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JVesquire
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JVesquire
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PostSun Mar 20, 2016 9:36 am 
For a while, I had wondered about the Ozette Indian Reservation. Why is that little rectangle on the map there? There isn't an Ozette tribe, of course. A little investigation uncovered that the Ozette village was one of the principal villages of the Makah tribe and, when the US government set aside reservations for the Makah, they also made an Ozette reservation. Since 1937, the reservation has been uninhabited, when the last remaining resident moved to Neah Bay. The population had ebbed and flowed prior to that, as the Makah who resisted white education moved to Ozette to keep their children out of reservation schools. It's hard to imagine how hard a life it would have been on the Ozette reservation. Nearly always wet and wind-blasted, they somehow found a way to use seal skins and whales to keep warm and fed--the Ozette band of the Makah were skilled whale hunters. Around 1970, a hiker discovered a landslide that had exposed pre-contact houses and artifacts. Some of these are on display at the Makah Tribal Museum. There is a replica cedar house on the site. I hiked north through the reservation at high tide. A storm must have washed up the sailors-on-the-wind, as a slick, purple slime covered the beaches. I apparently didn't get a good picture of this but the smell--fishy--really stuck with me.
The reservation ends, and you reenter ONP, near the mouth of the Ozette River. The river was running fast, near high tide. I watched it for a while then felt eyes on my back. An Osett ghost? Nope--harbor seals.
A River Runs Into It
A River Runs Into It
Hey there
Hey there
Hole in the Wall, Plus Tree
Hole in the Wall, Plus Tree
I waited long enough for medium tide to start south again. The ONP side north of the reservation has some nice secluded beaches that could hold a tent at anything less than 9 foot tides. There are tide pools near the reservation border worth a look. After mucking about the tide pools, I looked up and saw two dudes in frog suits riding a ski-doo. Well, it probably wasn't a ski-doo. It looked military grade. I couldn't make out the name on the watercraft. Navy? Coast Guard?
PAR-TAAYYYY!!!!
PAR-TAAYYYY!!!!
I visited the cedar cabin on the way back. The Makahs have a memorial erected, as well as more than a few artifacts. Just south of the cabin, I spoke with a woman who was studying the site and believes that eroision may have uncovered additional evidence of homes on the site. The previous dig eventually ran out of money and the site was tarped for future research.
I considered finishing the whole triangle on the way back, but bailed. I had collected about 30 pounds of unwieldy garbage. The Ozette Triangle is unbelievably popular. I would not even consider going here in the summer, given how many people were on it today. Nevertheless, it is a pretty easy hike and a good one to introduce youngsters too, compared with some of the other more challenging beach hikes. On the way out, I located Roose's cabin.
Ol' Pete was a smart guy. He put his outhouse downhill from his well. That fence, though, looks a little too straight. Straighter than my fence for sure.
Still works!
Still works!
The Crapper
The Crapper
This stunk my car up the whole way home.
After all those years looking at the Ozette reservation and wondering, it was cool to discover it a bit. I'd like to pretend that I felt some connection with all the Ozettes who lived and died here, but that wasn't the case. There isn't a spooky feeling, no ghosts of the past residents that I could see. It's just a wilderness beach, beautiful and wind blasted at the same time. I do wonder what it would have been like to be the last Ozette living out there, for sure. Hard to imagine.

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HitTheTrail
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PostSun Mar 20, 2016 1:08 pm 
Looks like an interesting trip. up.gif Thanks for taking the effort to clean-up some trash.

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contour5
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PostSun Mar 20, 2016 1:58 pm 
An excellent post from the coast! Ski-dooers might be part of the Navy Seal exercises underway on many Wa beaches this winter

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Redwic
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Joined: 23 Feb 2009
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Redwic
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PostSun Mar 20, 2016 2:50 pm 
Wonderful TR! Thank you for sharing! up.gif up.gif up.gif

60 pounds lighter but not 60 points brighter.
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RodF
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Location: Sequim WA
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PostSun Mar 20, 2016 3:47 pm 
Thanks for sharing your photos and journey (and for packing out 30 pounds of garbage!) Deep history endures in this corner of Olympic Wilderness.

"of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt" - John Muir "the wild is not the opposite of cultivated. It is the opposite of the captivated” - Vandana Shiva
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puzzlr
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puzzlr
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PostSun Mar 20, 2016 4:12 pm 
Thanks for picking up the garbage -- is some this still the remnants from the Sendai tsunami?

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Malachai Constant
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PostSun Mar 20, 2016 4:12 pm 
A friend of the family was a major actor on the dig from WSU I toured the site when it was active and they found a lot of interesting things. Some even included a possibility of contact from China. The museum in Neah Bay is fascinating.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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JVesquire
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Location: Pasco, WA
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PostSun Mar 20, 2016 7:38 pm 
Sheesh, I forgot to mention the great people at the Breakwater Restaurant in Clallam Bay. I had a great sandwich, fries, and bottle of Rainier. Definitely the place to stop on the way home.

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