[jask]

Sifting through some old family pictures I figured I'd put together a report that dates from ca. 1962, although my memories no doubt stem from a mixture of years until it ended around 1964. We used to go camping year after year with another family on the long stretch of beach called Shi Shi. According to my father he found out about it from a colleague at the Bremerton shipyard sometime during the 50's, so from that point on we spent over a week each August camped out on the beach. When we got to the spot on the coast where the road officially ended at the Makah reservation, we stopped so the dads in our families could go and talk to somebody about permission to continue on and to camp at Shi Shi. Once it was OK we continued by heading south on a makeshift road.

The going went very slowly. Sometimes the road had to be "fixed" removing rocks, adding rocks, covering over holes with driftwood & what not but I believe we usually ended up parking those old cars close to the beach. The last bit involved carrying our heavy gear down to the beach, something I don't think I was involved in. It goes without saying we had the entire place to ourselves, and that it was a fabulous place and time to be a kid. Does anyone remember that heavenly smell of a canvas tent in the summer sun? We mostly jumped waves in the surf and explored the rocks at low tide, falling asleep early around the campfire. I also remember finding Japanese glass fishing net balls of all sizes on the beach. We had a nice collection on display in the garden at home until somebody stole them. One particularly interesting discovery was finding a real totem pole in the brush just off the beach. It told the story of disappointed miners holding empty pans. It would be interesting to find out what became of it.

No gold for these two

Washington kids

More Washington kids

One year the Makah Indians said no, we couldn't go there anymore, so our beloved Shi Shi vacations came to an end. I guess we just turned around and drove home. I have never been back even though the area is now in the National Park so I could actually go there again (am guessing it's a regulated quota area). In January 1978 I did return to where the road ends on the coast while on a trip showing my Norwegian fiancé a little bit of Washington. While walking on the beach someone took a shot at us from a distant cabin. We heard the bullet whiz overhead and clearly got the message that we needed to leave the beach immediately. Shaken and embarrassed – this wasn't the "little bit of Washington" I wanted to show him - the incident eventually slipped into the past, but he did tell people in Norway that he was "shot at by Indians" like in a Western movie. Anyway, returning to my report, the focus was to share those wonderful days spent as a child in a wilder and younger Washington. I'm glad I was around back then.

[Randito]

Awesome!

[Rigafari]

Wow..Cars on shi-shi!!Thanks for the stories and pics!

[jask]

Sounds like you know the area today Rigafari. I suppose the old totem pole is gone?

[mbravenboer]

Very interesting, thanks for posting! Different times for sure ... I don't remember seeing the totem at Shi Shi, but hopefully it got moved to a town or center where it is preserved.

[Ski]

fabulous! PM sent.

[Damian]

Best trip report ever . Thanks for posting this. Important stuff.

[Magellan]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[jackchinook]

Great TR that makes the imagination and nostalgia run wild. I'm not old enough to remember the pre-park days at Shi Shi, but I am old enough to remember when Seattle was a dramatically different city. Family trips to Camano, Whidbey, and the SJIs made some special memories of those places when they were much wilder and crustier than they are today. thanks for sparking some of those memories!

[iron]

awesome. very envious!

[jask]

Glad to share my report with all of you. I read a TR on Shi Shi not so long ago and noticed there were people everywhere in the pictures, so I thought this might be an interesting contrast. Even though I enjoy meeting & talking to people on the trail in the Olympics, I need to get off-trail to find solitude and the challenge of route-finding plus that old-time camping feeling (which I probably got from Shi Shi).

[RichP]

[Rigafari]

Totem pole is gone. Where was it located?

[Dalekz]

I was there in 75 and quite a number of beachwood made shacks had already been built. Didn't see a totem pole but it could have been hidden behind the shacks. Didn't the park service clear them out when it was rolled into the Olympic NP. We Had to walk in from the end of the road (probably close to where it is now). Didn't know that the road back when extended to the beach.

[cascadetraverser]

Wow. Amazing post. I remember hiking there in 1974 as a boy. Didn`t get a lot of traffic back then either. I do remember seeing a totally naked couple strolling by my brothers and I on the beach then... I wasn`t expecting that!