Second Beach #22
Feb 01, 2005
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Second Beach
- Region: Olympics -- Coast
- Agency: Olympic National Park
- Trails: Second Beach (#22)
- Avg Rating: 3.89
I got dropped off at the Second beach trailhead at 2 pm on Tuesday, and was at the beach by 2:20. The seastacks there are awesome, as good as I've seen anywhere. The tide was coming in, and so I figured to see the far end of the beach first, before the tide cut off my retreat back to the trail, forcing a long detour over slippery, wet driftwood. The walk along the beach is about 1 1/2 miles, fast going over firm sand. I saw a nice campsite just south of the first beach stack, but didn't see any others the whole way. The beach is too flat for camping during high tide, and the bluffs behind are too steep and abrupt for there to be any sites. The far end of the beach is very cool, with accordian-like cliffs and secret beaches tucked in behind towering sea stacks. The tide was coming up, so I headed back at 4 pm. I noticed a dead sea lion on the beach, lying in a very natural position, so at first I thought it was sleeping or resting. Nothing had scavenged on the carcass, so it must have been pretty fresh. I got back to the last beach stack that must be rounded before high tide just in time to get by with dry boots, and explored the north end of the beach a while. The waves were crashing through a natural arch in the rocks, a nice spectacle. At 5:15 I hit the trail back up the bluff, and made the parking area at 5:35, just five minutes after my arranged pick-up time. I will return someday when I have more than 3 or 4 hours to explore this excellent beach.
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