The great thing about living here is the choice you have for outdoor stuff. Want the desert? head east, want mountains, they're right here. Want to go to the sea? You don't have far to go. This is our second trip out to Ozette in the Olympic National park. There is a great loop trail to the coast.
It's a 3 mile hike to the shore, most of the trail is wood planking and fairly level
The only downside to this place is that there are only a few outhouses at the beach and your on your own on the way there and back. After getting to the beach and using one of those outhouses..I was perfectly happy to stick to the bushes for bathroom breaks.
After you go through the woods for awhile you get to some very pretty meadows that had lots of wildflowers
Eventually you get to the beach. One section is very rocky with pounding surf and lots and lots of stinky seaweed. Back in the 70's there was a big storm that washed away a part of the beach. This exposed a significant find of Indian Artifacts, tools, baskets, tools, parts of longhouses,all kinds of things. There was an archaeological dig there and today you can see everything they found at the Makah museum at Neah Bay.
Today there is a small shack with a plaque commemorating the event. From the looks of it people like to leave things they found on the beach there. It was full of all kinds of animal bones, shells and feathers.
From here we trekked on towards sand point. There are lots of tide pools to poke around in. I was really tickled to be able to hear seals barking out in the surf.
The weather was warm but very misty on our visit.
Bf climbs some rocks.
We walked right by this deer resting in the driftwood and only spotted her when we happened to glance behind us
The Bf and I tend to do things at different speeds, especially beaches and antique shows. At the beach, especially this one, I like to look for sea glass. At a gift shop in Seaside you could buy bags of the stuff..I almost did until I saw on the bag that is was "made in China" I guess the stuff I pick up on the beach probably comes from China too.
Anyway, because I feel the compulsion to scan the sand for minuscule bits of glass I tend to move slower than BF. For him to get a ways ahead of me isn't unusual.
So as I was absorbed in pleasing my inner magpie ( pretty shiny things!) I became aware that Bf had gone out of view behind a rock up ahead. I then hear him make some strange sounds, something not quite like a scream or shout but something than led me to believe something unpleasant if not very interesting had happened. I look up to see him come scurrying back around the rock. I asked him if he stepped into a pile of stinky slimy seaweed, ( as I had done earlier in the day, causing me to make similar sounds) He said no and that I really needed to come and see what's around the rock.
Ok, so I'm thinking maybe a jellyfish, or a dead fish or something mundane. I get around the rock and look, I see nothing unusual..I look again ...nope can't really see anything out of the ordinary..I take a few more steps and it's then that I realize the large (very large) rock about 4 feet in front of me is odd...it has flippers..it is in fact a large dead sea lion.
Yep, believe it or not a dead sea lion can blend in with beach rocks very,very well. Poor Bf didn't notice what it was until he was almost on top of it. He admits it, it scared the crap out of him too.
After that I looked closely at big rocks before stepping on them!
Yes, I know your wondering..I did take a picture of it...the BF has a really good pix of it and once I get it from him I'll put it on here. His is a more pg version
More rocks and sea
The tide coming in, you have to be careful on this loop. After your 3 mile trek to the beach you have another 3 miles to go down the beachto get to the trail going back. There are a couple of places where the tide will cut you off and you have to make a arduous climb up steep hills to get around.
Seagulls like slimy, stinky seaweed.
After we get to Sand Point we like to take a break and rest. This part of the beach is called Sand Point because unlike the rest of the beach it's nice and sandy. We usually take a short nap before heading back. It's a terrific day out, long and very tiring we figure when you count all the tide pool wandering you do it's about an mile round trip. Plus the long drive there and back ( we left the house at am, got home at about 10.30pm)
We did this trip a couple of years ago and will probably be back in a year or so.
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