Coast Hike at Ozette

RATING:  4 stars because it was short and dealing with the tides was a pain.  I like traveling long distances quickly and stopping when I have to not need to!

DIFFICULTY:  4 hikers because there's worse out there.  Deffinately worth training a bit before going though!

Starting at Shi shi we soon came to realize that we were flowing in the wrong direction of traffic.  Most people hike from south to north but my friend and I decided to go in the opposite direction due to the parking issues.  We had a friend drop us off and family pick us up at Ozette 2.5 days and 2 nights later (the drive was so long we lost a bit of time, unfortunately!)  The beach was beautiful and breathtaking...the roar of the waves is so amazing!  Everything was great until we hit a wall, aka. "headland."  A short description:  waist deep in ferns with a vertical climb using a small rope attached God only knows where!?  So gratifying in the end though!  Looking back I believe this was the worst headland we climbed but they each had their own special qualities...coming down from one of these headlands my rope slipped and flung me sideways across a rock face.  I was left hanging by my hands to a skinny little rope with my 30 lb. pack and, now broken, water bottle.  Speaking of, filtering water was interesting as well.  I'm more accostomed to hiking in the backcountry which boasts sparkling, glacier fed rivers.  Out at the coast, the water is brown.  I read somewhere, "tea colored."  My friend and I prefered the term, "chocolate milkshake!"  All in all, the hike was amazing and we ended up having great weather though the forecast called for a storm.  We set up camp in the sand and had fires every night with dinner and a sunset.  Then, we'd listen to the crashing waves outside our tent and try to go to sleep!

this hike is around 33 miles from point a to b. its definately not for the weak. there is a 200 ft vertical climb right before you get to shi shi beach which you must do twice before you round a headland and set foot on shi shi. if youre adventous this is definately a hike for you with plent of ship wreck memorials, old mine and plenty off wild life to see. warning youre legs and ankles will hurt with all the rock climbing, lunging and walking in what i like to call the kitty litter pea gravel beaches you will come across. its worth it if you ask me.. plan ahead and ask a local park ranger on there advise.

we started at the ranger station and we took the southern trail, Sand Point trail. It comes out right on the beach. We walked about a 1/4 mile on the beach and then up a little cliff to watch the sunset, which was breathtaking. I've never seen a sunset like that one. we camped about a mile and a half south on the beach. the next day we went back to where the sunset was to see all of the tide pools. cool starfish, sea anemones, dungeness crab, muscles and much more. The hike was very easy, and I'm not in shape, so I really mean that. There were school age children and families that were hiking as well. When people say it was crowded, well, we saw about 15 people the whole time we were there. I definitely recommend this hike. It's great for someone who wants to get outdoors and camp, but feels like they're not in good enough shape to go all out. It was amazing.

We took the Cape Alva trail to and from the beach.  The hike there was very easy and well maintained.  There are a few stairs here and there, but if you are just an active person (but not someone who works out) you will still find it easy.  Additionally, we are inexperienced backpackers, and wanted an easy trail where we wouldn't be bothered by a heavy pack, so this trail was perfect.  The way there has some great lush rainforest with nice ponds and streams.  When you reach the meadow, you're almost there.  When you exit the forest, the ocean view is gorgeous.  We tried to quietly sneak up to some deer, but then quickly realized that they were very unconcerned about us!  The campsites were nicely nestled along the beach.  Any one of them would be nice.  Fortunately, we were the only ones there!  Great bonus for going during the off-season!  It was chilly at night, but managable (35-40F).  We explored northward up the beach, and found some neat tidepools with many little creatures.  Other cool things were bald eagles, a sea lion pup, and listening to those obnoxious barking sea lions in the distance!  By the way, bear canisters are required there, and you will be happy you brought one when you see the fresh bear tracks on the beach!  Some bad things were 1) the enormous piles of decaying sea sludge (kelp etc) on the beach.  I'm thinking this must've been exceptional (maybe a recent storm?) because no one else has mentioned it.  It was often impossible to walk the beach without needing to walk over this stinky fly-ridden stuff.  2) the upper-trail (the one for high tide) is difficult to follow north.  Particularly once you go north into the small bit of Makah reservation just north of the Cape Alva trailend.  At this point we had a dilemma of choosing unidentifiable trail vs. walking on sea sludge.
My final bits of advice are 1) think about hiking/camping in the off-season, no crowds, no reservations needed 2) avoid the upper trail if you can (hike at low tide) 3) it takes a long time to drive there! (about 6hours from Bellevue)  4) hiking from Ozette to ShiShi could definately take the full 72 hours, especially if you have problems finding a good trail to follow. 5) if you get to the trailhead later than you anticipated, there is also a car-camping site at the Ozette Ranger Station(empty during the off-season)  6)there aren't any open ranger stations this time of year, but some information like tide tables are left outside for you at ozette.
If there weren't any sea-sludge on the beach, we would be 100% satisfied!

On the day that we hiked Snow Lake, it was raining in the valley. But once we got to the trailhead the sun was peaking out through the clouds intermittently and we lucked out the rest of the hike being dry. We beat the crowd during a week day by starting out at around 9 am. For the estimated 6 miles roundtrip this hike is so very scenic and not at all as strenuous as one would consider 6 miles to be. The views along the ridge really made the trip a pleasurable one along with providing some sun after many days of rain this summer. Once we arrived at the top of the ridge and started heading down, fog was rolling in from the north over the lake and it got a little more breezy at times, so make sure you are prepared for weather changes up in the mountains for sure. The trail down into the lake are well maintained and gradually descending. Even the hike back up out of the lake was fairly easy. Lunch at the lake provided some great views of the lake on the northside once the fog burned off and the sun showed its face. Overall, an enjoyable experience and very scenic hike. One of my favorites! The only thing I recommend is trying to beat the crowds, otherwise you lose the solitary, peacefulness of the hike (unless you like the crowds).

This hike is very cool. The boardwalk path is very green and surreal. We saw dear and birds and a group of fat gardner snakes on the way out to cape alava. We got a beautiful camp site right off the beach and woke up to showers and a low tide that made the beach seem like a completely different place than the place we had hiked to the day before. The hike down the beach was tiring on the legs and the tides came in at just the right time to force us up the two high tide land paths, definitely something to beware of. The second in particular was pretty scary, there were ropes and a good 80% slippery slope to climb. 1/2 way up you had to trade ropes which was particularly terrifying for a person like me who is afraid of heights! it made the trip more exciting though and could have easily been avoided with better timing or more patience so I wouldn't consider it a downfall at all. The tidepools were full of small cute creatures and there were many sea lions on the rocks. When we finally got to the second trailhead there was a huge grassy rock with an easy trail to get up top and the best view imaginable. The walk back seemed even cooler than the trail there because the sun was shining ! the only problem i had with the hike was the crowds and the high ranger presence. it made it seem less remote then it probably should have, plus people in uniforms just make me nervous! This is my new favorite hike, I highly recommend it!

This was about the easiest hike I have been on here in the Pacific Northwest, but it is also one of the most scenic ones as well. The climb is nice and steady, then you get to the switchbacks, which consist of rocky terrain and are not very challenging. You reach the ridge proclaiming that you are entering the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and it is all downhill from there, so probably about two miles of climbing. The view from this point of the lake is amazing and once you get down there, there are numerous places to go and picnic or camp, however there are no fires allowed in the basin area. The views on the trail prior to the ridge are great, usually you like into a valley but on this trail, you look across at an equally high mountain and it feels like you are flying by in a plane. The two things I disliked the most was the constant flow of people and the massive amounts of mosquitoes. If you plan to anytime whatsoever at the lake, make sure to slather yourself in OFF, we felt like we were being eaten alive by those darned mosquitoes! Overall though, a good experience!

This was a very good trail and the conditions were good. The trail is very well maintained. The only downfall with this trail is that its very busy. If you continue on to Gem lake the crowds thin out considerably....

This is a great day hike for beginners. We even brought a poodle and he had a great time! We hiked this trail in March 2005 when the snowfall was nonexistent so this is probably why it was so easy going - but it can get a bit slippery going down to the lake so watch your bum!

The trail is a fun first day hike on a wooden path throw lush forest. The camp site was great and there were a lot of animals, like deer, birds, sealions, seals, ect. The deer were very friendly and would come right up to you. After the amazing sunset we had a nice camp fire and then went to sleep. I woke up many times that night to the sounds of animals mostly the sealion roaring. The second day was harder than the first because of the sand, mostly because I had gotten my boots wet and sand had gotten in them. By the time we reached the second camp my feet were all banged up from the sand rubing againist them. That night at the second camp there was the most amazing sunset that we watched from a large hill outside of camp. The next day we hiked along another wooden path to the parkinglot. From there we tried to find the nearist Burgerking because the food was so bad I had decided not to eat it on the third day.

i started at kape alava and went south along the beach and collected junk or "treasure".i did'nt do the whole hike to sand point and i did'nt have pack either but its a great hike that i recomend!