Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park would be my last destination on the ten-day Road trip through Washington and Oregon I took in late May. It was a sunny afternoon when I pitched my 20 dollar Walmart Tent in the beautiful Mora Campground, located not too far from Rialto beach.
The Campground was near empty and very shaded amongst the towering Douglas Firs of the Olympic Peninsula rain forest. You can camp along the Beach, but it requires a wilderness permit, and the possession of a bear canister to store your food in. I had neither of these nor the will to lug camping gear a few miles up the Beach for just one night.
Mora, like all the other campgrounds in Olympic National Park, is first come first serve. Being that it was early in the season, I had my pick of spots, but in the Summer months, I would expect it to be full most of the time. Closest amenities from the Campground would be three rivers resort which has a small convenience store and restaurant, or the town of forks, which is about 30 miles away.
For landscape photographers, the main attraction is not the Beach itself, but the rock formation 2 miles north called " Hole in the wall." In late summer you can capture the setting sun shining directly through the hole. In early June this was not in my cards but would be a delightful sunset nonetheless.
I began the trek along hard the hard-packed sands, the tide was halfway out, it was 6 pm, and thankfully some clouds started to drift in from the horizon. It is the clouds that make the sunset, and it was beginning to look like I was in for a treat.
It can take about an hour to reach the rocks, its 3km and walking on sand will slow you down. The constant crashing of the waves can make it a hypnotic affair.
I timed things perfect as the light was beginning to enter the prime zone about 2 hours before sunset.
On my way up, the tide had receded, even more, exposing tide pools, I searched for a starfish, which would be a perfect foreground subject, but only came up with bright green anemones.
I shot the hole in the wall from both sides, using two exposures, one for the outside of the tunnel, and one for inside. Blending them, I was able to capture exactly what I was seeing.
I finally found a starfish, barely sticking out from a crevice in the barnacled rocks, and just as the sun dropped behind the horizon, I managed to get a decent shot. Purple starfish were nearly wiped out six years ago by a virus, up to 90 percent of them were liquified. Only now are they starting to recover. So every star I find is unique, and I make sure to appreciate it.
I began the long trudge back, as the clouds glowed orange while the foreground became darker and darker. The loss in the light made me able to shoot with slow shutter speeds of 5 seconds or more, giving a nice texture to receding waves.
My last photo of the night was facing back towards 2nd Beach and the sea stacks far off on the horizon. This view was the last of the fading light and a great way to end the trip.
Olympic National Park has a myriad of fantastic beaches, so many you will never grow tired of exploring. Rialto ranks as one of the best, but mostly for the rocky stacks and tide pools a decent distance from the parking lot. Best to be prepared and check the tides, bring food and water and have a plan.
I usually start the walk 2 hours before the beginning of sunset, this gives you ample time to compose shots for the golden hour. Finding compositions won't be hard, but finding a new perspective might be. Instagram is flooded with Rialto beach shots, and they all are relatively similar, so try something new to stand out.
The tidepools beyond "hole in the wall" contain a good number of starfish, but only when the tides are at its lowest. I have recently revisited and found more starfish than I have seen in years. Also upon revisiting at the end of summer, there were good numbers of Brown Pelicans, so if you have the zoom lens, the walk up the beach might end up taking a lot longer, depending on how many flight shots of Pelicans are available.
Thank you for reading!
-Ryan