Join Thor and me as we gather beach pebbles from nearby Pacific Northwest beaches and enjoy the lively sea creatures.
…of cabbages and kings — No, wait, wrong story. This one takes Thor, Bear dog, and me to a favorite nearby hike, from Rosario Beach, along Bowman Bay (top photo), and to Deception Pass. We were trying to escape the horrible lingering wildfire smoke blanketing our county. Driving about 45 minutes south, we found mostly blue skies and some fabulous beach pebbles to fuel Thor’s new obsession of rock polishing. We started at Rosario Beach, under the watchful eyes of the Ko-kwal-alwoot totem honoring the native woman who sacrificed herself to insure her people would not go hungry. Salmon are sacred and essential here.
The hike is sometimes a scramble around the steep, rocky headlands of the coast, but flattens along the curve of the Bowman Bay beach, where Thor went wild collecting pebbles for his new “obsession.” With our day packs a bit heavier, we proceeded to climb another steep headland due to high tide, down, and then up again to a headland overlooking Deception Pass. Here early European navigators hoped to find the fabled Northwest Passage, but were fooled.
In a narrow, shallow inlet, we were delighted to watch a leopard seal swimming circles around the boulders, seemingly showing off for us.
There is rich foraging among the bull kelp along these shores. It made our day when we spotted two porpoises — what appeared to be a mother and smaller youngster side by side — swimming just offshore. They came quite close, diving and surfacing repeatedly in beautiful synchronized curves of glistening grace. What a world we are blessed with! (Sorry, couldn’t get a photo of the porpoises.)
Returning along “madrona alley” where our region’s distinctive trees brave the sea winds, we listened to eagles crying and ravens chortling overhead.
Time to hang out at Rosario Beach for more pebble hunting.
Since we’ve had an unseasonably dry and hot fall (continuing our four-month drought), I took the opportunity for one last (very brief) dip in the Brisk, clear sea. When you emerge from these skin-tingling waters, you know you are alive!
But on to pebble obsession: Here are just a few of the varied stones we gathered, doused to show their potential.
They are now in one of Thor’s new rock tumblers that are teaching him patience through four weeks of changing grits. Here are finished polished pebbles from Semiahmoo Spit, very near our new home-building site (a few lapis pebbles, not local, sneaked into this batch):
Stay tuned for an upcoming guest blog post from geologist Thor, who will explain why our Pacific Northwest area has such an amazing variety of rock types to be found on our beaches. He may even share more photos of his polished pebbles. Meanwhile, he may be found hovering over and stroking his Smaug dragon horde….
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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is Pause, a First Place winner of the Chanticleer Somerset Award and an International Pulpwood Queens Book Club selection. “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” (Mindy Klasky). Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
