Backpacking plan: Olympics coast trail

All is not quiet on the park's western front, especially in winter when huge waves, high winds and heavy rains lash the shore. The surf tosses giant logs upon the shore like so many matchsticks. Ah, but Pacific Northwesterners sometimes make a spectator sport of it: "Winter storm watching," they call it. Between storms the hiking is magnificent.

Some 100 inches of rain a year falls on these beaches in the shadow of mighty Mt. Olympus. Of course the weather is worse inland: the adjacent rain forest is rainier and 7,965-foot Mt. Olympus gathers 200 inches of annual precipitation--mostly in the form of snows. Three-fourths of this prodigious rainfall soaks the shore during the late fall-winter-early spring rainy season. However, even the summer hiking season averages a few inches a month.

Shore pine overlooks the surf line. A little farther inland thrives a forest of sitka spruce, red cedar and hemlock, towering above a forest floor that's a tangle of ferns, mosses, salal sorrel and ocean spray. Elk, porcupine, black tailed deer and black bear roam the bluffs above the beach. Double-breasted cormorants, black oystercatchers, gulls and great blue herons are among the frequently seen airborne denizens of land's end. Sea stacks (the tall offshore rocks) are mini-wildlife refuges, offer sanctuary for murres, guillemots, auklets and those favorites of every binoculars-equipped child --puffins. Minus tides present opportunities for exploration of this coast's abundant tidepools, teeming with mussels, starfish, anenomes, sea urchins, rock oysters, hermit crabs and many more creatures.

Certainly this coast is a wilderness by all outward appearances--charcoal-gray beaches heaped with humongous driftwood logs, pine-spiked headlands enshrouded in the mist. It's managed as a wilderness by the national park service. Within this public domain, and adding to it's end- of-the-world feeling, are three Native American holdings: the Ozette Reservation on the north side of Cape Alava, the Quileute Reservation at La Push and the Hoh Reservation on the south side of the Hoh River.
Native people have lived on this coast for centuries. A village site at Cape Alava, buried by a mud slide some 500 years ago, preserved a multitude of artifacts that helped archeologists understand the culture and live of these early people.

The hiking opportunities are many: weekend and weeklong backpacking trips, half-day and all-day treks, easy beach walks. Backpacking is the only way to see two seventeen mile long sections of this coast, which have no road access. Beach hiking is much slower than you might imagine. The beaches themselves are of two varieties: long, wide sand strands and minor coves bookended by rocky points. Some of these rocky points can only be rounded at low tide. Other points can be surmounted by forest trails that climb inland before returning the hiker to the beach.

If you're willing to brave the rain or try to time your visit between storms, Olympic National Park beaches are open all year. Temperatures are relatively mild for this part of the world--rarely dropping below freezing or above 65 degrees F. Summer, the most popular hiking is often cool, mosit and foggy.
For some hikers, autumn is the favorite time to beach comb or backback. Thanksgiving weekend is particularly popular here, marking the last hike of the season for many.

Although some intrepid backpackers do hike the whole 57-mile length of coast, most hikers favor one, two and three-day journeys. The complete absence of local public transportation means that overnighters must make car shuttle arrangements or plan roundtrip hikes. Directions to trailhead:
From the parking lot, walk to the Ozette Ranger Station and inquire about the latest tide and trail information. The trail begins at a nearby information kiosk.

Follow the path a quarter-mile to a junction. Sand Point Trail (your return route) forks left but you bear right on Capae Alava Trail and follow the boardwalk path through a lowland forest thick with salal, huckleberry and ferns. About halfway along, you'll reach a boggy area known as Ahlstrom's Meadow. Lake Ozette pioneer Lars Ahlstrom, native of Sweden, resided here from 1902 to 1958,
The boardwalk returns to the forest before dropping to the driftwood-strewn beach facing Ozette Island. Cape Alava and Cannonball Island are to the north.

This hike heads south a mile along the beach, reaching a minor headland called Weddding Rock where the astute observer will find native petroglyphs on the boulders near the beach. Two more miles of beach travel brings you to the (perhaps misnamed) Sandy Point, a rocky point crowned with grass. Here you join a second boardwalk trail, traveling past a stand of Sitka spruce and through the lush green forest back to the trailhead.

For more information:
Olympic National Park
600 E. Park Ave.
Port Angeles, WA 98362
tel. (206) 452-4501

游园惊梦
Alex不用功,没看清楚lulu说的是北线,37.6km for 2 or 3 days.

ALEXYIM
[quote]游园惊梦
Alex不用功,没看清楚lulu说的是北线,37.6km for 2 or 3 days.

OLYMPIC COAST OVERVIEW
Washington's rocky and essentially undeveloped Olympic coast is truly a national gem, and in 1994 it was declared the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, a designation that helps protect the shore and ocean from development. The coast contains rich fishing grounds, more species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises than anywhere on earth, some of the largest seabird colonies in the Lower 48, and an unparalleled beauty that attracts painters, photographers, and anyone with a sense of wonder. The shore is dotted with cliff-rimmed beaches and forested hills.

To preserve the natural habitat, automobile access to the park's Pacific Ocean beaches is severely limited, but the picturesque cliffs and sea stacks are worth the effort to get there. Be prepared for soggy, windy weather; 100 inches of annual rainfall combine with sometimes violent winds for less-than-pleasant hiking weather, although thanks to the warming effect of the Japanese Current that flows past the Olympic coast, the temperatures are mild year-round. Only rarely does the thermometer drop below 40 degrees F.

Park Service offices have a helpful Olympic Coastal Strip handout with a map and dos and don'ts for backcountry users. The Olympic coastline can be dangerous to hikers. Two "watch-out" situations are attempting to round headlands and getting caught by incoming tides, and being struck by floating logs in the surf. Note that the Hoh and Quillayute Rivers are too deep to ford at any time, and that other creeks and rivers may be difficult to cross, particularly at high tide or when runoff is strong. Always take a tide chart and use caution. This is, after all, the wilderness.

POINT OF ARCHES AND SHI SHI BEACH
Near the north park boundary, Point of Arches is a testimony to the relentless pounding of the Pacific where, with a force of two tons per square inch, the ocean carves giant arches out of ancient rock. The Arches, legendary children of Destruction Island and Tatoosh Island, were pushed from Mother Tatoosh's canoe when she deserted her husband because, she said, "You'd probably grow up just like your father!" The bluffs above neighboring Shi Shi (shy-shy) Beach provide a vantage point for watching the spring and fall gray whale migrations; the best viewing season is March-May. This stretch of coastline features some of the finest beaches and tidepools anywhere on the Washington coast; you might even find remains of a shipwreck still visible. Shi Shi Beach and Point of Arches are currently only accessible from the south (Ozette) end. Conflicts over access and rights-of-way have led to closures from the Neah Bay side. Call the Park Service at 360-452-0330 for the latest on access.

JQK
嗯，说了这么久了，啥时去把它灭了？夏天不太够用啊。:D

lulululu
[quote]JQK
嗯，说了这么久了，啥时去把它灭了？夏天不太够用啊。:D