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Foist
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PostWed May 08, 2019 12:25 pm 
JVesquire wrote:
Ozette is my favorite, but you don't have to do the loop (which is tedious hiking even on the beach, I agree). Hike north to the river. There's lots of tidepools there and wildlife, and the Indian history there is really neat if you study it beforehand so you can explain it to your kids. The Makahs have a replica shelter there with a memorial and lots of animal bones. You can also see the remnants of old shelters that are being exposed by the surf. And there's a sekrit pioneer cabin that is very cool if you know where to look. wink.gif
This sounds really cool. By "hike north to the river," you mean hike the boardwalk to Cape Alava, and then hike north on the beach from there to the Ozette River?

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JVesquire
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PostWed May 08, 2019 12:37 pm 
Yes, north to the Ozette River. I did a trip report on this a year or two ago. I think there may be one overland crossing, but I don't remember whether you can cross at low tide or not. https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8020044

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Foist
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PostWed May 08, 2019 12:57 pm 
I don't mind overland crossings, I think the kids would find that fun.

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Anne Elk
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PostWed May 08, 2019 1:08 pm 
Foist - here are some pics I took from the trip last year, the fog was too thick for much photography. The only real challenge for the kiddos at Rialto will be hiking on the large pebbly stuff; if the tide's out, you can avoid much of it. The trail to 2nd Beach isn't too long, has cool "spooky" trees; the end is a long descent over "stairs" (see my pic) - dried mud but not likely to ever be like what you'd encounter at Shi-Shi. Second Beach is sandy.
Rialto south
Rialto south
Rialto beach near TH
Rialto beach near TH
Second Beach stairs
Second Beach stairs
2nd Beach forest
2nd Beach forest
There's more beach to walk at Rialto; at Second and Third Beach you're limited by headlands and to explore past them you have to rope climb. Some pics of the Third Beach situation in this TR. If I was going to do beach backpacking with kids as young as yours, my first choice would be Rialto, then 2nd Beach.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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cascadetraverser
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PostWed May 08, 2019 2:26 pm 
I took my 6 and 8 year olds one sunny Memorial weekend to Shi Shi some years back and they had no trouble navigating the mud (they had fun I recall) and having been there a half dozen times over the years can recall no place requiring a rope although perhaps things have changed. I have always parked my car at said residence near the trailhead without any break ins. I don’t think you can go wrong on just about any location on the coast with kids...

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Anne Elk
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PostWed May 08, 2019 2:30 pm 
CT - Foist's youngest is 4 - big difference between that and 6 as far as what they can do/tolerate. Not that I'm a kid expert - what say you, NWH hiker moms? smile.gif

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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Foist
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PostWed May 08, 2019 2:39 pm 
Maybe I mis-read the report and the rope was on a longer trip where they went on one of the overland detours much farther down the coast. Looking at more reports and photos, it looks like the muddy portion is an old road and not steep. We can deal with just stepping in mud. I was more concerned with steep AND muddy, where there might be nasty falls. Is there any of that?

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Anne Elk
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PostWed May 08, 2019 2:45 pm 
From The Mountaineers web page description of Shi-Shi Beach:
Quote:
The trail to Shi Shi Beach is a fairly flat 2.0 mi until the 150-foot descent down the bluff to the beach. In the rainy season this section of the trail can be quite muddy. Hiking 2.0 mi south along the beach brings you to Point of Arches.
A friend who's been out there mentioned a rope assist - probably for part of that. *edit Photo of part of the descent (showing rope!) here.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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JVesquire
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PostWed May 08, 2019 2:53 pm 
By overland, I was referring to the typical mud-and-rope sections of the coastal hikes, not a trail. Those can be hard or even dangerous for smaller kids. Third Beach has a bunch of them, so I would not recommend that for small kids. I think all of the ones at Ozette are passable at low tide, but I can't remember.

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cascadetraverser
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PostWed May 08, 2019 3:41 pm 
Anne: I just gotta disagree! The trail to Shi Shi is no big deal. Perhaps a little long for a 4 year old though...depends on the 4 year old. That weekend in May I referenced above, we saw numerous families with little children out there as well. Perhaps though, you have been out there recently and things have changed on the trail.... I guess I may be less conservative than most parents; but I believe challenge is good, and we started them out hiking very early. My wife has been with me all the way. Foist: FYI, Joan Burtons book 100 hikes for kids has a whole bunch of dayhikes and overnighters for kids and gives great ideas. I know several coast hikes are in it...might be worth a splurge if family backpacking is in your future.

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Foist
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PostWed May 08, 2019 3:44 pm 
Yeah that does not look so bad to me. (I was picturing something more like the Kindy Ridge trail.) My 4 year old is quite strong and adventurous. She has scaled huge climbing structures in playgrounds that much older kids were too scared to do.

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JVesquire
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PostWed May 08, 2019 8:26 pm 
That's Third Beach. There's no way I would take a four-year old on that hike. Way too strenuous and challenging. Ozette has some of that, but not much and I think you can avoid most of it (its all to the north).

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Foist
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PostWed May 08, 2019 10:11 pm 
I was talking to cascadetraverser and anne about the muddy trail to Shi Shi. Yes that rope ladder is a no go.

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