Ozette Beach Loop and Shi Shi

On Sunday, Shaun (my brother-in-law) and I left at 5 p.m. destined for two or three days of hiking in the Olympic National Park. I had long heard about the amazing beaches that can be found there and are often listed as comprising some of the best beaches as well as the best hikes in North America.

Our first hike of choice was to do the Ozette Beach loop, including an extension up to the Ozette River. We were planning on crossing the river if possible and then camping as we made our way North towards Shi Shi (pronounced shy-shy).

I had planned this trip for a long time but it was dependant on weather…well it turns out that weather completely cooperated with us and it would just as well have been the best summer day imaginable. We had sunshine, no wind, and no fog. The mornings were crisp, but the days were indescribably pleasant.

After witnessing an amazing sunrise, we carefully walked the icy boardwalk to Sand Point. When we arrived at the beach the tide was high, but after climbing over the drift wood we found a narrow sandy beach that we were able to easily and safely walk.

Shortly after getting started we came across bear tracks in the sand. We hoped to see a bear, but in spite of sighting tracks twice, we never actually saw one.

The bald eagles immediately began putting on a show for us. I seriously think I saw more bald eagles than seagulls. It was amazing. They were around for both days. At times there were ten eagles in sight at once.

The rope scrambles (especially on day two) were a lot of fun and were needed to get around some of the rocky cliffs. (Fixed ropes are placed in sections that require climbing over the cliffs where the ocean comes right up to the rocks).
I had hoped to see some of the Native American petroglyphs that I had read about and we were fortunate enough to find them. They were awesome to see and obviously took a long time for someone to draw. They are deeply dug into the rocks and record a history of whale hunting as well as the arrival of Westerners by ship.

Late in the day we arrived at the Ozette River and realized that crossing it wasn’t the best idea. I knew we could go back to our motor home, drive to the Shi Shi trailhead, camp in the motor home, and do the North end the next day. This is what we ended up doing and after driving through Neah Bay we found a perfect campground on Hobuck Beach. We were the only campers there but they also had hot showers. Sunset on the beach was awesome and the next morning we drove four miles to the newly improved Shi Shi Beach trailhead.

Blue skies, a great surf, long beaches, sea stacks galore, arches (Point of the Arches), caves, cliff climbing, tide pool exploring, beach combing, wild-life watching (seals, eagles, deer, etc) all made for another unforgettable hike. Shi Shi beach was recently featured on the Travel Channel as one of the best beaches in North America, and it deserves that recognition. Still, the Point of the Arches and South of there are the best for unique beauty. We made it within sight of the Ozette River before turning around and getting back to our car at about 4 p.m.

All in all we hiked 26 miles in two days. We saw only four other people, each day. We drove by Lake Crescent on the way home and arrived home at 10:45 p.m. It was two incredible days, well spent.

For more photos, click on the link provided with the heading of this blog.