Sand Dollar Sea Glass
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Port Townsend, Washington (USA)

Another great trip in June of 2018.  We flew into Seattle-Tacoma airport and rented a car and drove to Port Townsend.  Check car rental rates beforehand and search for deals if you can, because cars are expensive here.  It’s less than a three-hour drive to Port Townsend, much of it through some nice scenery depending on your route. After spending the night in Port Townsend, we got up early and drove to North Beach Park – a good plan so that you can get a parking spot.  As usual, we arrived around high tide and began our hike west up the beach to McCurdy Point (you can find both North Beach Park and McCurdy Point on Google Maps).  The overhanging cliff was a dump site up until the late 1960’s.  It is just under a three-mile hike from the parking lot out to the point, and you will have to walk on uneven rocks and duck under or climb over some fallen tree trunks.  The beach is at the base of a cliff and at high tide, the surf reaches the cliff in some places, so you have to plan your return accordingly.  There are no amenities (rest rooms, trash receptacles, etc.) so you have to carry in water and food if desired and carry out your trash. Wear layers.  Even though we went in June, Port Townsend is pretty far north, and it was cold with a brisk breeze in the morning with a foggy mist.  Later in the day when the sun came out, the fog burned off and the weather warmed up, particularly when the wind was still. 

The hike, while not strenuous, is enough to warm you up to the point where you will be shedding layers. On the way we were treated to many sights.  We saw deer near the park, and large boulders were perched along the beach after having fallen from the cliff edge.  On our hike, we disturbed three eagles who expressed their displeasure at our trespassing on their territory by keening loudly before majestically flying off.

We also saw sea otters playing just offshore, but we were unlucky to miss the hoped-for Orcas that are often spotted on this coast. The site had plenty of sea glass, including many flat blue pieces of the type I like to use in my artwork (blue is always hard to find), and even one small orange piece!  Relatively few folks had made the hike, but some showed up as the day wore on.  On our return trip, we found many of the locals digging for sea glass with shovels within a short walk from the park, and the parking lot was completely full. Once again, this is a good area to combine glass hunting with other activities.  The scenery and surroundings are ideal for the outdoorsman, sailor, fisherman or naturalist.

I rank Port Townsend fifth on my list of sea glass desitinations, and first in the continental United States.  While it does not have the quality and quantity of the top four, there is still a good quantity of good quality glass, enough to elevate it to the status of a glass hunter's beach.  Certainly, if you live in or travel to the northwest, it is a spot worth visiting.

Please come to one of the venues and we can trade information on our glass hunting trips!

Other beaches I have visited:
1. Seaham Beach, Seaham, England, U.K
2. Vieques Island, Vieques, Puerto Rico, USA
3. North Bimini, Bahamas
4. Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada
5. McCurdy Point, Port Townsend, Washington, USA
6. Texas Gulf Coast
7. Maine Coast (USA)
8. Souris, Prince Edward Island, Canada
 
nancyb@sanddollarseaglass.com

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