Nature’s Fallen at Rialto Beach

Posted on February 8, 2021 by

31 Comments

For this week’s Sunday Still’s Photo Challenge I remembered the fallen at Rialto Beach.

We first discovered Rialto Beach on a trip to Olympic National Park in 2017 and it instantly became my favorite. Wild and remote, it’s littered with fallen trees and logs.

And ghost trees stand precariously, ready to fall during the next storm.

A mile up the beach is Hole-in-the-Wall, a sea arch passable when the tide is out.

I walked to Hole-in-the-Wall on our last visit to Rialto Beach, passing giant sea stacks, including the slabs of one fallen.

The 50 ft. sea stack known as ‘Cold Water,’ was toppled by a powerful storm sometime in the winter of 2015/2016, after standing on the beach for hundreds of years.

Sea stacks are formed when wave action erodes headlands. They often start as a sea cave, that when broken through forms a sea arch. When the arch collapses a sea stack remains and can last for hundreds or thousands of years. I was too late to see this one.

~ Susanne

Category: National Parks, Nature, TravelTags: , , , , ,

31 Comments on “Nature’s Fallen at Rialto Beach”

  2. Lovely photos of an impressive place, Susanne. I was looking at some ‘ghost trees’ locally today, and wondering if the current snow-storm would finish them off.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    • Thanks Pete. Have you gotten a lot of snow where you are? We had a very light dusting this morning, the first of the season and more snow possible this week. I love snow but I prefer it earlier in the year, not when I’m ready for spring! 🙂

      • Yes, big snowfall last night. Six inches deep on the cars, and white countryside everywhere. Also a very cold east wind, so -4C temps.

      • It’s almost 6pm here, so he had his big walk in the snow earlier, then I drove 4 miles to the supermarket for the big shop. The roads were clear, and the huge hypermarket was almost empty. 🙂

    • It really is spectacular. It’s off the beaten path so it took me a while to discover it. I’ve been back many times since and hope to visit again later this year.

  4. I loved visiting Rialto Beach, we did not see the Hole in the Wall. That gives us something to do next time!

    • It’s really a special beach. It’s an easy walk of about a mile to Hole-in-the-Wall. The tide was in when I did it so I couldn’t walk through the arch; maybe next time! 🙂

  5. This reminds me of the Oregon coast. So beautiful. It never ceases to amaze me that those trees grow out of solid rocks. Thanks for sharing.

  9. Once beautiful trees, fallen in the line of duty as sentinels of the beach. Great interpretation of the theme, Susanne! Haunting in their stark beauty showing nature at its best! Another place to visit in Washington I will add to my ever-growing list.

    • Thanks Terri. I had fun with this week’s theme. 😊 I hope you get a chance to explore the west side of Washington, including the north coast’s wild beaches. So many places to see, so little time! 😄

  10. Oh wow. I need to go here. I live not too far, and have wanted to venture to the peninsula and the rain forest. These pictures are so pretty. I’m loving Terri’s challenge. So glad I found it and decided to join in.

    • Thanks so much for dropping by. I enjoy Terri’s challenge too! ☺ I love the peninsula and Olympic National Park and visit at least once a year. We’re fortunate to have so much beauty and diversity – mountains, rain forest and wild, rugged beaches nearby.

  11. Pingback: Sunday Stills Color Challenge: A #Rosy Outlook – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives

  12. When I first came to the PNW in 2005 to visit with my partner’s sister, we all went to a beach and I was amazed at all of the huge fallen trees littering the beach!! Back East, the beaches I had been to had absolutely no fallen trees, just sand.

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