Looking for Werewolf's on The Pacific Coast

Early this March, I traveled to the Emerald City to explore what is known as the Evergreen State. Washington state truly is such a beautiful place to explore. It has captured my heart for the gorgeous scenery, like in the picture above. No amount of pictures or videos will ever do it justice. It is a place that you will have to trek to to fully experience the breath taking terrain. After booking the plane tickets to Seattle, I soon realized that March is one of the rainiest months for Washington. I was not disheartened by the planned trip until I saw the upcoming weather report for the week I would be visiting. Of course there would be rain, but it was also going to be very cold and snowy. Coming from the south, I am not very experienced with driving in snowy conditions... let alone putting on tire chains, which were required in Mount Rainer and Northern Cascades National Park. My caravan and I had originally planned to visit these parks and we were slightly disappointed by the wintery conditions. Alas, we were still eager to visit, and we all went into the trip with a positive and adventurous attitude. Sharing this attitude made a world of difference. We were going to visit Washington State for what it truly was. As our friends on spring break began packing bikinis and shorts, my group and I were packing fleece and toboggans.

After exploring downtown Seattle, my group headed towards the Western coast. It was on all of our bucket lists to camp on the pacific coast, and we were not going to let a little rain stop us. We got so lucky! It rained every single day we were in Washington, except for the day we camped. As we drove out to La Push Beach, the sun was shining and the windows were down. It was perfect! As we got closer to our campground, we passed a sign that said "No Vampires Beyond This Point". For those of you who are not die hard Twilight Fans, Washington State is where the story takes place. La Push beach, is where the werewolves (like Jacob) lived. Come'on we all know the story of Twilight!! Regardless, we couldn't pass up the photo opportunity and we stopped for a quick picture. There was also a small restaurant/store that we were able to go in and pick up some marshmallows and chocolate. Obviously luck was on our side, because we snagged the last bag of Marshmallows! Score one for us! The store attendants were also super friendly and offered us plenty of advice and let us play with their beautiful golden retriever, Bailey! After stocking up on sugar and dog hugs, we continued down the road for another 30 minutes to reach our campsite.

There are 3 different places to camp on La Push beach and they all have very creative names. There is first beach, second beach, and third beach... *cough sarcasm. After seeing how beautiful the beaches were though, they could get away with names like that. If you are looking for a beautiful place to camp or even just go walking, try second beach. There are many rock formations and even a fun trek over about 40 feet of drift wood logs. Which sounds like fun and games until you are trying to balance on a log while carrying sleeping bags, a bear canister, day packs, and a 35 pound tent... *Phew! To camp on this beach, you will need to obtain a Wilderness Permit from the Wilderness Information Center in Port Angeles. I will put a link at the bottom of this page for more information on how to camp on the beach.

The night we camped on second beach was one of my favorite nights in Washington. To get there from the parking lot, you will have to make a 0.7 mile hike. It is relatively easy, but it can be difficult if you are carrying a lot of camping gear. After the short walk, we found a perfect camping spot away from the high tides of the ocean water next to a small stream and giant tree. Of course after reviewing all of these pictures of dead trees on the beach, maybe camping next to one wasn't the best idea! Thankfully the gentle giant never squished us and we carried on exploring the beach and attempting to start a fire with damp grass and news paper. Some how we accomplished the impossible and had some what of a fire going. It was enough to keep us all warm as darkness enveloped the sky. We scorched our marshmallows and ate copious amounts of peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate. At one point, we even attempted to roast a peanut butter sandwich... it does't work in case you were wondering. The idea though... pure gold. As the night carried on and we snuggled into our sleeping bags, all I could think about was how lucky I was to be there. It was so quiet in the tent, as everyone started drifting to sleep. I stayed up for a while due to excitement and listened to the ocean waves crash around me. I grew up with one of those noise makers that plays ocean sounds to help make falling asleep easier, but I always hated the thing. But that night was completely different. The waves surrounded me and I felt completely at peace. Unfortunately for me, this new found sense of peace did not translate well into sleep. I stayed up for what felt like hours trying to get comfortable and stay warm with the falling temperatures. I curled deep down into my sleeping bag with only a small hole to breath at the top. Everyone in the tent slept closely trying to stay warm. I constantly felt like I was waking everyone up with how much I was tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. Giving in, I broke out my head lamp and began reading The Shack by William Young. Bad choice Kelly. This book is partly about a young girl who got murdered while camping with her family in a state park. Not my best decision, but instead of inducing a panic attack some how the book mezmorized me into a light sleep. I think that I slept for a total of 2 hours that night, but as the pacific waves crashed around me I could have cared less.

The next morning, I "woke-up" (I quoted that, because I am pretty sure I was still awake) to cold toes and my friends feeling the same way. Come to find out, no one could sleep that night. We all laughed at each other as we talked about our shared experience. It was a night of tossing and turning, but I promise you, it is the experiences like this that make for the best stories later. It is days and nights like that one that I will never forget. As for the beach, there are many incredible rock formations and tide pools to explore. We saw many starfish and little clam things, which scared the "jeebers" out of me at one point. There were hundreds of them and as I leaned down to look at them, they started making high pitched little noises!

The fancy rock formation that I named "Turkey Rock". After exploring the coast for a little longer, it started pouring down with high winds. We rushed to take down all the camping gear and compile everything back into our packs. We began to make our way back across the driftwood jungle and back through the .7 mile hike. The logs were very slippery and trying to carry the camping gear over them was quite a challenge. We finally made it back to the parking lot soaking wet and cold. We turned up the heat in the car and headed off to Forks, Washington. Here we stopped a local diner and ate a well deserved breakfast, which was probably well over 1000 calories, but we didn't care one bit!

I will be posting more soon about the rest of the adventures in Washington State. Be on the look out. Life is to be experienced, journey wisely. Kelly Fitzgerald Link to more information about camping- https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/second-beach-trail.htm