Kalaloch offers casual comfort on Washington's wilderness coast

KALALOCH BEACH, Wash. - My first winter in Washington, my parents came from Michigan to visit and we headed straight for our old friend, the Pacific Ocean.

We'd gotten to know the Pacific through several earlier excursions - to warm Hawaii, sunny San Diego, mellow Malibu - and we loved her warm, gentle nature. We couldn't wait to meet her Washington waters.

But when we got to Long Beach, the Pacific was having a bad air day.

Slicing rain ruined her rhythm. She looked angry - dark, gray and frothy. And what was all this about dangerous riptides and killer beach logs?

Confused and cold, we bundled up, ran to the shore, took a photo to prove we'd been there, and raced for the comfort of the car. The whole ocean encounter took less than five minutes.

Though our introduction to wintry Washington beaches was somewhat cool, we've warmed up to them considerably in the 10 years since. Through trips to Ocean Shores, Klipsan Beach and Long Beach, we've gotten to know Washington's beaches, seasons and moods, and we've learned how to work with them - and to love them, too.

So, on my parents' most recent visit this fall, we decided to get to know a new beach - Kalaloch, halfway up the Olympic Peninsula in the Olympic National Park.

It was raining and chilly the day we left, so we packed accordingly - rain coats, boots, turtlenecks, hats. Three hours later we were at the ocean - and there was not a cloud in the sky.

Rarely had we seen a Washington beach in bright sunlight, and never had we seen a setting as spectacular as that of Kalaloch Lodge, a complex on a bluff overlooking the Kalaloch Creek and our pal the Pacific. The lodge and its nearby facilities - a gas station/grocery store, small Sea Crest motel, and campground - are an isolated enclave in the park, an oasis of civilization among miles of undeveloped beach and towering trees.

The lodge itself is a rustic wooden structure built in 1953, housing 10 guest rooms, a well-stocked gift shop, a restaurant, bar and coffee shop. Though it does not have a cozy-fireplace-reading-room, front-desk clerk Jeanny Stack said plans are under way to convert the lodge's Becker Suite into a library in time for winter.

We stayed in one of the lodge's 44 cabins - and that's where we headed first, to shed a layer or two of clothes. Cabin 4 perched on a steep bluff over Kalaloch Creek, back a ways from the ocean but angled so we still could see the sea from our windows.

With two queen-sized beds (one in its own room, one adjoining the sitting area) and a hide-a-bed, our cabin was cute and comfortable for the four of us - my mom and dad, my 5-year-old son, and me. The decor - including the artwork, bedspreads and sofa - was modern, Northwestern and a step above basic.

In the kitchenette, a lodge brochure read: "It's more like a view with a room," and that fit our sentiment exactly. Since our goal was to be outdoors, we couldn't have been happier with our humble cabin on the bluff, our picnic table on the grass and our missing television and telephone.

But had we wanted to hole up and fend for ourselves, we might have had trouble. While all the cabins at Kalaloch Lodge have kitchen areas, none is stocked for cooking - just a few paper plates and bowls, a couple of coffee mugs and little packs of plastic silverware. The lodge used to supply cabins with cooking equipment, Stack said, but it "just kind of walked away," and dishwashing took its toll. Now free cookware kits are available at the front desk, but Stack said they do not have enough kits for all the cabins.

Luckily, we didn't want to cook. We wanted to explore.

We headed for the beach, accessible by a somewhat uneven trail that, in two minutes, led us down to the beach from the bluff. We romped on the broad, sandy beach and its light, rippled sand, searching for shells, peering into pools and clambering over the driftwood graveyard near the creek.

We were awed by the beauty of the beach, the Pacific, the lodge's setting. We kept taking big, deep breaths, gulping campfire smoke, salt, sand and fresh air. The Pacific had filled our souls again.

But we were still hungry.

We ate dinner in the Kalaloch Lodge Restaurant, a Northwest-themed dining room with a big bay window looking over the ocean. We were back early the next morning for breakfast and on our way.

It was still a bit cold for the beach, so we opted to drive around the area a little and stop often.

Our first stop was a giant Western red cedar tree, a hulking caved-out stump at the end of a gravel road off U.S. 101, about 5 miles north of the lodge. We thought we were at the world's largest Western red cedar tree, but learned after we got home that the record-holder is actually 8 1/2 miles farther up the highway, off Nolan Creek Road. Still, our stump was a stunner.

Farther along U.S. 101 we began our parade of beaches. We trekked first to Ruby Beach, a dramatic combination of seastacks, driftwood and a rambling creek clouded in morning mist. The trail to the beach is a little slippery and a little sloped, but the beach is worth the walk.

We stopped in Forks, 36 miles northeast of the lodge, where the visitor information center sits next to a 12-foot wooden Logger Memorial and the Forks Timber Museum. And we drove to LaPush, an oceanfront Quileute Indian village with a marina and three accessible beaches along the road leading to it.

For our final beach stop, we drove along a winding, windy road to Rialto Beach, north of the Quillayute River and right across the bay from LaPush. And again, the Pacific presented a different side of herself. Here the water was muddy and murky, the beach a conglomeration of glass-smooth oval stones and gravel-like pebbles.

We turned our faces to the sun and the wind and breathed deeply again, one last sea breath - to sustain us until our next trip to the Pacific.

If you go

About the lodge: Kalaloch Lodge is midway up the Olympic Peninsula on U.S. 101, in the Olympic National Park, 70 miles north of Hoquiam. The lodge, built in 1953, has 10 rooms (5 with ocean views), 44 rustic cabins (20 with views) and a two-story motel called Sea Crest. It's operated as a concession within the park. There also is a restaurant, bar, coffee shop and gas station/grocery store. Off-season rates (from Oct. 16-Dec. 21 and from Jan. 8-June 1, 2001) range from $50 for a lodge room to $169 for a cabin. Pets are allowed in the cabins only for $10 per night. For reservations, call 360-962-2271. Web: www.visitkalaloch.com.

Off-season specials: The lodge offers a Winter Storm Watch Package from Nov. 1 to March 31, 2001, for $300 per couple. It includes two nights in a log cabin, two dinners for two, two breakfasts for two, two free lattes or mochas, two Kalaloch coffee mugs, a Kalaloch umbrella and the book "Kalaloch: A State of Mind."

Lodge dining: Breakfast is served in the Kalaloch Lodge Restaurant from 7 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Prices for fare including omelets, pancakes and Crunchy French toast (a Kalaloch signature item, coated in corn flakes, almonds and brown sugar) range from $3.50 to $9.25. Lunch prices (burgers, fish & chips and the like) range from $6.95-$9.95. Dinners are huge and delicious. Try the Chicken Kalaloch (chicken breast smothered in Bay shrimp, muenster cheese and bernaise sauce; $15.95) and a glass of Kalaloch Private Label Chardonnay ($6). The menu is heavy on seafood; prices range from $13.95-$20.95. Children's menus are available.

Winter activities:

• There's always the beach at the lodge, an expanse of shifting sand, tidal pools and driftwood. Walk, beachcomb or build a sand castle. Beaches abound all along the 57-mile Olympic National Park Coastal Strip. Ruby Beach, 8 miles north of the lodge and so named because its sand sometimes appears ruby or garnet, offers dramatic seastacks and a mellow creek. Rialto Beach, about 10 miles east of Forks, is rocky and windy and the easiest to get to, with an oceanside parking area. From February to May, beaches that offer prime spots for gray-whale-watching are: Beach 1, Kalaloch Beach, Beach 4 and First Beach in LaPush.

• Hike the Kalaloch Nature Trail, a 1.2-mile mellow loop through coastal forest along Kalaloch Creek that begins across the street from Kalaloch Campground (just north of the lodge). Or start at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center, 15 miles north and inland from Kalaloch and U.S. 101, where three easy loop trails begin. For more information, call the Hoh ranger station at 360-374-6925.

• Stop at what's billed as the world's largest Western Red Cedar tree, 13.6 miles north of Kalaloch Lodge down Nolan Creek Road. The remains of another hulking cedar are off a marked road between Beach 4 and Beach 6 on U.S. 101.

• For indoor entertainment, try the timber town of Forks, 36 miles north and east of Kalaloch. The Forks Timber Museum is open by appointment only during the winter; if you call at least one day in advance, the Forks folks will arrange a tour for you (360-374-9663). While there, stop in the Visitors Center for further inspiration, including its recommended five-day trip of the Olympic Peninsula. Phone: 800-443-6757. Web: www.forkswa.com.

• The Olympic West Arttrek is a self-guided driving tour of gift shops, galleries and studios from Kalaloch to Neah Bay. For a tour brochure, call 360-374-2531. A few shops on the tour close or cut back their hours for winter.More information:

• Olymic National Park Visitors Center: 360-452-0330. Web: www.nps.gov/olym.

• Recorded road and weather information: 360-452-0329.

• Kalaloch ranger and information station: 360-962-2283.

• North Olympic Visitor and Convention Bureau: 800-942-4042; www.olympicpeninsula.org.

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