Second Beach sea stacks at La Push
— — sea stacks holding the line against the Pacific.
Not only on a wall.
“Second Beach is reached by a wooded trail of about seven-tenths of a mile that drops through Sitka spruce and western hemlock before opening onto a wide curve of grey sand. Offshore, dark sea stacks and the long wall of Quillayute Needles break the surf. At low tide, tide pools open along the headland to the south. The light here is most often filtered through marine fog; clear afternoons are the exception, and the sunsets, when they come, run a long time. from the studio
Second Beach sea stacks at La Push, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Second Beach lies on the Olympic coast of Washington, just south of the village of La Push on the Quileute Reservation, about fourteen miles west of Forks. The trailhead sits within the reservation; the beach itself is part of the coastal strip of Olympic National Park. The walk in is roughly seven-tenths of a mile, dropping through old-growth Sitka spruce and salal before opening onto sand. Offshore, the Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge protects a chain of sea stacks and small rocky islets that run for miles up and down the coast.
The beach faces open Pacific, with no land between it and Asia, so the surf carries the full weight of ocean swell. Sea stacks stand a hundred to two hundred yards offshore, scoured by tide and wind, capped with stubborn evergreens. Quillayute Needles is a designated wilderness refuge of more than eight hundred small rocks and islands along this stretch of coast, important habitat for nesting seabirds. At low tide, the rocky shelves at the south end of the beach open into tide pools holding anemones, sea stars, and chitons.
The trail leaves from a small parking area on the Quileute Reservation, signed off La Push Road. It is rooted and slick in wet weather, and the last stretch crosses a logjam onto the sand. Olympic National Park requires a wilderness permit for overnight camping on the beach, with bear canisters mandatory and a quota in the main season. Day use is open. Tide tables matter: at high tide the southern headland is impassable. Plan around a falling tide if the pools are the reason for coming, and carry a light for the walk out at dusk.