[bkiefer4]

Hello! I'm new to NWHikers - thanks in advance to all those who provide insights and helpful feedback. In late June I will be spending 6 days in Olympic National Park with a couple of my buddies. For context, we spend ~1 week per year in the backcountry - last year Zion, year before Isle Royale, Voyageurs, etc. - so we are reasonably experienced hikers. In Olympic we plan to spend a few days on the coast and a few in the rain forest / alpine. On the coast we are planning to hike from the Shi Shi Beach trailhead to Rialto Beach, ~32.5 miles, in roughly 2.5 days. We have researched the tide tables and are fairly familiar with the limitations we will be working with in that regard. What I'm hoping to get feedback on is if we are being too aggressive in our itinerary; said differently, is our itinerary achievable [while allowing for a pleasant hike]. We tend to move pretty quickly and if we can average ~2.5 mph I believe we should be okay. The tides will allow us [I believe] to hike relatively unencumbered from 5:00am to 3:30pm daily. Realistically we will hike from 7:30/8:00 to 3:30 with minimal stop time. Our daily itinerary is as follows: June 21: Shi Shi trailhead to N. Ozette camp, 10 miles June 22: N. Ozette to Cedar Creek, 14 miles June 23: Cedar Creek to Rialto Beach, 8.5 miles The cause for my concern is findings in my research suggest that there are stretches where pace slows to a crawl due to boulder hopping and scrambling around and through other obstacles. If this type of hiking is pervasive on the trail, we might be setting ourselves up for failure, at least in the sense it would alter the 2nd half of our trip. Any thoughts on roughly what % of this hike would be of the "obstacle" nature? If it's 10%, I'm not too worried; if it's 30%+ then we might have a problem. Apologies for the novel. Again, many thanks to those that provide feedback! Best, Ben

[Randito]

2.5 mph is a reasonable pace when hiking on a well constructed trail AKA the PCT. The beach trails are nothing like that. Even when the going is easy (firm sand) it requires more energy. Crossing headlands at high tide is more like scrambling than hiking much extra time required for each of those. OTH your timing at the summer solstice means you'll have a lot more daylight to work with.. sunrise will be about 5:20AM and sunset around 9:20PM. About 16 hours of daylight-- so plenty of time to run yourselves ragged. Exploring the tide pools along the way is very enjoyable and can consume much time. Lots of wildlife to observe. Raccoons in the area are very habituated to humans and can be very aggressive at stealing food. I had one try to unzip the head flap on my pack while I was taking a break and my pack was just 12 feet away. Another great use of trekking poles is a raccoon poker.

[JVesquire]

The second day looks ambitious. There are some slow sections in that stretch. I'd probably add a day there. You'll have to compare it to the tide tables anyway.

[Jaberwock]

All depends on you. Some folks jog that in a day.

[vibramhead]

I've hiked some, but not all, of that route. I think it might be a bit too ambitious to be fun on the schedule that you're considering. First, on Day 1, the walk down into Shi Shi from the trailhead on the Makah Reservation can be a real mud trench. The beach itself is nice, and then you'll be weaving your way through a lot of rocky headlands that could be slow going. And be aware that you'll have to wade the outlet of the Ozette River. Depending on the tide level, that could be pretty deep, i.e., more than waist-high. It's not a fast river, but it could be a bracing experience. I found it easiest to wade farther out, closer to where waves were breaking, because it was shallower there. Second, the beaches that are theoretically "hikeable" at higher tides might not be much fun to walk, because you may be forced onto cobbles. These can be slimy, slow going. It's a lot nicer and faster if the tide's low enough to let you walk on sand, or at least the spongy mats of seaweed. These beaches are really most interesting at relatively low tides. They're more walkable then, and there's more bird life and other wildlife.

[bkiefer4]

Thanks all. I reached out to the Park and spoke with a Ranger who strongly suggested allowing more time for this hike. So it looks like our team will go back to the drawing board. The Ranger mentioned that of the ~11.5 miles from Yellow Banks to Chilean Memorial, 7 of the miles are in boulder fields with rocks ranging from bowling ball size to car size. Apparently these can be wet and covered with barnacles, so virtually every step must be measured. He suggested planning only 1 mph while in the boulder fields. I'm sure a Ranger wouldn't mislead, but I'm wondering if anyone has additional thoughts on this stretch.

[Tomlike]

@bkiefer4 I can confirm that sounds about right. many miles of this:

yes, you could potentially hurry through this with a light pack and nimble feet. However I think the Olympic coast is best enjoyed by taking your time. We did your proposed trip in three nights years ago (camps at Shi Shi, Cape Alava and Cedar Creek), which felt like the right amount of time for us. There's lots to take in, from tide pools, beaches, birds, etc. Depends on the tides as well, but why rush? The entire is route is rugged beauty. Adjust your expectations for beach hiking and it'll be all good

[RumiDude]

[Malachai Constant]

Actually they are easier if covered by barnacles than the evil black slime.

[contour5]

There are a lot of really nice camping spots along your route. The tiny cove South of Wil Point is one of the wildest, most isolated spots on the entire coast. The little meadow above the beach at Seafield is one of the most beautiful and unique camping spots I've ever found. Sand Point has a lot of nice camping, especially down by the South creek. I much prefer it to Ozette/ Cape Alava. Cedar Creek has one perfect campsite and a few decent ones.

When conditions are right, Jagged Point has the best beach camping on the coast, but it requires plenty of sand and favorable tides. Some years the sand washes out and the camping is minimal at best… A couple of small coves South of Wil Point, is where you find the "big rocks". They are easier to tackle going northbound- you can sort of wiggle up a slimy crack. Going south, I dropped my pack over the edge and slithered down to a foothold. A short piece of rope would actually be useful here… Yellow Banks to Norwegian is fine in good weather, when the rocks are dry. When it's rainy or foggy, the rocks, logs and slime can be very slippery... Skip the interior and spend your time on the coast. Come back in August or September to visit the mountains.