Summer hasn’t quite made it here yet, a few warm days here and there, but a lot of cloudy skies and mid-60s temperatures. So when a reasonably sunny day showed up, off west I went. I found myself driving down Hwy 101, past Lake Crescent and on a whim, decided to take Hwy 110 to La Push and its three beaches, named appropriately enough, First Beach, Second Beach and Third Beach.
My mistake was going on a summer weekend! The parking lot at Third Beach was overflowing, so down the road I went to Second Beach. Same thing. Luck was with me at La Push and First Beach.
La Push is the largest community within the Quileute Indian Reservation, and apparently the name comes from the French “la bouche”, meaning “the mouth” of the Quillayute River. (Quillayute is the anglicized version of Quileute.)
With lunch time a couple hours behind me, I decided to stop for something to eat at the River’s Edge Restaurant before walking to the beach. River’s Edge, because it’s right where the Quillayute River meets the Pacific Ocean.
I figure the raven on the crab pots was a good sign!
My salmon burger was very good, the view was amazing right on the water, and the staff, though overworked, was friendly. Not too many places to eat in the area, so I really lucked out!
You get to eat lunch looking at this view. Though the windows were a little streaky, so I walked behind the restaurant to get this shot.
Walking behind the restaurant, this collapsing pier and the marina in the background caught my eye.
The Quileute Harbor Marina is the only port between Neah Bay (60 miles to the north) and West Port (140 miles to the south). And it’s a lovely little marina for boats under 50 feet in length.
An easy 3-minute walk takes you to First Beach. But that 500 or so feet has some amazing things to see!
Someone (or several someones) scrambled down to pile these stacking stones up. Or as I overheard someone call them, “stone Johnnies,” a rather neat nickname that I’m going to use from here on out.
First Beach is pretty easily accessible. Down a few steps made of stone and driftwood (no handrail), and an easy climb over/around a couple of logs of driftwood. If this middle-aged woman with bad knees can handle it, you can too! Though I did bring my cane for balance.
Loads of driftwood on the beach.
Despite it being a weekend, the beach was uncrowded, and finding myself a log to sit on, I did just that for nearly an hour, listening to the waves, watching the eagles and seagulls and semi-dozing in the sun, before deciding to stroll at least partway down the beach.
Per usual for the Pacific Northwest beaches, clouds and rain moved in, giving quite the ominous look to James Island (in Quileute, “Akalat” meaning Top of the Rock) as I headed back to the car.
As I’m heading home, this fishing boat is heading out. I noticed that several fishing charters call the Quileute Marina home.
Links of Interest:
- First Beach webcam
- History of the Quileute Nation – on the Quileute Nation website
