean

Going up from the shore and back to the parking area, the trail was on a raised boardwalk. The area, I assumed, was prone to flooding. Either that, or there was some sensitive vegetation and wildlife below our feet. 

I saw some thick thistles in the vegetation near the boardwalk. Theis thistle, also a member of the aster family, is a non-native species. 

Creeping Thistle, Cirsium arvense

Delving deeper into the vegetation, the boardwalk now cut through tall bishes and trees that closed their canopies overhead, creating a green tunnel.  

There was a different vegetation there, including many thimbleberry plants, some even bearing ripe fruit. Needless to say, we helped ourselves to the ripe, delicious berries. 

Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorous 

We crossed a small lagoon (or a wide area of a creek). The water was very calm and mirrored the clouds and the sky. We saw no birds there, but there was an old interpretive sign about the basics of birding. 

I was surprised to find an apple tree among the trees in the area. I guess Johnny Appleseed or one of his relatives have paid a visit to Westport some time ago. 

Apple Tree

We continued on the path to the parking lot through an open area of grass and bushes. I found there another familiar old world plant - the purple foxglove. 

Purple Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, non-native

This was a fairly short hike but we did take the time to walk it. Mainly it was our time on the shore that clicked the minutes away. 

We stayed in the park for a lunch picnic, then got into the car and started our long trip back south. That little hike in Westport was the last time either of us was in Washington State. I had planned to take my sister there in the fall of 2023 but a forecast of continuous rain had us change our plans and go to Yellowstone instead. Not that I regret going to Yellowstone, but I do feel overdue for another visit at the beautiful state of Washington.