On Washington's Olympic Peninsula, Highway 101 runs along the Pacific Ocean between Queets and the Hoh Indian Reservation. To the east are the rain forests of Quinault, Queets and Hoh.

You'll find some vast beach views and access to the sand at several points, including Kalaloch, above, and below, where great gobs of drift logs are piled high this spring, having run off the rain forest rivers.

The beaches are wide, hard-packed, and nearly vacant in May.