Kevin's Travel Blog

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

Journal entry for August 7, 2010.
Approximate distance hiked: 3 miles, 4.8 km.

It started raining in the middle of the night. Not a strong rain, but a constant one. I packed up quickly and walked the 0.5 mile to the northern end of Shi Shi Beach, where the trail head is. On the way there, I spotted lots of starfish stuck on the rocks.

Starfish on Shi Shi Beach

Starfish on Shi Shi Beach

Starfish on Shi Shi Beach

Shi Shi Beach

One last look at Shi Shi Beach

There is a recently constructed 2.5 mile trail to a parking lot by Hatchery Rd, which is the only road that goes to Shi Shi beach. The trail starts with a very steep climb, before flattening out. In many parts it was extremely muddy, but I still enjoyed hiking it. I made sure to look around and enjoy the green forest scenery. I didn’t take pictures though because I didn’t want my camera to get wet.

Unlike from Port Angeles to the start of my hike, I wasn’t able to organize a shuttle to pick me up and return to Port Angeles. No buses came to this area. The closest they go to is to Neah Bay, which is about 12 miles north, so I was hoping to hitch a ride there. When I reached the small parking lot, I only saw 3 cars. I was expecting a lot of activity with people arriving and leaving, but that was not the case. Time was very tight, since the only Saturday morning bus leaves Neah Bay at 9:50am, and it was already 9:15am. 10 minutes later I see 3 people finishing the hike and arriving at the parking lot, but they told me that they had no space in their car. I stand there in the rain for about 30 minutes, there was no traffic whatsoever, so I decided to started walking the road.

Hatchery Road

I had never hitchhiked before, except for when I finished the John Muir Trail one year before. I wouldn’t really call that one instance real hitchhiking, since it was under different circumstances (everybody at Whitney Portal were hikers leaving for Lone Pine) and I was able to get a ride within 1 minute. This day was very different. It was still raining, but the rain gear kept me dry, except for my feet. I was having fun walking through the countryside, I could see the ocean from time to time, and there were a few small houses and farms on the side of the road. I felt a real sense of adventure, walking into the unknown. I walked about 3 miles, with about 10 cars passing and ignoring me. I started to wonder if I was going to be able to get a ride at all. Finally, a gentleman named Justin picked me up in his pickup truck. He was on his way to Neah Bay. He was very nice, and told me he had lived the area his entire life. I got to Neah Bay around 10am, way too late to catch the bus.

Port Angeles was still 80 miles away. Neah Bay is a very small town, but the road that goes through it had a fair amount of traffic. I walked to the edge of the town and stuck my thumb out again. Within a minute Paul picked me up on his new-looking Range Rover. I felt bad getting his leather seats wet, but he told me he didn’t mind. Paul is originally from England, but is now living in Neah Bay working as the captain of a cruise ship that goes all the way to Alaska. He was driving to Clallam Bay, 20 miles away, to rent a couple of DVDs. There was no other closer place for him to do this, and he had no cable or TV signal where he lived. He also had hiked the previous week the same hike I had just finished.

Paul left me at Clallam Bay, where I resumed my hitchhiking adventures. I got picked up again within a minute, this time by Robert in an old pickup truck. I was starting to see the pattern: if you a single guy, only single male drivers will pick you up. Families and single female drivers will look at you with distrust, understandably. Paul is a fisherman who had just spent the previous 4 days on a fishing boat. He was nice enough to do a little detour to show me a small waterfall, the Elwha Dam, and spectacular Lake Crescent with its crystal clear water.

Waterfall

Lake Crescent

Lake Crescent

Robert dropped me off at the Wilderness Information Center in Port Angeles, where I returned my bear canister. I thanked him for the huge favor he had done for me, and said good bye. I then walked the 20 blocks or so back to The Downtown Hotel, and spent the night watching TV.

I really enjoyed the Lake Ozette to Shi Shi Beach hike. It was completely different from anything I had done before, and it was more challenging and fun than I had expected. The hitchhiking was a lot of fun too, and I was lucky to meet three very nice and interesting people. I enjoyed learning about their way of life that is very different than the one I see everyday in Los Angeles.

The whole area of the Olympic Peninsula is just gorgeous. I feel that I barely scratched its surface, so I hope I’ll get another chance to return in the future.

Next entry: Victoria, Canada
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: 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