Travelogues
2014 Washington Trip

Friday, July 19

We relaxed most of the day and hoped for a good sunset. We had early-morning fog followed by hazy sun, so it was a great day for the weekenders who came to enjoy the beach, but not a great day for photography.

Harris Beach

Carol wasn't feeling up to another trip to North Harris Beach, so I hiked down on my own. My main goal was to re-shoot the area where I created the videos the night before. But this time I had a tripod to eliminate the "wondering" I noticed from trying to hand-hold the videos last night. The lighting was better tonight, but the waves weren't nearly as dramatic. A group of western gulls provided the entertainment as they "fished" at the receding edge of each new wave.

I kept an eye on the time because I wanted to get back to North Harris Beach in time to walk out to the north end of the beach to shoot sunset. I liked my shot from last night, but it was from a long way away and I had no control of the people who would be in the image. I wanted time to get set up and choose my composition.

I was all set up for sunset about 20 minutes early, so I had a chance to look around a bit and chat with another photographer and his wife. For the second time in three nights, I got to watch the sun drop to the horizon before the fog rolled in!

Harris Beach Sunset Harris Beach Sunset

It was a gorgeous night at the beach, and the rangers weren't chasing people out of the parking area promptly at 9:00 when the area closed. I don't understand why they would close a beach area 9 minutes after sunset during the summer, but that has been the rules at all the state parks along the coast. I wish they would change it to 1 hour after sunset, so it would be earlier in the spring and fall, but later in the summer when sunset is so late. The ranger's "mercy" tonight allowed me to shoot an extra 15 minutes from the parking lot, and I got one of my favorite images of the day.