OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WA :: I joined some friends for a weekend of hiking and camping on the Olympic Coast. Our destination was Sand Point via the Ozette Triangle. A relatively easy, but very scenic introduction to backpacking for the two newbies in our group.
We had a little difficulty getting to the trailhead, thanks to Mr. T (the voice of my TomTom GPS). For some reason, Mr. T thought it would be fun to plan a route through miles and miles of logging roads. Just outside of Forks, we reenacted the opening scene of nearly every slasher movie: A car full of happy campers enters a dirt road, believing it's a shortcut. They follow the road in good spirits, excited by the new venture. They're anxious to get to their destination, and turning around would be a waste of time. Surely, the trail is just a few minutes away...
After many skeptical turns and crossing a bridge to enter a swamp, it's been an hour. Doubt begins to creep into the minds of our happy campers. The forest seems to close in, constricting and becoming darker. Despite a zero percent chance of precipitation in the forecast, it begins to rain. The group passes by a strange van, parked in the shadows. Doubt turns into despair, despair turns into dread... They drive on, and several minutes later, Mr. T has led our campers to a DEAD END.
"Turn around, Fool!" yells Mr. T.
Fools, indeed. We backtracked the entire way, and then repeated the sequence again! The second time on a different logging road that eventually ended with a locked gate. We backtracked once more and finally got back on the highway towards Ozette. There we encountered another delay: the rangers were out too lunch. So we waited several more minutes to get our permits and bear canister. All told, our trip was postponed by nearly two hours, but at least we had survived Mr. T's sinister plot. (Mr. T has since been replaced with a much improved and benevolent Garmin 775T.)
The rest of the weekend was excellent! The weather improved and we enjoyed a brisk hike along the boardwalk to Cape Alava. There, we turned South, negotiating through the rocky beach to Sand Point, stopping to check out the petroglyphs at Wedding Rocks along the way. Our permit allowed us to camp about half a mile beyond the Point, where we found a cool campsite within the trees, but we decided to pitch our tents on the open beach instead. Jake made an awesome gumbo, and we shared about 4 liters of wine throughout the night. It wasn't enough, but it nearly made up for us not being able to have a camp fire. After the gorgeous sunset, the stars and the Milky Way were out. We clapped and cheered for the meteors.
The trip was about ten miles total, mostly level. Check out
Jake's website for more photos.
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