Hiking Dungeness Spit on a Summer’s Day

We’ve been talking about hiking Dungeness Spit again for years.

When we lived in western Washington long ago, we would travel two hours north to walk on the narrow beach that bends into the Straits of Juan de Fuca near Sequim.

It’s a 5.5 mile hike from where you enter a park to a lighthouse perched on the end–basically where cargo ships turn south heading to Seattle.

Dungeness Spit is the longest natural sand spit in the United States

We’ve hiked it in all sorts of weather and it’s exhilarating.

Here’s how one of my characters described Dungeness Spit in an (unpublished) novel:

 “It’s always been a special place to walk and think.”

Two little girls clambered over a bleached white log caught in a jumble of shaggy driftwood and stones thrown up by the raging sea. They climbed on top of one and followed it to the next, arms stretched out for balance.

“When we were young, our dad would bring us here, one on one, to talk about important topics,” Tom explained.

“Dad would wake us up before the sun, stick us in the car, and take us to a restaurant in Sequim for breakfast. He’d introduce the topic during breakfast and then we’d drive out to the Spit.

“Once we started hiking, we could ask questions. No matter how difficult the subject, somehow it all felt more understandable after a big breakfast, a hike, and then the wind to blow it clear in your head.”

Visiting with boys in all sorts of weather, we never hiked all the way to the lighthouse. The children climbed the driftwood, shouted at the rolling waves and chased the seabirds.

We all loved it.

Time to hike it again

The children are grown now and I’m finishing a major writing project.

I needed to go somewhere without screens, where I could think and relax and release all the tension.

My husband suggested Dungeness Spit.

So, we went.

The trail starts out simply and deceptively: just a hike through an Olympic Peninsula forest.

After a short distance, we walked down a bluff and there it lay before us.

We visited on a perfect day.

The straits rippled like old glass; the breeze blew soft and comfortable.

The sky stretched overhead into a glorious heaven with clouds for interest.

The ocean matched with a dark blue and the birds called with happiness that echoed ours.

We told stories and remembered, laughed when  wavelets drew too close to where we walked.

(The spit is not very wide and in wild rainy weather can actually disappear. It’s hard to walk in sand, so we watched the tide tables and planned our trip to avoid high tide.)

After an hour, the arm of the spit turned right and we saw the lighthouse.

My husband paused. “Did you want to go all the way to the lighthouse?”

The wind tossed my hair and I laughed. “Will we ever have a better day to do it than this?”

“That’s a long hike.” He’s used to estimating distances at sea.

“I don’t think it’s more than half an hour, maybe 45 minutes.” I walk four miles in an hour all the time.

He wasn’t sure, but the day was perfect.

We made it in 40 minutes.

Next time, I’ll show you what we saw. It was impossible to take poor photos on that gorgeous day!

Tweetables

A glorious walk on Dungeness Spit. Click to Tweet

Dungeness Spit on a perfect day. Click to Tweet

Visiting the longest natural sand spit in the US. Click to Tweet