Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
This is a shot from the bluffs looking westward toward Port Angeles. And it’s as much about what you see here as what you don’t. I’d no sooner turned off my camera and slipped it back into my jacket than an eagle flew past at eye level.
Fishermen aren’t the only ones who talk about the one that got away.
For today’s City Daily Photo theme day, “Look down,” I went back to a photo I took during a stint as a volunteer lighthouse keeper at the New Dungeness Light Station. This shot was taken from the top of the lighthouse looking down its narrow stairwell.
The light station is located at the end of Dungeness Spit, a five mile natural sand spit that arches into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is remote, windswept, and beautiful.
Click here to see other interpretations of today’s theme from City Daily Photo participants around the world.
Some days you can see a lot of traffic on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This particular evening I counted five ships though I’m not sure my little Lumix was able to catch the more distant vessels. But I did like the flare it gave the shot.
This piece of land juts out at the base of the bluffs at Dungeness Recreation Area. It’s taken a beating over the last year and is a fraction of the size it once was. We’ve paid attention to it because from time to time it’s been a perch for a passing eagle and lots of seagulls.
Here’s what it looked like about 18 months ago when we were shocked to discover a photographer and model had scrambled onto it for a photo shoot.
The trail along the Dungeness Recreation Area bluffs continues to erode, chunk by chunk. Before this part of the trail was rerouted we were shocked to suddenly discover a gap alongside it where land had previously been.
The margin of vegetation previously extended alongside the trail where the land now has a gaping hole. Wind, erosion, sandy soil, and waves pounding at the base of this cliff take their toll. Terra firma isn’t so firm here.
Incidentally, the curve of white you see in the distance in these shots is the surf hitting the Dungeness Spit, the longest natural sand spit in the United States. At its tip, a bit over 5 miles in the distance, is the (unseen) New Dungeness Light Station.
Spring day and a clear view from the Dungeness Recreation Area looking south toward the Olympic Mountains.
This is a broad view of the place I call home. You’re looking south from one of the nicer view spots, Dungeness Cemetery. In the distant far left about three or four miles away is downtown Sequim. Further south are the foothills of the Olympic Mountains and then the mountains. There are pockets of houses tucked throughout this valley. What you see here are some of our historic farmlands.
Behind you, about a couple of miles away to the north, is the Strait of Juan de Fuca. If you took a boat or plane and headed across the water in about 30 miles you’d land on Vancouver Island. If you went a bit northeast you’d find yourself in Washington State’s San Juan Islands.