La Push

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La Push

Report from Ken Campbell
10/28/06

This was the weekend before Halloween, and Azimuth instructor Marc Mahoney had reserved a cabin at La Push. We had come for the surf, but were prepared for touring if conditions were good. Although it was foggy, the waves were not too great, so a group of us decided on Saturday morning that we would paddle out to the stacks that stood a mile or so south of our beach house. The group was made up of Jackie Brown, Lauren Sykes, Gary McCall and myself.

The marine layer was moving in and out throughout the morning and the effect it had was that the stacks kept fading in and out of view. By the time the four of us were on the water and outside the breakers, the fog had moved back in again and visibility was poor. We followed a compass heading to the spot where we knew the stacks and offshore rocks were located and from time to time we could hear the waves breaking on the point near First Beach.

Fog has a way of fooling all of the senses. Just about the time I was ready to say, "The heck with it… I'm going back," it lifted enough for me to see the closest of the stacks, which by this time was only about 100 yards away. We slipped through the waves and around the exposed rocks and worked our way into the calm, kelp-choked, water in the lee of the larger stacks. Seals lounged on the low shelves, unconcerned with our passing. Gulls materialized and disappeared into the fog that slithered over the tops of the outcroppings.

We traversed the string of stacks, taking care not to run afoul of the many sunkers that lurked below the surface, where waves formed and broke with little warning. After getting our fill, we paddled back through the mist to the Quillyute river mouth.