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Scenes from the Coast

We had a week away from home and got to spend a few days on the Washington coast at Grayland. Digging razor clams was our goal but the weather interfered with that. The locals warned us that high winds and heavy surf cause the clams to not ‘show’ and they were right. The first night of digging Ken and I got our limits but it wasn’t easy. The next two nights we did not get anymore than a small clam appetizer. It was pretty silly. At one point the wind was blowing about 40 mph and the rain was coming down sideways, in sheets. The beach had a steady stream of water running down to ocean. It was one of the dumber things we’ve ever done. I asked the owner of the place where we were staying, how often does it blow like this and he said it had been at least a couple of years. The next day it blew even harder! Clam digs were at night because that’s when the low tides occurred. Hopefully we can return in the spring when low tides are during the day! We did manage to get out and enjoy the beach a little bit even with the wind and rain and one afternoon the sun came out. I drove down to Tokeland to buy some crab and got to watch the waves from a better vantage point. A day or two after we left, some homes between Grayland and Tokeland fell into the water as a result of the high surf. The place is called Washaway Beach.

The ocean has encroached into the dunes. One place I used to visit, years ago, is impossible to get to now.

Lots of foam with all the wind and waves

Crashing waves near Tokeland

A crab boat

Small scale wind power

Salmon jaw?

Sea foam looks like a beautiful quilt

Dogs on the Beach

March 6, 2014 – 1:59 pm
Posted in dogs
Tagged beach, dogs, labradoodle, labrador puppy
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How much fun can dogs have on the beach?

One of many treasures that Sky found

She tried to get the lid off of this peanut butter jar

Playing with Frida

It’s possible she had too much fun. She was incredibly tired but really never wanted to quit.

Sky was so tired she fell asleep on top of Luna

Running out to see Ken

Can’t we just keep doing this?

Razor Clams

April 9, 2013 – 7:27 am
Posted in Razor clams
Tagged beach, photography, razor clams, Washington coast
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A lucky thing happened last month. There was a razor clam season during our vacation! Razor clams on the Washington Coast are carefully managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. If you want to know how they manage the seasons – read this. As far as I know razor clams are limited to the Pacific Northwest up through Alaska. They are considered a delicacy – a delicious clam for frying, baking at high heat and chowder. Unlike a traditional clam, they are rectangular – long and kind of flat looking. They are also strong diggers so when you are digging for razor clams you are also chasing them as they dig down into the watery sand. It’s quite fun! The seasons are limited to the lowest tides of the month and often times those tides are at night. The only other time we got to dig for them was in December a few years ago, after dark and the temperature hovered near freezing. It was quite the adventure but we were able to get our limits (fifteen per person per day) and our taste for them was whetted.

Razor clam digging seems to be tradition passed down from generation to generation. We noted many families with grandparents, parents and kids all digging and having fun. Dogs too!

The view from our room as the dig got started before the tide was all the way out

Heading to their spot on the beach

It can be a dirty job and proper clothing is important. Some people like this fellow, use shovels.

Even with hundreds of people on the beach, it doesn’t seem crowded and there were lots of clams for everyone

Dogs like it

This dog looks like he wants to help

This young man was clamming for the first time

He was happy to show me his biggest clam

Some people work alone

A couple of clam guns. To use this device, you look for a clam show – a small dimple in the wet sand – and then carefully angling towards the ocean you center the cylinder around the ‘show’ and then push it into the sand. There is a tiny hole that you cover with your finger as you pull the gun, now loaded with wet heavy sand, out and with any luck, the clam will be in that sand. Or not. You may have to repeat. Or you may have to reach down in the hole and grab the clam as it tries to dig away from you.

Classic digging style

The tide will come in and all traces of the digging will disappear.

They are using the team approach

This dog was wet and dirty

Family fun

Another group heads out

Now that we have our limit, what do we do?

Cleaning clams is the hard part

The clam and fish cleaning shack

Fun Times on the Beach

April 8, 2013 – 9:10 am
Posted in beach
Tagged beach, dogs, kites, photos, sand shrimp, sunset, surf perch, Washington coast
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How much fun can you have at the beach? Since we rarely get to go, we managed to have LOTS of fun and even more fun when our friends and their dog joined us from Olympia!

Here’s Ken outfitted to catch sand shrimp

There’s one!

Up close with a sand shrimp

Gulls are always close by, hoping something good to eat will be left behind

Betty and Gregg join Ken in his quest for sand shrimp. The tire tracks are from people digging razor clams earlier in the day.

Dixie wants to be part of it

Sand shrimp are used for bait to fish for surf perch. Dixie is making sure Ken is doing it right

Fishing

An intrepid angler!

Crows also wait on the beach

Dixie is looking for one of her peeps

Dune grass

These volcano-like depressions are from sand shrimp

Sand dollar

Razor clam shell

One of many creeks

Another great day at the beach

Lots of kites

This one was attached to a log and flew by itself all afternoon

We had fun with this kite

At sunset, it’s time to put it away

Gregg painted

Betty danced

Good times with good friends

The end of another beautiful day!

Road Trip

April 4, 2013 – 2:55 pm
Posted in road trip
Tagged beach, Crescent Lake, Elwha Dam, Marymere Falls, photography, Port Angeles, shells, sunset, surf perch, Washington coast, wildflowers
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Ken and I enjoy road trips. We tend to travel with lots of stuff and this trip we took the truck so we could get all that stuff packed. What kind of stuff? Photo gear. Fishing gear. Clamming gear. Birding gear. Guitar. Books. Various clothes for various activities in a variety of weather conditions. Food – lots of food along with beer and wine. It was a good tour of a big part of the state starting here in the Methow where winter was loosening its grip, across the Cascades where 40″ of snow had fallen in the previous week, to the urban world north of Seattle where we were surprised to see new snow on the ground, and then across Puget Sound where it was sunny and dare I say it, warm. We reached Port Angeles that first night.

Sunset from our hotel in Port Angeles

From PA we drove up the Elwha River to the overlook of one of the now-removed Elwha Dams.

This sign graphic shows how it looked before, during and after the dam removal. Salmon have already returned to this river above the former dam site.

Part of Lake Crescent is in the Olympic National Park. It is cold and deep.

Old Storm King Ranger Station at Lake Crescent

Marymere Falls – a short popular hike from Lake Crescent

We saw these pretty blossoms in several places. I think they are a berry – maybe salmonberry?

The Dickey River – slow moving and flat and more reminiscent of Florida than Washington

We saw a river otter

This algae covered shoe had mussels growing inside of it. I wonder how long it was in the water and where it came from. Japan? It was on Rialto Beach.