Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Enjoying the Elements at Magnificent Ruby Beach
On our recent trip to Lake Quinault, we stopped by Ruby Beach on Washington’s wild and rugged coast.
We took the short trail down, stopping to look through the trees at the beach below, which was mostly socked in by fog.
At the end of the trail, we climbed over giant drift logs, many retaining their color as if they’d only recently fallen.
There were rocks of all sizes, smooth and worn away by generations of pounding waves.
Those not so smooth still showed smaller rocks embedded within them.
These are sedimentary rocks, which according to Wikipedia are ” types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth’s surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for process that cause these particles to settle in place. “
If rocks could talk, I bet they’d have stories to tell.
In case you wondered there were no rubies to be found; I was hoping they’d by lying around for the taking. Ruby Beach is named after reddish colored patches of sand from concentrations of garnet crystals.
But what catches your eye the most are the giant rocks, the offshore islands and sea stacks.
Sea stacks are formed over time by wind and water crashing against headlands, causing them to collapse and erode.
Whatever the cause, aren’t they marvelous?
So there you have it! The rugged beauty of Ruby Beach, showcasing the elements of water, air and earth! Sorry I’m missing the fire. 😉
Sharing with Sunday Stills, Power of the Elements.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
Beautiful. I’ll search that place out when I start branching out and exploring. Spring should hopefully be here soon…
You can’t go wrong with a visit to the Olympic Peninsula! Olympic National Park with its mountains, rainforest and rugged beaches is wonderful and takes many trips to explore. Summer can be crowded so spring would be perfect!😊
Wow, such a beautiful place! I would love to walk it. 🤩❤️
Thank you! Yes, it’s a wonderful beach, great to walk!
Definitely on my list of WA places to visit, Susanne! Those sea stacks are really quite amazing geologically and I’m sure that fire played a role in their formation, perhaps ancient volcano activity, if garnets are the leftovers? A lovely blend of elements! They are more immense than I thought as I see the puny humans walking among them, LOL.
I started to write in more detail about the rock and sea stacks but I didn’t want people’s eyes to glaze over! The sea stacks happen mainly by wave and wind eroding away the headlands, often creating an arch first which then disconnects from the mainland. But I think its fair to say the rock itself being volcanic, has fire in its past as there are many volcanoes in the state. Makes sense to me! 😊
That’s a beautiful beach and I like it when it’s all foggy like that. Gives it such an atmosphere.
Thanks, Graham. It’s a wonderful beach, even fogged in! 😊
Gorgeous! I love the Pacific Northwest coastline.
Thank you!
You made the most of a gloomy day, and managed to showcase the area wonderfully.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thanks, Pete. We love Ruby Beach. The weather had changed that day, cool, damp and overcast. Fortunately, no rain and it eventually cleared up. 😊
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I loved the beaches of the Olympic Peninsula, although I spent more time photographing the sea stacks and tree trunks than the smaller rocks and pebbles underfoot. Maybe I should have looked down more, but the wider views were mesmerising 😀
Yes, so much to look at, all wonderful! Every time I visit one of the beaches, I enjoy something new. The sea stacks along the coast are certainly magnificent! It seemed to me that Ruby Beach had the most interesting smaller rocks on the beach. Perhaps I spent more time looking down since it was cooler and foggy.
Cool and foggy when we were there too, but I found the views of the sea stacks so atmospheric!
Yes! Agree! 🙂 🙂 And actually, for January the weather was great!
Loved visiting Ruby Beach when we were in Washington. Thank you for bring back memories!
Great! I’m so glad you were able to visit, as it’s quite a bit off the beaten path! 🙂
What a beautiful place! I enjoyed reading about the sea stacks and sedimentary rocks, too!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! I was going to write up more on the rocks and sea stacks but didn’t want everyone’s eyes to glaze over!
I love the photos, but especially the solitude…as you’ve pointed out before, this are of Washington is rugged and isolated, so it’s pristine!
Thanks John. It really is pristine and remote, quiet and peaceful.
What a beautiful place!
It truly is! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
ruby beach has it alll!
It’s wonderful, isn’t it?
🙂