An 11 mile hike...

A gorgeous day in Port Angeles & Sequim, WA afforded me the opportunity to take a lovely hike at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge down the Dungeness Spit to the lighthouse!

 This is completely a beach walk, 5 1/2 miles one way and flat the entire way. The difficulty comes in when you encounter the soft sand, which is, surprisingly, quite a workout to tackle.

Work out is what I need, and I was granted stellar weather in which to participate!

 To the locals, it was one of the hottest days ever on record, in fact, Port Angeles broke heat records both this day and the day before with temperatures of 90 both days. HA!

Having been in Arkansas for 20 years, along with my recent trip to Bible camp where there was 99 to 102 degree weather every day, 90% humidity and no air conditioning...this 90 degree, ZERO humidity day was most welcomed and beautiful in my book!

 The first time I took this trek, I was not in the best of shape and I only made it about 2 1/2 miles before realizing that the further I went, the further I'd have to walk back.....so I turned back without making it all the way to the lighthouse.

I have to say this is my favorite pic from the trip. I wish I wasn't so botanically challenged....lol....but I am so I don't know what type of flowers these are but they created the perfect, shapely contrast in front of the sharp edges of this antique lighthouse.

There is opportunity for locals to be "lighthouse keepers" should they choose to volunteer. This consists of learning the story behind the site, giving tours when people actually make it all the way to the site, and staying there in the peaceful solitude for an entire week at a time!

The seals bounce playfully in the surf daily, and the female seals pup in the are at the end of the spit. The only 'traffic' you receive at the lighthouse would be foot traffic and boat/kayak traffic. You have a magnificent view of the olympic mountains on one side and of the Strait of Juan De Fuca on each side of the spit and of Mt Baker across the strait on clear days. I may look into volunteering at some point! What an awesome way to get away from it all!