Haystack Rock

Here it is, the big rock on the beach! This is where the puffins, seagulls, cormorants and common murres hang out and nest and where at the base, are the tidepools with starfish and sea anemones. We were able to see all of the birds through a scope set up on the beach, and I could pick out the cormorants and puffins in the sky as they flew to the rock (and of course, the gulls). It stands 235 feet high and of course, that's where the puffins nested. I didn't even try to get a photo because without the scope trained directly on the spot, I couldn't pick the puffins out of the landscape.

Walking out onto the beach and seeing Haystack Rock is breathtaking! Son was looking at photos on the camera and said they all look alike to him (and granted there are many almost dupes because there will be no do-overs, probably), but to be there and see it, with fog covered mountains down the way and what appear to be tiny people in front of it - it was never the same shot. I am so happy I was able to see it - it is truly beautiful in a way so different from a tropical beach. Tropical is beautiful, too, but lacks the layers that the Pacific Northwest has - trees, mountains, fog, clouds, monoliths.

Go! See it!