Day 18, continued

Agate Beach was suggested to us by the RV park owner, but it wasn’t until we got there that I found out it’s at the bottom of 160-foot cliffs. Not exactly what we expected, but it was already 6:30 and I was concerned that if we drove around looking for another beach, it would get dark. I grabbed a couple flashlights, Jeff carried Lily, and the kids brought their buckets and shovels, and we started off down the trail.

Once we got to the bottom, we were surprised to find that the sand, which looked dark gray from the top of the cliff, was actually not sand at all. Instead, the entire beach was billions of tiny rocks, pounded smooth by the waves. The rocks themselves were fascinating: about half were dark gray, but the rest were brilliant shades of red, green, yellow, orange, brown, and pure white. Quite a few of the larger rocks were flat and round, the perfect skipping stones. I don’t know what it is about rocks that makes them so interesting, but in all reality, I could have spent all day there and not gotten bored!

The beach is also very steeply angled, going from ankle-deep to knee-deep in just four or five steps. That causes the waves to break and crash very close to the shore. It’s not safe for swimming, but Jaden waded in just a little ways and was very quickly soaked to his waist. It was freezing water, but once your feet get numb it’s not so bad!

We saw several seals playing in the water. One even came right up almost to the shore and stuck its head out of the water right in front of Jeff and the kids. Jeff yelled at me to look, but I didn’t hear him, so he shouted louder. I turned to see what he was hollering about and saw a head disappear below the waves. My first thought was that it was one of the kids, and it took about ten seconds for my brain to register that it had been a seal. Ten seconds may not seem like very long, but it was long enough for me to be scared out of my mind, and I started to cry. I can’t remember the last time I was terrified like that, and it’s not a feeling I want to repeat anytime soon.

Jaden filled his orange pail about ¾ full of rocks, so he had a long, hard climb back up the trail. He was still soaked and shoeless, and the rocky path was not a fun thing for him at all. About halfway up I took a look at his rocks and realized that he’d also filled the pail with seawater, so I helped him drain that out, and that helped a little. He cried the whole way up the cliff, though. Poor guy!

He was cheered up immensely when we got back to the campsite. The restorative powers of chocolate frosting are truly amazing.

Total miles today: 316