Washington’s Olympic Peninsula was a wonderful place to grow up, and although I now call the Willamette Valley of Oregon my home, I love heading north for trips to visit all of my favorite places with my children. On our trip in June we met up with my parents for a backpacking trip to Shi-Shi Beach out on the section of coastline that is part of the Olympic National Park. We used to do this hike nearly every summer when I was growing up, driving in on some gated logging roads to which my father got the key from the timber company, and parking at a little used trailhead with a short, brushy hike down the hill along Petrolium Creek to the beach. Back in the 1960’s, one could drive in on these roads and a handful of self-reliant folks built cabins out there from driftwood and scrap lumber, creating their own little settlement before it was acquired by the Park. I remember seeing the remnants of a meditation hut and shrine, and some old outhouses with a view when I was out there as a child. I always used to enjoy imagining what it would have been like to live out there.
Since the beach became National Park Land and gated roads made the beach more remote and limited in access, another trailhead was created for backpackers from the north on the Makah Tribal Reservation which is quite a bit longer and muddier, as well as a trickier route along the beach hugging the cliffs at low tide from Lake Ozette to the south, but we always went our special back-door route. Having not been in over 10 years, I didn’t know quite what to expect. My parents said a bridge was washed out and we would be hiking 3 miles along the old logging roads to get in. When we got to the end of driveable roads (I say driveable, but that was just barely in my Subaru) to start hiking, I quickly realized no one else had been this way much in the last decade either. Now, my dad is one burly adventurer, and how he knew which brushy, grown over roads to take, I did not know, but he led us all off on our hike and presently we arrived at the old gravel parking area, so overgrown I barely recognized it. Then we set off on our old trail, which was now much less brushy because all the trees had grown up tall and dense leaving little light for understory vegetation. Once we reached the edge of the creek ravine to drop down to the beach, however, the trail was completely overgrown and we followed my dad, elk hunter and tracker extraordinaire, off on a bushwhacking adventure. Once again, how he knew where we were supposed to be going, I do not know, but we made it safe and sound down to the beach. No need to wonder where my rugged sense of adventure came from.
We hiked along the shore to the Point of Arches where a little campsite tucked back in the trees allowed for close access to the tidepools. We almost had the beach to ourselves aside from some scientists doing population counts on sand dwelling organisms. It was pretty neat watching them lay out all their plots.
As soon as camp was set up, the kids headed out for the tidepools. We were lucky to have arrived on a weekend with very low tides, allowing access to some of the sea caves and pools farther out on the point that are underwater much of the time.
We started out making friends with the starfish.
We found one floating loose, waiting to reattach itself to a rock and carefully turned it over to look at all the wriggling little suction cups on the bottom.
I went with my daughter and her best friend out to one sea cave where we found sun stars!
They are much softer bodied than starfish and have many more legs. These little guys can also move! We watched two of them crawl over to this starfish and start talking to each other by rubbing their suction cups together and then crawled away to their own corners of the tidepool. It isn’t every day you get to watch sea creatures have a conversation.
I’m not sure what this one is saying, but I think it’s a greeting of sorts.
Then we had a high time visiting with the crabs. Little rock crabs scuttled about the seaweed and hermit crabs scuttled about in all their fancy shells.
The girls spent some time playing hermit crab school, teaching them about not pinching one another and such. They set out empty shells and watched one make the move into a new home.
This was my favorite tidepool of all, a perfect ring of starfish around a pool of bright green sea anemones.
I found a lot of exposed mussels and gooseneck barnacles on the rocks, both of which are good wild foods of the seashore.
We steamed up a few mussels over the campfire, and they were delightful.
A beach campfire at the end of the day and listening to the waves as a lullaby at night brought back great memories of all my childhood excursions out to Shi-Shi. I’m glad my kids got to share that experience and hike in on that trail one last time before nature re-claims it entirely. I’m glad to be raising such hardy little backpackers, and exposing them to these magnificent far-flung corners of the Pacific Northwest. I am hopeful that they will carry these wild places with them in their hearts as I do, and that they will gain sustenance from them throughout their lives.
Such is the heritage of outdoor-folk.
love, love, love these photos!!!
Backpacking