sea otter – wanderingyuncks

Part two of 2025 wildlife wrap-up is a collection of the non-bird critters that we were able to get a photo of during our 2025 outings. I checked one animal off the list of those that we hadn’t seen while hiking during our Tygh Creek hike in May when I spotted a skunk making its way up the trail ahead. Heather unfortunately missed out on that sighting. We also saw a sea otter during our visit to Olympic National Park in May however it was so far away that we weren’t sure what we were looking at until we were able to look at the couple of photos that I had taken. It was exciting to have seen one, but it would have been more exciting had we realized what we were seeing at the time. The other exciting (and scariest) sighting was just our second rattlesnake in the Criterion Tract along the Deschutes River, also in May. We didn’t see it until we heard the loud hiss and rattle letting us know that we were getting too close.

Bumble bee – Mt. Hood National Forest, 05/24/25.

Bee swarm – William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, 04/30/25.

Unknown bee species – Criterion Tract, 05/25/25.

Beetle – Criterion Tract, 05/25/25.

Beetles – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, 07/14/25.

Beetles – Mt. Hood National Forest, 06/14/25.

Isopod – Olympic National Park, 05/15/25.

Western sea slater (Ligia occidentalis) – Olympic National Park, 05/14/25.

Spider hiding in the camas – Thurston Hills, 04/19/25.

Crab spider – Clearwater River Trail, 06/21/25.

Slug – Thurston Hills, 04/19/25.

Slug – Fern Ridge Wildlife Area, 05/03/25.

Slug – Olympic National Park, 05/13/25.

Slug – Olympic National Park, 05/12/25.

Slug – Olympic National Park, 05/15/25.

Snail – Oswald West State Park, 04/05/25.

Snail – Loon Lake Recreation Area, 05/03/25.

Snail – Fern Ridge Wildlife Area, 05/03/25.

Snail – Umpqua National Forest, 05/31/25.

Dragon flies – Mt. Washington Wilderness, 07/19/25.

Caterpillar – Olympic National Park, 05/13/25.

Caterpillars – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, 07/17/25.

Cinnabar moth – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Linn County Oregon, 07/17/25.

Plume moth – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Linn County Oregon, 07/17/25.

Moth – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Marion County Oregon, 07/14/25.

Moth – Mt. Washington Wilderness, Linn County Oregon, 07/19/25.

Moth – Mt. Hood National Forest, Wasco County Oregon, 06/14/25.

Brown elfin (and fly) – Mt. Hood National Forest, Wasco County Oregon, 05/24/25.

Ochre ringlet – Criterion Tract, Wasco County Oregon, 05/25/25.

Cabbage White – Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Washington County Oregon, 05/01/25.

Margined white – Oswald West State Park, Tillamook County Oregon, 04/05/25.

Western white? – Mt. Hood National Forest, Hood River County Oregon, 07/12/25.

California tortoiseshell – Mt. Hood National Forest, Hood River County Oregon, 07/12/25.

Sagebrush checkerspot (f) – Criterion Tract, Wasco County Oregon, 05/25/25.

Sagebrush checkerspot? (m) – Criterion Tract, Wasco County Oregon, 05/25/25.

Checkerspot (Hoffman’s?) – Mt. Hood National Forest, Hood River County Oregon, 07/12/25.

Clodius Parnassian – Sourgrass Mountain, Lane County Oregon, 06/28/25.

Propertius duskywing – Mt. Hood National Forest, Wasco County Oregon, 06/14/25.

Possibly a Pacuvius Duskywing (Erynnis pacuvius) – Mt. Hood National Forest, Wasco County Oregon, 05/24/25.

A skipper – Criterion Tract, Wasco County Oregon, 05/25/25.

Field crescent – Mt. Washington Wilderness, Linn County Oregon, 07/19/25.

Meadow fritillary – Mt. Rainier National Park, Yakima County Washington, 08/08/25.

A fritillary but not sure which one. – Criterion Tract, Wasco County Oregon, 05/25/25.

Another of the fritillaries. – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Linn County Oregon, 07/17/25.

Wester sulphur – Mt. Hood National Forest, Wasco County Oregon, 06/14/25.

Indra swallowtail – Criterion Tract, Wasco County Oregon, 05/25/25.

Pale tiger swallowtail – Mt. Hood National Forest, Wasco County Oregon, 06/14/25.

When it comes to the Lycaenidae Family (Gossamer Wings) I am almost always out of my depth trying to identify them.

Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Marion County Oregon, 07/14/25.

Mt. Hood National Forest, Wasco County Oregon, 05/24/25.

Mt. Washington Wilderness, Linn County Oregon, 07/19/25.

Criterion Tract, Wasco County Oregon, 05/25/25.

Olympic National Park, Clallam County Washington, 05/13/25.

These might be Echo Azures – Mt. Hood National Forest, Wasco County Oregon, 05/24/25.

Crab – Olympic National Park, Clallam County Wasing 05/14/25.

Hermit Crab – Olympic National Park, 05/14/25.

Velalla velella – Olympic National Park, 05/14/25.

Anemones – Olympic National Park, 05/14/25.

Starfish – Olympic National Park, 05/14/25.

Lions mane jellyfish – Rockaway Beach, 09/06/25.

Sealion – Olympic National Park, 05/14/25.

Seals – Olympic National Park, 05/15/25.

Sea otter, albeit a poor picture – Olympic National Park, 05/14/25.

Tree frog – Mt. Washington Wilderness, 07/19/25.

Frog – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, 07/14/25.

Bullfrog (invasive) – Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, 04/28/25.

Painted and western pond turtles – William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, 04/30/25.

Dunn’s salamander – Thurston Hills, 04/19/25.

Rough skinned newt – Driftwood Beach, 01/11/25.

Lizard – Mt. Hood National Forest, 05/24/25.

Snake – Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, 04/28/25.

Snake – McDonald-Dunn Forest, 07/05/25.

Western racer – Mt. Hood National Forest, 05/24/25.

Western rattlesnake – Criterion Tract, 05/25/25.

Olympic chipmunk – Olympic National Park, 05/13/25.

Townsend’s? chipmunk – Silver Falls State Park, 10/13/25.

Yellow pine chipmunk – Mt. Rainier National Park, 08/04/25.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel – Mt. Rainier National Park, 08/04/25.

Douglas’ squirrel – Olympic National Park, 05/13/25.

Western gray squirrel – William L. Finely National Wildlife Refuge, 04/30/25.

California ground squirrel – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area, 04/27/25.

Nutria (invasive) – Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, 05/01/25.

Yellow-bellied marmot – Three Sisters Wilderness, 07/15/25.

Hoary marmot – Mt. Rainier National Park, 08/05/25.

Pika – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, 07/14/25.

Rabbit – Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, 04/28/25.

Racoon – Olympic National Park, 05/14/25.

Skunk – Mt. Hood National Forest, 05/26/25.

Coyote – William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, 04/30/25.

Black-tailed deer – Mt. Rainier National Park, 08/04/25.

Mule deer – Criterion Tract, 05/25/25.

Elk – Elk Run Trail, 10/11/25.

Mountain goats – Mt. Rainier National Park, 08/05/25.

Being fortunate enough to witness animals in their natural habitat is one of the perks of hiking and we hope to see many more this coming year. We’re still on the lookout for several species that are possibilities. Most notable and likely of these are porcupines, giant pacific salamanders, and cougars. Much less likely but possible are wolves, wolverines, and moose among others. Happy Trails!

For our third day in Olympic National Park we headed for the ocean. Staying near Forks, WA meant we were only 20 minutes from Rialto Beach where we planned to hike north along the coast through Hole-in-the-Wall and possibly as far as Cape Johnson. For the hikes along the coast we needed to consider the tides. Many portions of the coastline are only passible within a couple hours of low tide. There are bypass routes through the forest, but those routes are often muddy, steep and rough. Fortunately for us low tide was at 8:26am meaning it coincided with our typical early morning start.

We arrived at the Rialto Beach Trailhead around 5:45am.

We headed out to the beach and turned north.

James and Little James Islands

The beach was mostly small pebbles to start. Our steps often sunk more than expecting requiring more effort than we’d have guessed. We spent quite a bit of time trying to find the most solid ground.

Our footsteps on the beach.

Stump in the sand.

Ellen Creek. The creek flowed under the beach and emerged shortly before the ocean.

Seagull

Bald eagle

The Olympic Coast is known for its rock formations, some of which were on display here.

A little over 1.5-miles from the trailhead we arrived at Hole-in-the-Wall.

The tide was low enough we were able to pass through the arch.

Looking back through the arch.

There are some nice tide pools around Hole-in-the-Wall.

This racoon was searching the tide pools for breakfast.

Looking back toward Hole-in-the-Wall.

The hiking became more difficult on the far side of Hole-in-the-Wall due to the rockiness. Some of the rocks were very slick and other sections were large and awkward to scramble over. There were also hundreds of small crabs to avoid.

Many of the dark spots on these rocks are the small crabs.

Does anyone know what this is?

Oyster catcher

Cormorants

Cape Johnson in the distance.

Paintbrush

Unnamed creek not quite making it to the ocean above ground.

Due to the difficult footing we weren’t making great time. We decided that I would go ahead since I am a little more comfortable hiking on rocks and try to make it Cape Johnson. We also agreed to turn around before low tide at 8:26am to ensure that we gave ourselves enough time to get back before the tide was too high to stick to the beach.
Cape Johnson

I rounded a small point at 7:50am and saw that to reach Cape Johnson I’d have to bow in a lot further than I’d anticipated.

My legs were already tired and I didn’t think I could continue to maintain the faster pace needed to reach Cape Johnson and get back to the trailhead, so I continued until 8am then turned around.

I turned around at the slide ahead.
Hermit crab shells

A good example of the challenging terrain.

Seagull, oyster catchers, and a cormorant.

Paintbrush on the cliffs above the beach.

Hole-in-the-Wall and James Island back in view.

I had been scanning the ocean all morning looking for anything that might be an animal and took a number of pictures of things that turned out to be nothing. At one point I thought I spotted something floating near the rocks but wasn’t sure if it was just another rock. I took some zoomed in photos and think I may have stumbled on a sea otter.
Not a great picture due to the extreme zoom and low lighting. After looking closer at this photo I began thinking it was just a rock in the surf. Then I looked at the next photo and what would be the foot and the head were in different positions.

Possible sea otter.

The area around Hole-in-the-Wall was a lot busier on the way back.

Driftwood on the beach.

Heather spotted this little starfish while exploring the tide pools near the arch.

Heather also spotted this which we believe is a velella velella.

Starfish and anemones

Bald eagels

I eventually caught up to Heather on the far side of Hole-in-the-Wall and we continued south on the beach to the jetty along the Quillayute River.
On the jetty looking at James Island.

La Push across the river.

Sea lion in the river.

Heading back to the trailhead along the jetty.

The jetty is actually part of the Quileute Indian Reservation.

I managed to get 7.9-miles in here.

This was the most challenging hike of the week due to the rocks, but it was scenic with lots of wildlife too. Our next hike also included some beach hiking, but only about 3 miles so hopefully it wouldn’t be quite as tiring. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Rialto Beach