[dean brittain]

The forecast for the coast on Friday said upper 80's and sunny skies. I'll believe it when I see it. Took the 7:10 Edmonds ferry and arrived at the trailhead at 10:45. Super nice out and only one car in the overnight lot. My wife and I left our truck behind in high spirits thinking we would be walking on a firm sandy beach most of the way. WRONG! We were haulin’ up the beach past Hole In The Wall until we reached the first point. This was very rocky and we hiked slower than expected. With all the weight of the finer things in life (beer, too much food etc.), these were some big step ups and downs. The tide did not turn out to be an issue today since it was negative. The cove before Cape Johnson is very beautiful, but slow going, with a section of recliner sized boulders. We’ve only seen a couple of campsites up till this point. With help from the ranger lady at Mora ranger station, we mark our Green Trails map where there are campsites. We zero in on one about a half mile past Cape Johnson. A power bar has carried us till this point. The stretch where the campsite should be is very rocky coastline and a steep bluff that stretched around the next point. What the hell!? If you’ve never done a coast hike before, like us, it’s pretty demanding on the legs with a heavy pack. I was ready to park it at this point. Our next camp symbol we penciled in is past a point on our Green Trails map that says “Danger Never Round”. Now we’re thinking is it safe to just camp on the beach itself? That’s no good now anyway since the stretch were on is too steep of a beach. We cross the next point with the help of a rope and drag ourselves down a nice sandy section. Rounding a slight corner we stop to desperately find a campsite. There is a creek near us so we strip our packs to search. I spot a rope tied to a root at the top of a slope. Lisa climbs up to find the perfect spot. Total score! Awesome sandy beach with Jagged Island out in front of us, along with many seastacks and drinkable water near by to boot This is our home for the next two days We set up camp and run around barefoot in the surf watching eagles fly all around us. Only a lone hiker has passed us today. The temperature is in the mid 80’s. We end the day with one of the best sunsets we have seen and have a nice smokeless driftwood fire. The next day ,we plan to day hike as far as the tide will allow us to go. We check out the Starbuck Creek Patrol Cabin on the bluff just north of our campsite and descend the long rope back to the beach. Today has some fog hanging around, but it’s still warm. We see small deer chasing each other on the beach near the Starbuck Mine site. We come across a couple with a 5 year old daughter. Knowing that were 7+ miles from the nearest trailhead, I was very curious how they managed to make it here. All I saw was a hip pack. We used the Norwegian Memorial as a turnaround and headed back, passing a couple of backpackers. We thought we were clouded in for the sunset, but got to see a dim red sphere set for about 20 minutes, it was amazing! Day 3 brought the sun out early. We take in the surroundings over a cup of coffee. We notice a young eagle swooping down on a seagull in the water in front of us about 30 yards offshore. After witnessing gulls scatter at the sight of an eagle, I wonder why the gull doesn’t get the heck out of there. After the third or fourth swoop, the eagle snatches the gull out of the water and lands on shore in front of us and begins to eat the thing alive. Whoa! This was quite the surprise to us. We had no idea an eagle would eat other birds. We wondered if the eagle knew the seagull was injured by the gulls’ unwillingness to escape. We pack up camp and put on sunscreen for the trip out. We see a pair of deer, then saw seals bathing on the rocks when we stopped to catch our breath. It took us five hours to get back to the car where we promptly made a beeline to the nearest beer store.

[strider]

Several years ago, a Boy Scout planned, provisioned for, and made repairs to the cabin on Lookout Point. As part of his Eagle project, he also did a good deal of reserach on the coast watch system in place on the peninsula during WWII. He built a binder (with laminated pages to protect the paper). The book was in the shack and gave a very interesting historical account of the coast watchers. Historical data, photographs, logistics of resupply for the watchers, it was very complete and quite interesting. Was the book still there?

[foofoofunky]

It sure was, and we enjoyed looking at it!

[dicentra]

Great report. Thanks. The Olympic coast IS a beautiful place, isn't it.