July 2-5 July 6 July 7 July 8 July 9 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 15 July 16 July 17 July 18-21	Friday, July 10 After a good night’s sleep, I got up about 6:30 and drove back to Rialto Beach (again) to find that I had clear skies and beautiful morning light for a change. I walked back to Hole in the Rock at low tide this time (still 1.5 miles out there). I got to Hole in the Rock about an hour before full low tide. The tide pools there are much more accessible than the ones I tried yesterday morning. And the footing is better, too. I saw lots of sea stars. In fact, I got picky after a while about which ones I'd take pictures of. The three photos above show three of the better images from this morning. The orange and purple ones are the same species (ochre stars), just different phases of their life cycle, according to brochure I picked up at the information center. . The photo on the left shows Hole in the Rock at low tide. The tide pools are located in the rocky shelf in front of the Hole. If you look closely, you'll see a man in a yellow slicker entering the Hole itself. The photo on the right shows a precariously perched tree on the cliff face high above Hole in the Rock. . These two photos show two different views of Split Rock, a sea stack that looks like it's been broken into two large pieces. The photo on the left shows the view south along Rialto Beach from near Hole in the Rock. The photo on the right is looking straight out to sea. The photo on the left shows the view south along Rialto Beach from the area of Split Rock at low tide. You can see the fog starting to appear on the southern end of the beach. The photo on the right shows another precariously perched tree. This one is atop the sea stack that appears in the foreground of the photo to the left. The logs across the little stream that needed to be crossed along the way had disappeared, but the tide was out far enough that the stream flow was fairly shallow near the waves. I just walked across there. Yes, the boots got wet, but the water level stayed below the porous portion of the boots and my socks stayed dry. On the walk back to parking lot, the fog bank that was located just off shore came ashore. The nearby sea stacks disappeared completely while I was watching them. Fifty yards after driving out of the parking lot (towards the lodge), the fog had disappeared! These two photos were taken along the walk back to the parking lot. The photo on the left shows two rocks on the beach and the patterns left in the sand by the retreating tide. The photo on the left shows a driftwood stump (upside down) that was used as a landmark to find the parking lot. The fog had gotten so thick at this point that the sea stacks in the background are completely invisible! We had a late meeting time this morning. Some more shared photos. I wound up doing some tech support, helping a couple of the others figure out how to move stuff around on their computers! I fixed my sack lunch, then headed for the marina at La Push. Surprisingly, it was still socked in with fog, very windy, had no reflections, and was very cold. Even the seagulls were grounded, as shown in the photo to the left... I wound up shooting some moving flowers at the edge of parking lot - the photo to the right... Then I tried to go out to Second Beach, which was nearby, but the parking lot was full. So, I parked at the parking lot for Third Beach, which is a 1.4 mile hike from the parking lot to the beach. I made it most of way, but there’s a very steep descent to the beach itself. My knees said to go back after getting a third of the way down this steep part, so I listened to them and turned back... . These two photos were taken along the trail out to Third Beach, which winds through the coastal forest. The photo on the left shows a new fern frond rising above an older one. The photo on the right shows a shelf fungus growing on the side of a tree. . I stopped along the road on the way back to the lodge to shoot daisies swaying in the breeze as cars drove by. It was too bright, however, to get much movement. All action was stopped, as you can see in the photo to the right... So, I went back to the cabin to download the day’s images. Our lodge host was getting an outdoor area ready for a salmon bake tonight. I helped him and his wife set up a canopy over the food table to try to keep the hemlock needles out of the food. The others showed up slowly over the next hour. Dinner was delicious. Steamed clams, razor clams, the best clam chowder I’ve ever had, salmon, halibut, baked beans, blueberry muffins. Blueberry cake for dessert - still warm from the oven - with whipped cream on top! Yum! I drank too much red wine however... Crashed early. Next...