Sekiu — Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2000

The trail is an old access road that runs two or three miles along the shore. The road starts next to the laundry above Olsen’s Marina. You should quickly come to some concrete blocking vehicle access, except for bikes and ATV’s. Even on a SPF 30 day, the road trail is wet and cool as it passes through alder and hemlock. Look for MaidenHair ferns, salmon berry, and devils club. The road trail bed is solid and excellent for biking, with only a few puddles here and there. For the first 500 feet there are a couple side trails to the beach. They go down to the caves along a rocky beach. At about three quarter mile the road forks. Take the road to the right and go about a thousand feet, first through young alders, then through sea grass, to a beautiful sandy beach. The road-trail to the left goes above the beach for a couple miles plus, good for biking. Sometimes the beach is littered with driftwood. There are plenty of bird tracks in the soft sand, and sand fleas swarm over kelp that washed ashore. On a clear day, one can see Vancouver Island across the Straits. It is just nice to sit here on a sunny day. Listening to the monotonous snore of the waves coming in. There is usually a mysterious fog lingering here and there. We saw some pelicans gracefully skimming the water. Occasionally we will see an eagle in unexpected places on the beach. Today a bald eagle was standing in the sand next to tall sea grass and took off just as we noticed it. I picked some Yarrow; some of the elder Native Americans called this “the woman plant.” It has a very pleasant smell and is anti fungal and anti bacterial. Found some Stink Currents, they have a sweet taste at first but leave a horrible bitter aftertaste. On the way back, the alders formed a nice cool canopy.