“Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.”
— Matthew Arnold, from “Dover Beach”
“The seashore is a most advantageous point from which to comprehend the world. The waves forever rolling to the land are so far traveled coming home and leaving again.”
— Henry David Thoreau
The next morning, we stopped at two more beaches before completing our road trip to Olympic National Park: Ruby Beach and Kalaloch Beach. Ruby Beach was less wild than Rialto Beach, and Kalaloch Beach seemed tamer still. I loved seeing how different the beach landscapes were from one another.
“To me the sea is a continual miracle: The fishes that swim — the rocks — the motion of the waves — the ships, with men in them. What stranger miracles are there?”
— Walt Whitman
The tidepools around the barnacle-covered rocks teemed with anemones and star fish. The waves carved artistic patterns in the pebble-strewn sand. So much to see and explore!
Filed in Seattle Travel
Tags: anemones, barefeet, beaches, driftwood, Kalalock Beach, Olympic National Park, road trips, Ruby Beach, sea stacks, sea stars, star fish, tidepools, walking on the beach