[Slugman]

I got out of work Saturday at 5:30 pm, and drove through Olympia and Aberdeen and up to Hoh Oxbow park (DNR, free) to crash for the night, but every spot was taken. So I went to the Cottonwood campground on the Oil City road and found a nice (also free) spot. Sunday I hot-footed it through Twilight, I mean Forks, and got to Rialto beach at 8:30, self-registered for the backpacking trip, and was on my way north at 9 am, perfect considering the 11:40 am low tide. The tide tables rule your life on this hike. The weather was perfect, clear, cool, breezy, the on-shore flow tasting of the wide-open Pacific. I cruised along to Hole-in-the-Wall, took some tide pool pictures, but didn't hang out too long. The walking was fairly easy so far, some soft sand but that was it for difficulty. Boy, how that was about to change. H-i-t-W may be halfway to Chilean Memorial by distance, but not by effort or time. I soon got a taste of the "agony" part, in the form of rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. Big ones, small ones, slimy ones, seaweed-covered ones, and the worst of all, the ones that looked stable until I stepped on them. There is no way around them, though at low tide it is sometimes possible to bypass the beach rocks by walking on seaweed-covered bedrock, which sounds bad, and it is, but it is better than the beach rocks. Still, I made it Chilean Memorial in decent time, so I kept going, around Cape Johnson. That is a scary place, really bad rocks that go on and on, cliffs on the non-ocean side, and the powerful Pacific crashing just yards away, waiting to crush and mangle you should you be out there when the tide comes back. Past Cape Johnson is its evil, smaller twin, and more rock. How I longed for some actual sand to walk on! The worst part of the rock-ish nightmare was knowing that I would see every last rock again on the way out. The thought almost made me cry a couple of times. Finally, I was past the evil twin and on a beach again. Soft sand and driftwood logs made the going semi-slow at times, but it was still a godsend after the rocks. I started looking for campsites at this time, but there was nothing, just sand that is swept by the high tide right up to the bluffs. I walked the beach north of the evil twin for over a mile, and then came to the first overland traverse. It is very short but nasty. Straight up a small bluff on a rope, a knife-edged ridge, then down the other side. On the other side is another nice beach, more good walking. When I came to the point at the end of the beach, I finally found a good campsite, high enough on the beach to avoid the high tide, sandy not rocky, protected by a giant driftwood log, with a good stream just past it. I decided to continue to Cedar creek, even though I was exhausted, since it was just another long mile north. It was not to be, though, as the waves were already crashing up against a tiny point-let just past the stream. I returned to the last point, and thankfully set up my camp and made dinner, just in time for the sunset. I had walked from 9 am to 5 pm, with only a few short breaks, and I had managed 7.5 miles, about half of that on rocks. The sunset made it all worth it. The plethora of islands, rocks, sea stacks, and sand bars makes this a fantastic place. I took about 200 pictures on Sunday, and almost all of them are really nice. What can you see, specifically? Hand rock, Foot rock, Two Man rock, Carroll island, Jagged island, Sandy island, Sea Lion rock, and others that shall remain nameless. That is not the list for the entire hike, just the list for that one campsite. I grooved to the music of the '70s, Yes, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, Santana, on the self-amplified speakers I brought, along with my CD player. These are real speakers, not the micro-size ones meant for I-pods, etc. They weigh one pound apiece with batteries. If I had known how tough the hike was, I wouldn't have brought the music, but it sure was nice to have. Wow, six paragraphs, and I'm still on day one of my trip? That night I slept like a baby on my new Big Agnes Insulated Air Core pad, despite my exhaustion. Monday the weather was still gorgeous, and I contemplated my choices. I had planned to day hike up to Norwegian memorial, but I decided against that, for two good reasons. I had been there before from a different direction, and I didn't think I would be able to hike all the way out on Tuesday, since my legs were really, really sore after Sunday. So at noon I decided to pack up and head back to Chilean Memorial, about half way back, and really just as nice as the spot I was at. The rocks were terrible what with my sore legs and aching ankles, but I only had to suffer through half of them, thank goodness. I was really happy to be back at Chilean! The sunset never materialized due to clouds rolling in, but I didn't care. I was happy that I was no longer dreading Tuesday's hike out. Tuesday I awoke to rain on the tent, expected yet still unpleasant. It rained and rained, while I had coffee and slowly packed up all my stuff while still in the tent. If you are stuck in the rain, then the MSR Missing Link is the tent to be stuck in. It's huge, and has an excellent view out the front, rain-protected by the semi-vestibule awning. Low tide was at 2 pm, so I took off at 12:30, and the rain had stopped by then. The hike out wasn't as bad as I had feared, what with all the rocks being wet. Yes, there was more rain, and occasional wind blasts of epic proportions, and some bitter cold, but nothing to cry about. I got back to the car at 3:30 and drove straight to Sully's in Twilight, I mean Forks, for a Tall Timber burger, onion rings and a banana shake. Yum. I got back to Aberdeen before dark, always a plus, and pounded home on the freeway by 9 pm.

Good start: Rialto beach, Olympic NP

Seen any good movies lately?

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This is the trail

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peek-a-boo (suicide crab)

Nice churn north of Hole-in-the-Wall

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Chilean Memorial

This is the trail

Battle at the beach

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For crwdog, as requested

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Camp south of Cedar creek

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More: this is the trail

Rockin' the beach

Camp at Chilean Memorial

Sad farewell

[Hikingqueen]

Great pics! What an awesome sunset! You get out so much!

[Tag Man]

Slug, you're killing me. I saw that there would be a low tide around 11:30 for Sunday and I intended to go out to Shi Shi or Ozette Loop with the nice weather but i decided to stay closer to home and play with my new camera instead. Now the rain is back and I don't do the Ocean in the summer time. I only can hope I get another window like that before summer time. Great pictures!

[Dante]

Great trip report and pics Slugman! I've been to Norwegian Memorial twice. I remember the rocks.

[Slugman]

Sorry for the tilted horizons in some of the pics. I downloaded the pics from my camera to the computer at work, then chose the ones to upload to Flickr, but I haven't yet put any photo-altering software on the work computer, like Picture It! But the good news is I was paid to select those pics and write that TR! Does that make me a professional writer? Or do I have to actually be paid to write stuff? Some things I forgot to mention: the suicide crabs. The rocks were teeming with crabs. Every time I came close to one, it would scuttle into a crack for safety. Some, however, were on top of the rocks, and they would simply throw themselves off the rock as I approached. Stop, drop and roll: It's not just for people on fire anymore! Eagles. I saw a bunch. I got a couple of shots, but nothing to write home about. I saw no people north of Hole-in-the-Wall, over 48 hours of pure solitude. No footprints in the sand even, except mine, some raccoons, birds, and even snails. Oh, yeah, deer, too.

[jeremybe]

Great report Slugman. Two years ago our very first backpack was a very similar trip. We spent the first night at Chilean and the second night just past where you did. We weren't expecting those rocks either. It beat the crap out of us and we changed our 3-night plan to a 2-night plan. We didn't see anyone for most of our time, either. Great solitude. Otters, sea lions (alive and dead), eagles, and—yes—crabs. It was amazing, and I really want to get to the beach this Spring. Thanks for the trip back!

[NWtrax]

That IS a tough stretch of beach! Sounds like it was a lot of fun, enjoyed the report.

[strider]

Solid work. Rock hopping at the ocean be tuff miles. Really nice pix, and good choice on the tunes as well. Did you happen to go up to the top of the point where you camped? There's a WWII coast watch shack on that point, but it was in rough shape last time I saw it. Wondering if it's still standing...

[Slugman]

Thanks for the comments. It was a great trip. I took 357 photos, and only about 50 of them are unworthy, maybe the best ratio I've ever had. There were also many cool things I did/saw, but just didn't include in the TR. Example: On Sunday and Tuesday, the surf was crashing into the rocks, but on Monday the ocean was truly pacific, almost no waves at all. It was eerie to be at the beach, especially at high tide Monday morning, when the water came to within 20 feet of my tent, yet it was almost silent. And the moon and stars were awesome Sunday night, it was a crystal-clear. You don't think of the beach as a good sky-watching spot, too much atmosphere above you at sea level, too much moisture in the air. If you want to camp on the beach, bring an alarm clock. Set it to go off two hours before high tide, so you don't wake up to waves crashing into your tent. My spot a mile south of Cedar creek probably would have been a wet spot if the waves had been really big. Strider, how are you doing? Last time I saw you was where, Norwegian memorial? No, I didn't explore much off-beach, so I saw no shack. I was too whipped by the hike. Listening to Close to the Edge by Yes, while looking out at Cake rock, was an enchanting experience. I could totally visualize Cake rock as the island in the center fold of the album cover. Remember when albums were huge and the cover art was real art? I thought the CD generation was missing out, now they have MP3's and you get practically nothing.

[GeoHiker]

Great report and pics. Damn, I should have gone out to the coast instead of the mountains. Maybe this coming week. After watching that sneaker wave take out dozens last week in Calif. and reading the book Extreme Waves, I'm too freaked out camping that close to the water. I didn't see any mention of your Stabilicers. They rock on the rocks!

[strider]

I recognize every one of those stacks.....

[Slugman]

Whenever I have passed through Hole-in-the-Wall, it's like I've entered into a different world. A gateway into another dimension, maybe, or maybe just a symbolic entering of the real wilderness, the kind that is beyond the reach of the casual day trippers that come and go from the parking lot. What makes it even better is how the tide closes the hole twice per day, or maybe I should say it opens it twice per day, is there a difference? Yes, you can climb over the wall on a short, steep trail, and the view from up there is very nice, but I recommend going through the hole to start and end any hike in this area. Once I went through the hole on my way in, but the tide made me take the trail on the way out. So now maybe I'm still in that alternate world that I entered that day and never left. That was about 15 years ago, and my life has changed in many ways since then, all for the good.

[bonobo]

Looks like a great trip. Sounds like you made the right decision not to push further. I love all the pics, but the caption of the seagulls cracked me up.

[bobbi]

i think there's a sekrit (maybe not) road, about 2 miles to Norwegian memorial. i'll double check if i can give out the directions...... that way you can carry the whole kitchen kaboodle

[Slugman]

That's the "other direction" I went to Norwegian memorial by that I mentioned in the TR. The road is now gated, and but it could be mtn biked to the "sekrit" TH, about 6 miles, except another road needed to get to that road is marked as day use only (and it is too long to make biking a reasonable alternative). So maybe if I was at Kalaloch or somewhere with Tanja, and she could drop me off at the second road with my bike, and pick me back up at the end of the trip..... But there's no way I'm parking illegally on private property and leaving my car for three days. Thanks for the suggestion, though, as sekrit roads to the beaches are one of my favorite things. I know of two others that are still viable, though one of them I have yet to try. I have found that it is better to go the first time with someone who has been before, rather than just try to follow directions.