Sometimes adventures take you unawares. While visiting the Pacific Northwestern coast, I met such an adventure. Thankfully, it was a short adventure but one worthy of retelling, if only for a warning.
We stopped at Rialto Beach. It was a foggy gray morning. The photos I shot looked like they were shot in black and white. The sky, ocean and beach all blended in together. Bleached pieces of driftwood, small pieces as well as full sized trees with roots intact, were drifted into piles along the shoreline, one butting against the other. Some were more weathered than others. The beach was covered with pebbles of various sizes. I was especially fascinated by the green smooth rocks scattered among the other smooth stones.
Waves battered large rock formations that jutted out of the water. They stood as cold beacons against the foreboding sky, unmoving and strong against the gray relentless waves. The incoming tide swallowed up the sandy beach leaving little choice but to walk in the rocks that lay on the beach. It was difficult to walk through the rocks and the occasional stretches of soft sand. My calves got tight, and I started to get warm. I soon took off my extra shirt and jacket.
After walking down the shoreline for a bit, we turned and headed back in the direction we came. I had seen some people walking at the edge of the surf. I took off my shoes, rolled up by pants legs and walked right at the edge of the water. As the tide came in, the sandy part of the shore was buried. I headed to the higher rocky shoreline. About that time, a sleeper wave, or sneaker wave, rushed in. I braced myself because I knew when the wave was sucked back into the water vacuum, it would try to take me with it. The power of the surf sucked the sand and stones from under my feet pulling me with it. It was like a sea monster had whipped its tentacles around my ankles and was pulling me back into its lair. I know it was quite a sight. I was in the water, but my left hand that held my camera and my 70-200 white lens was lifted high. I even took three upside-down pictures in the process (quite by accident). My traveling companion was quick to help. “Always get the shot” is the motto. It was okay if I was sucked out to sea as long as there was a photo to document it. Some help! I learned later that these sneaker waves are common in Northern California, Oregon and Washington. They can grab someone standing on the beach and pull them under and out to sea. The NOAA says, “Don’t turn your back on the ocean.”
I was sufficiently soaked. It’s a good thing I wore layers. Back at the vehicle, I put the floor mat on the seat, and traded some of my wet clothes for something dry. I had to have a shower to wash off the salt, got on some dry clothes, and we were off again on another adventure.