Kevin's Life and Travel Blog

Lake Ozette to Shi Shi Beach Hike Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal
Previous entry: Day 1 – Lake Ozette to Ozette River Crossing

Journal entry for August 6, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 8.1 miles, 13.0 km.

I woke up a bit before 9am, after almost 11 hours of sleep. The outside of the tent was very wet. The fog was very thick and because of this, there was a very light but constant drizzle. I did the usual morning camp chores and went to get some water from Ozette River. The ocean tide was high and it looked like it was pushing the river water inland. It was impossible to scoop water without me actually getting into the water. I felt lazy and gave up, deciding to get some more water down the road. This proved to be a mistake.

I broke camp at 10:30am. The first section was mostly sand beaches and what seemed to be a thick layer of dried seaweed.

Dried ocean seaweed

Dried ocean seaweed

I soon reached tree huge fallen trees.

Fallen trees

The terrain then got much rougher. Way more than I expected. Lots of boulder hopping required.

Boulder hopping

Boulder hopping

I met a father and his three kids in this section. They were a little bit ahead of me when I got careless and made a long jump and landed on a big slippery and uneven rock. I slipped and my right shin drove right into the sharp edge of another rock. The pain was excruciating and at first, I thought I had broken bones. After I was able to sit down and examine the wound, I realized that it was just a very deep scrape (I still got a large visible scar four months later). After a few minutes, the father of the kids came back to check on me. That was a very nice gesture. Luckily I was fine, and after cleaning and patching up the wound, I was good to go.

I reached, a bit too early, a point where a tide of 4 feet or lower was required to pass. The high tide had been at 10:30am and it was still going down. I could either walk through 2 feet of water for a very short section, or climb up a huge rock and make a long jump that, just minutes after my slip, seemed like a dangerously horrible idea. As I was trying to decide what to do, I looked around me and realized that I was surrounded by tide pools full of starfish. I had seen pictures of starfish on Shi Shi Beach, but this was the first time I saw them on the hike. I stayed there for over an hour checking them out and snapping pictures.

The elusive purple starfish. I only saw one of them.

Starfish

Starfish

Starfish

Starfish

Olympic coast

Some more rough terrain followed before hitting one of two impassable headlands. For each of them, there are trails inland that can only be reached by climbing very steep hills. Luckily, they are have ropes installed.

Olympic coast

Impassable headland

The two trails are short and go through some very wet forest. At same points, the trail is hard to follow, but there are red fluorescent markers on the trees to guide you to the right direction. There are a few lookouts with spectacular views.

Trail markers

Olympic coast

After I descended by rope from the second trail I was, without knowing at first, already at Shi Shi Beach.

Point of the Arches

Point of the Arches

Shi Shi Beach

Shi Shi Beach

At 2.3 miles, it is a very long beach. There were already a good number of tents set up. I finally found a stream of water from which to get water from. I hadn’t found any water source since Ozette River in the morning. I’ve only had about 10 oz (300 cc) of water all day, which was what I had leftover from the previous night. I walked down the beach to get closer to the trail head so that I wouldn’t have to walk as much the following morning. I set up camp about 100 yards from a large group of campers and ate dinner. For about 1 1/2 hour, I tried to start a fire but failed miserably. I’m sure the constant light drizzle was a factor, but I never really learned how to property start a fire. I vowed to do some internet research before the West Coat Trail the following week. This could one day be a life or death situation during an emergency.

It got dark, and with no fire, I decided to get into my tent. I soon as I get into my sleeping bag, I hear a female voice outside: “Hello? Hello?”. It was a girl from the group about 100 yards away. She asked me if I needed help starting a fire. I thanked her, but it was already 9pm and I think I was ready for bed. She told me that if I needed anything I could go to them. You meet the nicest people on the trail.

Next entry: Day 3 – Shi Shi Beach and Hitchhiking to Port Angeles
Lake Ozette to Shi Shi Beach Hike Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal

Lake Ozette to Shi Shi Beach Hike Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal
Previous entry: Port Angeles, Washington

Journal entry for August 5, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 5.4 miles, 8.7 km.

Willie from All Points Charters and Tours came to pick me up at 8am at my Port Angeles hotel. We went to the Wilderness Information Center to pick up my permit and rent a bear canister, which is required for the hike. They also gave me a tide table and explained to me how to use it. It was a very foggy day but the 2-hour drive was beautiful. What caught my attention was how green everything was. Willie had lived in this area for a long time and told me a lot about about the history and wildlife of the region. When I talked to him on the phone a week before asking for a shuttle to the Lake Ozette trail head, he mentioned that another group of 3 was making the same trip on the same day. We had agreed on a fee which was cheap for me because I was sharing a ride. The group never showed up and Willie never mentioned about charging more. I felt bad and decided to pay him a bit more than what we had agreed on. I definitely didn’t want him to wake up early, drive back and forth for 4 hours and actually lose money.

We got to Lake Ozette a little bit before 11am and I was very excited to finally start hiking.

Trailhead

The 3.1 mile hike to the coast was flat and easy on very well constructed boardwalks.

The beginning

Tall thin trees

As I got close to the Pacific Ocean, it got more and more damp and humid. The sounds of waves and the ocean smell were getting stronger and stronger until I finally saw the beach. The views were spectacular.

First view of the Pacific Ocean

Ozette Island in the background

Cape Alava

I sat down to eat some Peanut M&Ms and a raccoon was circling me from a distance, looking for a chance to steal them from me. All this beach hiking was new to me. There is no trail most of the time, so you just walk by the water, looking for wet packed sand to sink as little as possible. I saw a little interesting island called Tskawahyah Island which was accessible in the low tide. I got close until I saw a sign asking people to not climb it since it is a sacred place for the Native Americans. I turned around and continued north.

Tskawahyah Island

Colorful rocks on the beach

Olympic Coast

Some sections of the beach were impassable, so there were short trails inland to go around. To reach these trails, I had to climb up steep hills using the installed ropes.

Ropes to reach inland trails

I soon realized that I was hiking faster than I expected. Despite slowing down and trying to enjoy my surroundings as much as possible, I got to my intended campsite at Ozette River way too early, at around 2pm. There were already 2 groups of campers, one on each side of the river. Fording the river was easy, the water only reached halfway up my shins.

Ozette River

Seagulls by the beach

Seagull

I decided to relax and stop for the day. Filtered some water and walked around the campsite. There are some camping spots on solid ground away from the beach, but you can’t see the ocean from there. Looking for better views, I decided to camp on the sand instead, hoping that the high tide (which according to the tide table was arriving in the middle of the night) wouldn’t reach my spot. One thing I noticed on the coast is how much trash is washed up from the ocean. There is a pit toilet a short walk away from the beach. Fortunately I didn’t have to use it.

Trash washup up from the ocean

Directions to the toilet

It had been chilly all throughout the day, the fog was so thick that I never saw the sun. I collected some firewood and started a fire to provide some warmth.

Camping by Ozette River

View from inside the tent

I stayed out reading maps and catching up on my journal until it got dark, and retired to my tent around 8pm. I thought the sound of the ocean waves would bother me at night, but it proved to be very soothing as I fell asleep.

It felt good to be camping again, it had been almost a year since the John Muir Trail.

Next entry: Day 2 – Ozette River Crossing to Shi Shi Beach
Lake Ozette to Shi Shi Beach Hike Index
Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal

Olympic Coast

Planning
Packing List
Day 1 – Lake Ozette to Ozette River Crossing
Day 2 – Ozette River Crossing to Shi Shi Beach
Day 3 – Shi Shi Beach and Hitchhiking to Port Angeles

Part of the Pacific Northwest Trip Journal