Low Tides in Puget Sound Offer Rare Views

A friend from Vashon Island told me on the phone this morning that the tide was so low he could almost walk to Tacoma. Well, not quite. But in spite of his delight in my legendary gullibility, this time his statement contained more than a clam's squirt of truth. The low tide near the Narrows Bridge, for example, was predicted to be -2.7 feet, just after 11 a.m. this Monday, Aug. 9, 2010.

Now let me tell you something I probably shouldn't admit; I'm a person with a weird and hard-to-satisfy curiosity about crazy things like what it would look like if you could slice down through a mountain, stand behind a waterfall, or use X-ray vision to see underground burrows of little critters. As a teenager I once wiggled down through the slanted opening of an abandoned bear den dug into a river bank in Alberta, Canada, there to discover the bear's secret world: a cozy little room with a padded floor and a ceiling of tree roots. But that's a story for another day. Anyway, back to the low tide; obviously I was dying to see what was usually under the waves of Puget Sound.

Unfortunately, I had an 11 a.m. appointment with my physical therapist that could not be changed. I begged my husband to get down to Titlow Beach, since I couldn't, to take some photos of the old pilings there, ghosts of the beach's busy past when Titlow had a ferry landing and other waterfront commerce. He obliged, then gave me a bonus by heading to Point Defiance to take additional photos there. So in case you're curious too, here they are. Enjoy! Scroll down to see them all.