Ozette Lake campground |
Taryn (once again) exercised her trip planning prowess and assembled the troop of 12 hikers for this beautiful oceanside hike across the border on the coast of Washington state. All we had to do was get ourselves into a car, bring some food, and show up. Taryn took care of park permits, picking up the mandatory bear cans, and finding out where cars can be parked and how they should be shuttled to leave a car at the trailhead where we planned on finishing the hike.
Not wanting to consume a vacation day, we passed on Team Early. Team Late was to depart after work, so Deb and I joined Team Afternoon as an excuse to skip off early on Friday. Darren had already volunteered to drive and I could park in his parking spot with his truck gone for the weeknd, so I drove out to his place in Port Moody with Deb's and my packs. Despite leaving home at 2:30, it took a solid hour to get there thanks to the long weekend rush hour.
We picked up Bill and Kaitlyn, got Deb about an hour later than planned from Lougheed Skytrain, stopped in Langley for Kaitlyn to find her passport, spent over an hour and a half at the border line up, and stopped for dinner in Bellingham. At this point, we changed our name from Team Afternoon to Team Leisure.
There weren't many cars in the Edmonds to Kingston ferry lineup (quite surprising really, at 11:30pm) and the wait afforded the guys from Port Moody a chance to pick up some alcohol. Once across Puget Sound, it was another three hours of driving to reach the Ozette Lake campground. We tried as best as we could to stay awake to keep Darren company and attentive, but we all passed in and out of consciousness (except for Darren of course - good job Darren!).
We arrived near 3:30am, found Greg's car, and pulled in alongside. As quietly as we could, we pitched our tents and passed out. We found out the next morning that Team Late had indeed beaten us there, catching the ferry sailing before ours.
Michael and Darren departed on a shuttling mission to leave a car at the end of our hike while the rest of us took it easy. We had a leisurely breakfast and set off down the trail to beat the tide cutoffs along the trail. The drivers were strong hikers who should have no trouble catching up to the rest of the group.
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Ozette Lake campground |
The first half of day 1 took us through the forest and down to the coast at Cape Alava. Most of that was on boardwalk, so it didn't take too long to cover the distance. There we stopped for a light snack.
Although there were a couple of headlands where we wanted lower tides for rounding, it was the crossing of the Ozette River which really dictated our pace. Owing to Taryn's trip planning, we reached the river right at the low tide; the water was up just over our knees. The water was cold and the current strong, and I wouldn't want to attempt the crossing at anything but low tide.
Fording Ozette River |
Debra |
Cynthia and shirtless boy |
Cynthia |
We set up camp on the other side of the river. Our food group didn't really eat lunch at Cape Alava, so we headed down to the beach to eat. The sun even came out for a while, so we spent a couple of hours relaxing and napping on driftwood logs.
Whittling for kindling |
Lunch chefs |
Blue sky |
With the gruelling afternoon behind us, we sought to replenish the energy we had spent since lunch. We cooked up a fine meal of burritos behind the wind shelter Greg had erected and enjoyed the fire the other guys built while we were busy napping.
Burritos |
With many of us suffering from a sleep deficit, we called it an early night and went to sleep after cleaning up. It was great to spend all waking hours in daylight, and I didn't use my headlamp at all that day.
Again, we had tide constraints on our second day of the hike. There was a headland that we had to pass before 6:30pm, but we were also blocked from starting too early by another headland that wouldn't be passable until 10am or so. Michael and I had planned to get up early and make pancakes, so I was up bright and early. It gave me some tranquil time to wander around the woods and down the beach a bit before I managed to wake Michael up. A bunny even hopped by for a brief visit; all I can say is that beach bunnies are cute.
Tents in the forest |
Pancake time |
Pancake with chocolate topping |
After breakfast, it was time to pack up and start hiking. The second day was spent mostly on the beach, although there were a couple of impassable headlands that required an overland route later in the day.
Inquiring minds want to know |
A big colony of something that wasn't quite gooseneck barnacles growing on a float |
At the first tide cutoff, the beach route was still being swamped by the surf, but Deb and I bravely walked through that. The others took a route over the boulders, except for Michael and John who tried to time the surf like a video game.
Deb rounding tide cutoff ... |
... amidst the surf |
Over the boulders route |
Eagle |
Craned neck |
Arch |
The first half of the day's hike was simple beach hiking with only small stretches of the soul sucking variety where the sand gives way with every step making progress very effortful. Then there was a boulder field which was fun for some and challenging for others, but it definitely took longer for all involved. We could only imagine what it was like scrambling over the boulders for the group from North Vancouver we met at camp the previous night - the four adults were accompanied by three children, the youngest being three years old. We rewarded our success at conquering the boulders by stopping for lunch.
Ladybug |
Close up |
After lunch, we were faced with the impassable headlands where the trail turned sharply uphill over the obstacle. The climbs and descents were very steep, and were difficult even with the ropes that had been strung down the worst parts. It made me think again of the North Vancouver group, with kids being carried while navigating the roped climbs.
We camped at Petroleum Creek which flowed out partway down Shi Shi Beach. There was already a group on the south side of the creek, so we set up in the woods on the north side. (These guys were from White Rock and had been coming here since the 1970s.) There weren't too many flat spaces, so tents ended up being packed pretty tightly. After dinner, we went out to the beach for a nice campfire.
It was a bit darker than the night before at bedtime, but once again I succeeded at not using an artificial light.
On the last day, the drivers were sent off on the trail early so maximise the efficiency of car fetching. The rest of us got to sleep in a bit and enjoy breakfast before packing up. We only had a small distance left on the beach before a well placed glove pointed the way inland.
Glove says Cynthia did it |
Poles for balance while napping |
Deb at end of Shi Shi Beach |
We always knew that Cynthia packs a cast iron frying pan |
After a short but steep (and sans rope) climb, we arrived at the park boundary. From this point on, the trail was an easy meander through native lands, with some boardwalk and some double track trail.
Park boundary |
Michael and John comparing pack sizes |
We had just enough time at the trailhead parking lot to eat some lunch and clean out the bear canisters before the cars returned to pick us up. Greg and Taryn took care of returning the canisters for us (thanks Greg and Taryn!).
We should spill oil to protect forests?? |
We got stuck on the Hood Canal Floating Bridge as it opened to let a couple of ships through. It turned out that the other two cars were in line behind us, despite all three cars deciding to make various stops before this point.
Looking north from the bridge |
Looking south from the bridge |
Stop ahead when flashing |
Incoming ship |
Thanks everyone for a great trip, and thanks again to Taryn for all the planning!
Go back to some of my other pictures.
