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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 6:19:51 GMT -8
We started out from the Rialto Beach backpackers parking lot. The mists, swirling in a clockwise direction, served to create a tunnel effect that we walked into and combined with the sounds of the pounding surf to create a funnel that we were walking into as we departed from the trail head. I had read a number of journals of hikers and felt I was armed with loads of info on what my wife and I were getting into. Yet, there was still a learning curve to be tackled.
We left just after the low tide had started. We would learn about hiking by the 5's on this first day. Hiking by the 5's is to hike from 5 foot to 5 foot marks of the high and low tides. For me this was, initially, as I looked around, hard to imagine that the area I was walking on would be covered by 5 feet of water or more.
When we got to Hole in the Wall, I mused over hiking this trek with non-water proof boots. The Hole in the Wall area was the lead in for the typical terrian we would be encountering for a lot of the backing trip. The terrian was mostly rocky with small pools of water filled with aquatic life of some sort. The exposed rocks had a layer of green or brown algae. Hiking poles came in handy.
Sometimes there was a hiking area above the high tide line which had its own flavor of footing. The higher up the beach the more jagged the rocks would become. At times I would hike away from the steep hills and other times I would hike close to the hills to get a change of footing. When there was beach the options for hiking ranged from loose sand, hard packed sand, loose rocks, and hard packed rocks. I tried to stay on hard packed sand. The loose rocks and loose sand tended to rob the energy of each step.
We were caught by the incoming tide. We were lucky to be in a place where we could wait out the tide change in relative comfort. I had bought some dried salmon from the Rear View RV Park, which we snacked on whiles looking out at the ocean. After a while, I noticed a line of dark shapes, under the water, moving along the reef. After a time a dark shape veered off and moved towards us. I was delighted to see that the dark shape turned out to be a sea lion that poked its head up when it got close to us. I think they took turns to investigate the 'things' sitting on the shore.
Our destination for the day was to camp at the Norwegian Memorial. We made camp, cooked dinner, and retreated to the tent. My wife reminded herself that this was her first ocean sunset so she snapped this photo to preserve the moment:
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 7:06:41 GMT -8
The next morning, the first thing I did, after waking up was to check on how much moisture had built up on the inside of the tent. None. One of the thoughts I went to sleep with was that I'd find it to be 'raining' on us from all the moisture in the air. I was delighted to find no mositure had built up on the inside of our single wall tent. We ate breakfast as we broke camp and packed up our gear. I was carrying a large sized bear can. I would learn from my experience, on this day, that to properly fill my water bladder I would need to remove the bear can before filling the bladder. We spent the high tide planted on a platform on Yellow Banks.  There are several water sources flowing from the hills to the ocean at Yellow Banks. Our destination for the day was a creek near Cape Alava. We were not to make it to our desired destination. The rush to make our pre planned waypoints was washed away with the tide whiles we sat on the platform watching the tide change. We were able to leave a little bit before the 5 foot tide by using this 'tunnel'.  Tide still heading out:  Sandy Point was very pretty and would be a great place to camp and spend some time exploring. Sandy Point is on our revisit and explore list. We had met, on our first day a group of backpackers who we named the 'Young Guns'; 2 young women and 3 young men. When they first encountered us we were eating lunch looking at our maps. They noticed our maps. They asked to take photos of our maps. I had wrote notes on the maps that I got from reading journals from backpackers who had previously done this trip. A bit after rounding Sandy Point we encountered the Young Guns, they invited us to camp with them. After setting up our tent, I went to the area set aside for cooking. They were in the process of cooking when I arrived. We all gathered around, awaiting our meals to be done. I noticed they were watching how my wife and I were doing things. When our dinner was ready, way before theirs, they began asking us lots of questions about how we were doing things. They had plates and pots to wash. Whereas we ate out of a freezer bag and were cleaned up in no time. In short order they had their cameras out taking pictures of our equipment. Sunset Day 2 camp:  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 7:20:09 GMT -8
 We set out early on the thrid day to find water. We found that the topo maps do not show all the water sources that seep from the coastal hills. Many of the streams flowing from the hills are 'washed' away by the high tide. To find the water sources we walked close to the hills and kept our ears open for dripping or flowing water. Also, looking for floats tied up on the drift wood can show water sources or camping spots. My wife found this water source about 30 minutes after leaving the camp site:  It was at this point when I knew to fully fill our water bladder we had to remove the bear cans from our packs. As I filled the bladders, my wife made some coffee and made breakfast. Good times. Wedding Rocks:  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 7:33:38 GMT -8
Day 3 We arrived at the stream, just before Cape Alava, quite early in the morning. We decided to spend the day at this spot. We set the tent up so we could look out and view the ocean. As we set the tent up several deer wandered by, unconcerned with our activities.  We put on our spare clothes. I stayed in camp doing laundry and lazing about whiles my wife went out exploring the beach. I found a spot where I was to spend most of the day watching the tide.  At my sitting spot I was sang songs by the sea lions and was able to let the Young Guns know that they could get water a short way up the trail. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 7:37:50 GMT -8
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 7:52:18 GMT -8
 The 4th day, we began our coast walk back to Rialto. The evening before we worked out a plan for daily mileage but I wanted to spend the night at the platform at Yellow Banks. I saw that we'd be past Yellow Banks before the tides stopped us. How to manage stopping at Yellow Banks whiles there was still hiking time left was on my mind as we departed.  Me climbing a headland trail. For a variation we decided to make use of the headland trails  The mist can make the images seem to be out of focus. A view from a headland trail.  We learned that a short cut can be made by using the inland trails at Sandy Point. SQUEEE!!!!  These guys just ran out of the surf right in front of us.  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 7:58:09 GMT -8
Day 4: Rounding the Headland before Yellow Banks  I like being able to round this headland over using the tunnel to get to Yellow Banks. The tide pools were full of aquatic wild life and not covered by seaweed.   A shot of me from the Platform at Yellow Banks. Even though there was still time for hiking before the 5's, we, finally, talked about spending the night on the Platform. We both agreed that cutting the mileage short for a stay on the Platform would mean extra mileage added onto tomorrows hike. That would most likely mean hiking late into the evening to accommodate the tides. We spent the night cowboy camping on the Platform. My wifes first time cowboy camping. I thought it was neat how the mist seemed to rise from the sand and waft up the side of thie hill. There is a trail from Ozette Lake, need a boat to access the trail head, to Yellow Banks. After talking to a fellow, who was combing the beach for artifacts, I learned that floatsm from Japan are much sought items. After they left, with the in coming tide, we had the beach to ourselves. My wife took a swim in the ocean. After her swim we sat on the Platform and continued with our life's bonding. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 8:14:27 GMT -8
Day 5: After breaking camp, I begin to round the first headland of the day.  I so wanted to take a whale bone but I was able to resist  We are hold up waiting for the tide to go out, at a water source. Right in front of the logs used to be beach that we walked on.  We approach Cape Johnson as the sun begins to fade.  Shortly after this photo we don our head lamps and begin our journy around Cape Johnson.  We make it to the Chiliean Memorial, where we set up camp and finally at 11PM, retire to the tent to get a good nights sleep. My wife was not all that happy at this point. We were out of food for another night (the permit was for 6 nights). She was tempted to use our emergency food so we could spend one more night on the ONP Coast. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 8:20:36 GMT -8
On the 6th day we rounded the final headland and headed towards Hole in the Wall.  We encountered many day hikers at this point. With 1.7 miles left to go my wife walked slower and slower to savor the last of our beach walk.  And there are my last few steps of the backpacking trip. On the way back to Idaho we made plans to return in 2 years. Then we changed our plans to returning next year. |
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GaliWalker
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Post by GaliWalker on Aug 31, 2015 11:32:14 GMT -8
Very nice! I really enjoyed reading it. Hiking with a tide chart takes a bit of getting used to. I never backpacked the Washington coast but have made a few photography trips there during winter (when the high country was inaccessible). I remember my first trip to Shi Shi Beach was scuppered because of a higher than anticipated 'low' tide.  So, did you avoid the headland trails for the most part (I only caught one, near Sand Point, in your report)? |
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on Aug 31, 2015 12:20:27 GMT -8
Thanks for the report IW. Your images were an education as I have little studied areas north of the border. That island seacoast is generally more aesthetic to this person than our California coastline because conifers tend to grow densely right at the edge of that coast. Here in California most immediate coastal areas were pioneer settled with trees cleared for cattle grazing leaving most bluff areas open grasslands. The remaining areas still like that are limited and often second growth. And areas where we do have trees next to immediate coasts that are mostly in areas to the far northern part of the state, tend to have towering sea cliffs. A worthwhile visit for a future September though I would more likely do a limited out and back route. David www.davidsenesac.com/2015_Trip_Chronicles/2015_Trip-Chronicles-0.html |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 31, 2015 16:02:41 GMT -8
Great trip! There is something magical about the coast, though having lived around salt water much of my life I tend to take it for granted. As you learned, a tide chart is important for doing those trails, and it helps to be open to adjustments.
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BlueBear
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Post by BlueBear on Sept 2, 2015 12:10:33 GMT -8
Ahhh... the Olympic Coast. You make me miss it.  It's been too many years now. Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane! |
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jj
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Post by jj on Feb 25, 2016 14:39:49 GMT -8
There is a trail from Ozette Lake, need a boat to access the trail head, to Yellow Banks. After talking to a fellow, who was combing the beach for artifacts, I learned that floatsm from Japan are much sought items. After they left, with the in coming tide, we had the beach to ourselves. My wife took a swim in the ocean. After her swim we sat on the Platform and continued with our life's bonding. That at is so cool. We canoed to the island last Memorial Day weekend with 3 of our kids. Weather came in so we didn't make it to the monument. Hoping for a redo this year, weather permitting. Never thought about the beach hike. We live an hour from Staircase trailhead or 2ish from either Quinault or Dosewallips enterances so we always go to the mountains. |
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Feb 25, 2016 15:00:50 GMT -8
Great pics. Thanks for the report.
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It's been too many years now.
