Rialto Beach north to Chilean Memorial May 12, 2012

A forecast of sunshine for the weekend meant a trip to the coast! We try to make it to the beach about once per year. It's a great place to go when the mountains are still covered in snow. We were originally planning a slightly longer hike, but after a night of car camping near forks, I woke up with a weird shoulder pain and decided not to push it. Instead we opted for a shorter trip from Rialto up to Hole-in-the-wall and onto Chilean Memorial. 

We left fairly early in the morning and headed out into glorious sunshine. We had some nice low tides exposing lots of rocky beaches and tide pools. We took our time exploring as we went. We were hoping to find a nice secluded beach with good camping. At Chilean Memorial we found just that. There was a great campsite just a little ways up the bluff very near the actual memorial. We had the beach to ourselves...well almost. One solo backpacker came in just before dark, but he was pretty quiet.

We made a yummy dinner and then had a campfire out on the sand. We spent the rest of the evening listening to the waves, exploring around the beach and just relaxing. It was a warm evening which allowed for lots of star gazing. Coast camping moves at a slower speed than most of our backpacking trip. The next morning we packed up and headed back out. Stopping for several photo ops along the way. Great trip!

Crashing waves on a rocky beach

Coming up to hole-in-the-wall

Black Oyster Catchers

Hole in the Wall

Beach Panorama

Star fish

Anenomes

lots of sea stacks

Watch out for that wave!

The view from our campsite

Making a fire

Our camp

Back to hole-in-the-wall

Through the hole!

Shi Shi Beach

The guys planned a surprise weekend trip for Sarah and I which turned to be out a really great relaxing trip. We headed out Friday after work knowing we needed to be packed for backpacking, but not sure where we were headed. When we caught the Bainbridge Ferry, we were pretty confident we were headed to the Olympics but they still refused to divulge any information. We set up camp Friday night at Leland Lake campground which we had mostly to ourselves.

Saturday started with a stop in Port Angeles for permits, bear canisters, and coffee. We then drove onto the Makah Reservation where we picked up an additional permit and parked in a private overnight lot about a mile from the Shi Shi Beach trailhead. We loaded up and hit the trail. The trail goes for about 2 miles on reservation land until you hit the Olympic National Park boundary and drop down to the beach. On the beach it is another mile or 2 to Point of the Arches, a dramatic set of rocks and cliffs on the beach. We set up camp in the trees near one of the creeks that enters the beach. There were quite a few groups out, but the noise of the ocean and the thick forest around our camp gave us the feeling of being all alone.

Overlooking Shi Shi Beach

Beach Hiking

Our Campground

It was a gloriously warm day which we spent lounging in the sand and exploring the area. After dinner we walked down to Point of the Arches to check out the tide pools and watch the sunset. It was a fabulous night. The next morning Sam & Sarah headed out early to check out the new tide pools exposed by the mornings low tide. A little before lunch we headed back up the beach and to the cars. It was a very relaxing beautiful weekend.

Tide Pools

Exploring Point of the Arches

Sunset

More Sunset

Back at camp