Backpacking Ozette Triangle: Sandpoint - Washington State, USA

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.