[contour5]

Walked from Ozette to Shi Shi and back again. Along the way I stayed at Seafield Creek and Will Point- both are fantastic camping places. Seafield is especially interesting- it's one of the last communities of inholders living inside the National Park. There is a road to Seafield, but it's gated. Curiously, a number of people who don't live in Seafield have keys. It's just a matter of who you know. I met a guided, commercial tour group who were enjoying a secret, unregistered, backdoor dayhike tour of some of the same isolated wilderness beaches that I had struggled for days to reach by trail. Found some elk browsing the prairie on the way out to Cape Alava.

Tastes like meat My first night at the beach was chaotic. A large group of extended families, scout troops and neophytes were sprawled out all along the low bluff at Cape Alava. They all had hatchets and busied themselves with whacking away at the great logs that lay tumbled about on the beach. Plenty of nice little pieces of firewood a couple hundred yards up the beach, but real men use hatchets, evidently... I felt no need of a fire- the setting sun blazed for an eternity, lighting up the Bodelteh Islands like a floating torch on the western horizon.

Bodelteh Islands

Bodelteh2 A uniformed public servant at the Park Info Station in Port Angeles gave me the inside scoop on crossing the Ozette River. "Low Tide. Go at low tide. The river fans out and you can cross down low over shallow, sandy channels.." It looked better up high, where the water was pooled in a sort of lagoon. But like a total idiot, I followed the ranger's advice and crossed down low, out in the braided channels. In fact, I crossed with my boots on. I figured I'd make it across dry, with my gaiters cinched up tight. The first few channels were shallow, and easy to cross. Then, I stepped in past my knees. Soon, the water was ripping at my thighs, and sand was working it's way right down in between my toes. Giant waves were slamming into the rocks right behind me. I was clenching my worthless, flimsy, garbage-fiber pole with both hands, and feeling around with my feet to find the sandy spots between the impossibly slippery, round rocks. There was no traction. I was moving backwards, toward the crashing waves. The river kept getting deeper and faster. I actually started screaming at myself: "Keep Moving! Don't Fall!" And then I was across. My boots were soaked. I sat on the logs and dried my socks, watching another group of hikers hesitate, and then make an easy crossing of the sandy lagoon. I poured water out of my boots and tried to squeeze them dry. Then I put them back on and squished my way north to Seafield Creek. It's a shingle beach most of the way- round stones the size of baseballs, footballs and basketballs. You have to sort of dance, to get across this terrain... Seafield is an awesome camping spot. A short rope leads to a bluff overlooking the creek. It's a tiny meadow, filled with flowers. There is magic here, nature has been modified and extended; curious artifacts and sculptures lay hidden among the ferns.

Seafield Camp

Seafield Flowers

Seafield Camp 2

|Seafield Beach

Emergency Camp Shoes

Seafield Beach Deer After I set up camp, a party of dayhikers passed through, on their way home, after a secret, restricted-access, backdoor tour of the NP wilderness beaches. Their guide; a smirking guesthouse owner, was unwilling to divulge exactly how he was able to provide such a special experience, but admitted that he had the key to both gates. A bit later, a surfer dude wandered down the path. He too had a set of keys, although he doesn't live in the community. We sat around and drank coffee until the tide changed and then he headed out to ride the waves. Then a ranger, who looked to be about 17 years old, showed up and shook me for tags. He was a nice kid, and tried to be helpful, although I'm pretty sure he didn't believe me about the surfer, or the guided tour. He scanned the waves from the edge of the bluff and then left. Then Cameron-the surfer- returned and we had a good laugh about the ranger. Cameron left and I hobbled around in makeshift camp shoes to protect my last pair of dry socks while I fixed dinner and got ready to go to sleep. Then Cam returned all stoked about the waves and we sparked a fattie and drank coffee and he went down the rope and surfed a while, then later came back up and then we drank more coffee and talked about conspiracy theories until about 3 in the morning. Here's some magic: My boots were soaked. I made camp shoes out of my gaiters to keep my last pair of socks dry. Hobbled around camp to make dinner. Decided not to make a fire, but then surfer dude shows up-again- and makes like five trips down to the beach for firewood, so I can dry my boots and socks...

Island off headland

Flower on headland- Alaska Rose?

Father and Son Island A mile and a half north of Seafield, the sand and cobbles disappear beneath big, slippery rocks. The way becomes rough, as you work your way around the first of several small points. A rope climb, another cove and a couple of inland trails finally lead to Will Point, where a final steep rope leads down to the last, rocky bay before Shi Shi.

Shi Shi Deer

Shi Shi Flowers

Another little deer

More Flowers

Tree Rock at Cabo Los Arcos I camped at the south end of Shi Shi, near the rocks, at Willoughby Creek. This was the site of a famous cabin, built by Gustav, or Olav, or Bruno, or some other euro sounding dude who had a hot tub built out over the creek. It was bulldozed and incinerated along with all the other hippie cabins back in 1982.

Camp at old cabin site

Old Limpet

Shi Shi Beach at Point of Arches

Sunset at Point of Arches Dayhikers poured into the Arches all morning. In the afternoon I backtracked a mile or so to Will Point, and set up camp high on the rock. Clouds rolled in and it began to drizzle. I ate burritos in a gloaming mist. There was no sunset to speak of.

Big Arch at Will Point

Will Point Rocks

Point of Arches from Will Point The next morning I walked south over the headlands and rocks to Seafield. The wet rocks were quite slippery compared to the trip north.

Misty Headland north of Seafield At Seafield I walked up the access road to the Willoughby Mainline- the restricted-access road that runs from Neah Bay to Ozette.

Beach Cabin at Seafield Creek On the way up the access road I met Ken. Ken has been living here in the park since being deported from Shi Shi back in '82. There are a dozen or so houses and trailers here, mostly on leased lots. Ken tells me that the leases are slowly expiring- three houses are slated for demolition this summer.

Ken's Place in Olympic National Park

Road to Ken's House

Ken's Sculpture This is a great walk. Try an easier one first- like the Ozette-Cape Alava-Sand Point loop- before heading north out of Ozette. I met a party of hikers who were southbound from Shi Shi, expecting to make it to Cape Alava in a single day. I found them shivering in a tidal cove the next morning, arguing about how to get past the big rocks. They were unable to read the map or understand the tide table. The tidal choke-points on this section of the coast make map reading skills absolutely essential.

[silence]

great trip .. plus you captured some really beautiful images .. too many to call one a favorite .. though i'm lovin the rose

[Critter]

Yeah, your trip reports are really nice and really good. I'm going to keep practicing though.

[Jim Dockery]

Thanks for the great TR, sounds like a perfect trip (other than that scary crossing).

[ranger rock]

Nice TR thanks.. ironic about being shook down for your permit.

[wolffie]

I made it Ozette-to- Shi-Shi in 1 day, starting as early as possible and minding the tides carefully. Southbound, just S of Point of Arches, I recall not wanting to wait for the tide and finding a rough steep track bypassing one of the first obstacles. I would second the ranger's advice re. the Ozette ford. I recall trying to cross above the mouth in quiet water that turned out to be at least waist-deep. I waited for daylight at low tide, waded into the surf, and I think it was thigh-deep. Can't recall if I wore my boots. I had a stout stick, very handy at the beach. A good stick enables you to be be more careful with your feet while tidepooling. With a minus tide, you can go out to the end of Point of Arches. There's a grotto on the N side with a window in the back. You can crawl through the window and exit that way. Dave Page told me salt water is really bad for chromium-tanned leather. Spend some time with a good tidepool field guide before going out there. You'll find something new every time. See Between Pacific Tides.

[IanB]

Great report & photos, contour5! I like how you seem to roll with the adventure rather than the agenda.

[Tag Man]

Excellent report. I expect this gem got lost in the thousands of summer reports last year. Nice to see it brought back to life.

[Norwester]

I walked by Ken's trailer in 2008, see attached picture. No one home then (midweek); I'd guess 6 cabins too. Are they all gone now? Are there any lakefront inholders left?