BEACH DEER? SEA STACKS? Tidal pools & tire swings?
The Ozette Loop (9 miles round trip) on the peninsula of
Washington State offers fantastic beginner backpacking trips or car camping at
the Lake Ozette trailhead. Drive 81 miles west of Port Angeles, leave your
car at overnight parking and embark on a short journey via boardwalk through coastal
rainforest and skunk cabbage to a gorgeous coast full of finds for the curious
explorer.
There are two trails that fork from the Lake Ozette
campground trailhead. One goes north to Cape Alava/Wedding Bells area, where if
you look closely enough, you can spot petroglyphs on rocky coastal crags.
Walking along the coast south from Cape Alava can get dicey with slippery
rocks, and since our party had an infant with us, we chose the other fork, the Sandpoint Trail.
This is 3.0 miles one way to the beach, and then there are numerous campsites
to choose from along the tree line or right on the beach. First come, first
served, and if you time the weather right, you’ll get some of the best memories
of beach camping.
I highly recommend camping near the water source: Wish
Creek. After the Sandpoint trail, you break out onto the beach and walk south
around the headland for about half a mile more to find it. The stream is tea-colored in
appearance due to the leaves, and my husband swears it tastes
like iced tea, too! You won’t want to add a lemon, though; make sure to bring
your water filter, and the Park Service recommends boiling the filtered water,
too.
We had an infant, and so we brought enough liquid Similac
bottles and pouch baby food to last the trip. That way we didn’t have to worry
about sanitizing bottles and burning through our fuel. The dirty diapers
definitely added the most weight. One thing about backpacking at the Ozette
Loop is you have to keep all of your food and smelly stuff like deodorant or
delightfully pungent baby diapers in bear canisters. For a two night, three
day trip, we got away with using two bear canisters. You can borrow them at the
Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles or buy your own. Stopping
at the Visitor Center on the way in is recommended either way to check the
weather conditions, get tips, and buy a National Parks Pass if you haven’t
already. Backpacking requires a permit, and you can now print it out ahead of
time. It’s kind of confusing, but here’s
how you reserve a Backpacking Permit for this area:
·
https://www.recreation.gov/permits/4098362
·
Click “Check Availability”
·
Select “North Coast”
·
You’ll see different North Coast peninsula beaches and can choose to camp at Cape Alava, Sandpoint, or South Sandpoint. Avid
backpackers may plan a longer trip down to Yellow Banks/Norwegian Memorial, but
you’ll want a tidal guide to safely cross the headland
It wasn't all butterflies and rainbows. We did get caught in the famous coastal rain one night. We'd made the mistake to put a large tarp under our tent, which was great for keeping the sand out of the tent, but not-so-great at fending off the pooling rainwater. It collected under our tent and started leaking! Thankfully we were blessed with sweet sunshine the next day and were able to dry everything out. We switched for a smaller tarp and barricaded the sides with branches as well to divert water flow. If you have a tent with a built in tarp, that's likely best- and less weight.
Overall, our campsite was a top-notch pick. All of them are very well maintained, some coming with makeshift benches, there are
even pit toilets, and the bugs weren’t bad in late May, even in the forest. We
were right on the beach and our little one loved exploring the rocks and driftwood
fortresses. We took her exploring and spent hours in the sun zigzagging up and
down the sandy shores, hiking up a dramatic bluff at the Sandpoint headland
which is home to several “beach deer,” and poking around tidal pools. We
traversed further south and crossed larger streams; there was a dead baby orca
that had washed up toward South Sandpoint, which was sobering.
Some of the South Sandpoint campsites hide higher up in the
cliffs, but one, to our delight, even had a tire swing over the river. You never
know what you’ll find out here; there’s always little sea treasures or
backwoods paths to explore, and whenever the sun comes out in the Pacific
Northwest, it makes the entire sea glitter. Sunset at Sandpoint was gorgeous,
with cathedral-soft sun rays dancing over the far shores and dramatic orange
brilliance showering you from the north. Granted, with our infant, we were all
snug in the tent before it finished setting, but from past trips, seeing the
awesome breadth of the star-studded firmament over the ocean at night is stunning. If you can catch a comet or meteor shower out here, it will be
downright magical!
We’re already looking forward to our next trip. This has
always been a favorite area of mine from childhood, and I'm eager to see our little
one make more memories of her own here.
The above is depicted as fiction, not fact.
