Today was amazing. Plain and simple. By the time I got going down the half mile trail to Cape Flattery it was about 9am. The Cape is quite spectacular with views from various points. There’s no beach access as the trail leads to the cliffs above.
After that I made my way back to the trailer, made coffee and had some breakfast. I drove down to the road in to Shi Shi Beach (pronounced Shy Shy). The initial part of the road was gravel and with the trailer in tow I decided to try a different option. I went the few miles back into Neah Bay and asked at the main grocery store if there was any place to park a trailer for the afternoon. They recommended talking to the guys at the gym next door and I soon had a place to park my trailer in their side lot for the after noon. That problem solved I ventured up to the trailhead and prepared to hike in. I read in a Washington tourism brochure that the hike was 8 miles round trip but at the trail head it says the trail is 2 miles each way. Now initially I just though that it was a misprint but it made sense by the end of the day.
The trail IS 2 miles long, a muddy saucy messy trail (it rained hard last night) and at the end of it was a steep slippery decent to the beach level. BUT, it was all worth it, the beach was amazing and the waves were moving in strong and majestic. The rain held off but at times the whole beach was clouded over. Now when I say the whole beach, this is where the extra 4 miles come into play. The trail drops you onto one end of the beach but the sea stacks are off in the distance, 2 miles off in the distance. So the hike continued on. At about the halfway mark I stopped to take some shots and was wondering about the tide. I knew I had ample time to explore more but wasn’t convinced I’d have a way back as there were no exit points back to the trail since it was at the beginning of the beach.
As I was packing up my tripod I saw a gent walking toward me. I said hello and asked if he knew the status of the tide. He did. We introduced ourselves and for the rest of the way to the sea stacks and the full hike back I had a hiking partner and new friend in a guy named Ray. It was nice afternoon chatting with a guy from Washington who was working down the highway with the bridge repair/replacement crew.
So after the 4 miles walking on a sandy beach, and the last 2 miles back to the truck my feet were wet and starting to hurt a little, my shoulders a little sore from my camera bag but it was all worthwhile.
I managed to catch the sunset a few miles down the road from a nice viewpoint. After which I picked up my trailer and headed out of Neah Bay as I felt I needed to move on. I didn’t get too far as I found a spot along the 112 that Ray had mentioned and I had seen coming in. It’s a wide turnout about beach level and there’s actually vehicle paths to the sand. I stayed up in the turnout part but I’m parked here for the night. No cell service here again but I have the sound of the ocean.
Made myself some dinner, writing this update and then I believe I’ll relax my weary bones and watch a couple episodes of Fargo, The TV series.
What a wonderful day it’s been,
W.
