Cape Alava-Sand Point Loop #32 #31
Dec 13, 2005
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Ozette Triangle: Cape Alava - Sand Point Loop
- Region: Olympics -- Coast
- Agency: Olympic National Park
- Trails: Cape Alava-Sand Point Loop (##31)
- Avg Rating: 4.10
I got on the first ferry out of Edmonds on Sunday morning, and did my best to ""make time"" out to the coast. The weather was great, traffic was light, and the icy sections of Hwy 112 and the Ozette road were freshly sanded. I chatted a bit with the ranger and bought one of the park's excellent ""North Coastal Section"" maps for $4. By then it was noon, so I hit the trail to Cape Alava.
The first boardwalks I came to weren't that slippery, so I held off putting on my Stabilicers, but then the older, crummier boards became prevalent, so on they went. Don't leave home without them! My pack was super-heavy with luxury items such as beer, steaks, some charcoal, real food like lunchmeat and sourdough bread, CD player and CDs, tarp in case it rained, etc, etc, but I still made good time due to the relatively flat trail. When I arrived at Cape Alava, I was going to head immediately south to Wedding Rocks, but the whole ""If I camped here I'd be home by now"" theory proved to be too alluring, so I stopped at one of the fabulous sites just south of the cape trail. I had the whole place to myself. Campfires are allowed there, so I had a beaut, a huge driftwood conflagration. A T-bone steak, a few cans of Heineken, and the sound of the ocean to lull me to sleep. I set up the tent but didn't use it, just used the tarp to keep the dew off of my sleeping bag and slept out on the grass.
Monday dawned fair and bright and I was itching to go, but I decided to await the outgoing tide at 11 am or so. I got to Wedding Rocks at 1 pm (it's just a mile south) and immediatety began my search for ancient native American petroglyphs. I saw several I had missed the last time I was there, mostly north of the rocks. I searched and photographed until 4 pm, including doing some scrambling around on the rocks and climbing a little path up to the base of the tall, rocky cliffs. Then I went about 100 yards south to the best campsite in the area and set up camp. I figured the ban on campfires didn't apply to a little charcoal set right on the beach sand, so another fabulous dinner was soon ready. A truly fine sunset was just the icing on the cake of the day. I used the tent Monday night due to it being clearer and thus colder, with a bit of wind. Both nights I stayed up very late, 1-2 am, since with high tides at 9:30 or 10 am, there was no morning rush. The moonlight, cool music, solitude, surroundings and general feel of the place made for some magical nightime strolling.
Tuesday was another fine day, sunny, warming nicely, with lots of attractive cloud formations moving through. I headed south towards Sand Point at noon, seeing lots of wildlife like deer, eagles, and seals, but no otters. I saw a couple of people near Sand Point, my first in over 48 hours. I went up on top of the seastack at the very tip of the point and basked in the 360 degree views. The sunset was shaping up to be a beaut, so I stayed as long as I could, but finally at 4 pm I had to bail. Those last two hours were magical. I would have killed for another day.
The boardwalks from Sand Point back to Ozette are worse than the other way to Cape Alava, so the Stabilicers really saved the day. With a pack much lighter than before, but still pretty heavy, I pushed hard all the way back, making the car (three full miles) at 5:15, no lighting needed. The roads were fine all the way back.
|
Another petroglyph
|
Document Actions
- Email this page
- Print this
- Share
Forgot your
New user?
