A whaleless watch

I've never seen a whale in Washington. I hear they're everywhere in March and April. In fact, it seems like we're so overrun with whales around here you can throw a stick and hit one ... if you're not me.

Determined to change my fate, I rounded up a group of others who had never seen a whale and headed out to Neah Bay to try to catch a glimpse. Apparently they're around. Apparently you can see them from the beach.

We didn't. Once again. The thing is, it didn't matter. There were a few main reasons why:

The air out there
On our way out, we stopped along the deserted, winding road to stretch our legs and were reminded that there is a huge pile o' stars out there when it's really, really dark. Cool.

We got to Hobuck Beach Resort at about 1:30 a.m. We parked our rented RV within a few dozen feet of the water and, even though it was dark and near freezing, immediately went to the beach. I think I saw Sasquatch as my eyes adjusted to the dark. But no 15-foot plumes of spray from a gray.

Will hike for wine
Up early the next day, we drove to the Cape Flattery trailhead a few minutes away. A quick hike brought us to the lookout. We were sure the panoramic expanse from the viewing deck would reveal some of our humpbacked friends. But all we saw were eagles, seals, otters, puffins, lighthouses, Canada, amazing cliffs and a group of middle-aged women celebrating their arrival with minibottles of white Zin. We were so happy we forgot the point of our mission.

Chichi Shi Shi
We then headed south to the Shi Shi Beach trailhead, which gave way to a 2-mile slog in the mud ending in a light scramble down a hill to the beach. Before we headed down, an eagle flew by so close we could see the prey wiggling in its claws. Sweet.

We rummaged around the breathtaking beach, exploring things that had washed up and enjoying being all alone on such an amazing stretch of sand.

Lawn art
Heading back to the ferry the next morning, I saw my first and last whale of the weekend -- one carved out of wood with a chainsaw, painted and stuck in someone's front yard along the highway. Whale-watching was a success.

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