La Push and The Wild Coast

When we were at Cape Disappointment, we befriended a nice couple who live somewhere on the Peninsula and were very kind to tell us about their favorite places to camp.  One of the places was La Push on what is known as "The Wild Coast".  Well, you know we couldn't resist something with a name like that!  We knew only that the campground there had a great view of the ocean.  So, up and over we headed.  First we checked out Rialto Beach and the National Park campground there, Mora.

Rialto Beach-it looks right out of a picture book:
sea stacks, loads of driftwood and huge waves.
It has been the site of many a shipwreck
over the years.

Mora was close to the Quillayute River, but not the ocean, so we decided to take Mike up on his recommendation to go into La Push.

The campground is a funny, rather large place right on the ocean that has spots for tents and RVs and also rents out cabins.  There is about a mile-long beach and Maxine sat watching the ocean in a line of sites for other RVs.  Luckily, there were only two others here when we arrived and we pretty much had the beach to ourselves.

Not too shabby a view

Huge trees unrooted and carried ashore

Hardly a soul here

We walked down to one side of the beach and had the most glorious half hour watching a bald eagle trying to fend off a bunch of gulls trying to get at her catch.

La Push is an Indian Reservation for the Quileute tribe.  According to legend, they evolved from wolves (maybe that's why the Twilight series takes place here and in nearby Forks).  They are indigenous to the northwest coast and were reputed to be the best sealers on the coast.  James Island, just offshore is home to the spirit of their ancestors.

James Island at the end of the jetty

We snacked on locally smoked salmon and slept to the sounds of pounding surf.  The next morning (Saturday) the landscape changed as lots of young adults moved into tents in back of us and took to the beach in wetsuits, carrying boards.  It turns out that this is one of the best surfing beaches on the peninsula.  We have had a ball watching the surfers.  Some even pitched a tent on the beach.  Ah, to be young again!  It looks like so much fun.  They bob around in the water on their stomachs, waiting for the right wave and then they jump up on the board and ride, following the wave’s crest or turning back and bouncing as if they were going over moguls on a ski run.

We strolled over to the Quileute Harbor Marina to watch the fishermen bring in their catch for the day and admired some of the local art work.

Local Community Center

Father's Day at La Push Marina

While walking back along the beach, we saw a young man in front of us carrying the most unusual net on his back.  I couldn’t resist asking him what he used it for.  He is a native who lives in La Push and said he was fishing “in the way of my ancestors”.  He said that his secret is going out between the high tide and low tide and putting his net in right after a big wave and before a smaller one.  The gulls know the same trick.

You can imagine why I was so curious.

He showed us his catch-smelt!

Aaron, showing us his net

He gave us 4 of them to try.  Jim cleaned them and then I
dipped them in egg and flour and fried them, as he
instructed us.   Before eating, he said to twist their
heads (yikes!) and the whole back bone would come out.
He was right-pretty cool, if a little primitive for me!
They were delicious!

Saturday night was a whole different story around here, as the surfers camped out, either on the beach or in tents behind us.  There were several of the young crowd on the beach with bonfires and someone was setting off fireworks for a great display over the ocean.  As we left town the next day, we saw a sign for "Crazy Dave's fireworks"-figured that must have been his last night!  We will miss La Push!