Trip Reports

Dec 11, 2007: Shi-Shi Beach to Point of the Arches

Additional Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shahiddurrani/sets/72157603434722184

Dramatic sea stacks, a pristine beach, crashing waves, foaming seas, and not a soul to be seen; a beautiful day on the Pacific coast.

Last year, also in December, I made my first trip to Shi-Shi Beach. High tides had prevented me from reaching Point of the Arches, so I had compensated by heading over to Rialto Beach instead. (http://www.wta.org/~wta/cgi-bin.dev/wtaweb.pl?7+reports+displayM+2006122100) This year, I was determined that high tide or no, I was going to make it Point of the Arches.

An early start from the house had me on the 5:30am ferry for Bainbridge Island. By 10:00am I was at the Shi-Shi beach trailhead and on my way. The 1st mile was pleasant walking through forest, over slick boardwalks and quaint bridges.

The next mile was anything but! Similar to last year, a river of mud stretched before me, masquerading as a trail. I decided that an “brute force” approach would serve me best. The very first mud-hole had me sinking down to mid-calf, so I decided that the “blind-man” approach would serve me better: prod next mud-hole with trekking pole, take step if safe…

2mi into the hike is the way down to Shi-Shi Beach’s north end. My tide charts said that with the timing of a Tokyo Bullet train, I had made it to this point smack in the middle of high tide. I decided that rather than heading down to the beach and risk getting stymied by high tides once again, I would continue on, braving the overgrown/abandoned ‘road’ that would lead me down to the beach a mile further along. “Character building” is the phrase that best describes my little bit of madness. Sharp branches behaving like thorns, thorns…err…also behaving like thorns, mud-holes and numerous blow-downs, all added to my misery. One of the longest miles I have done. Finally, after reaching the beach, I looked back north at the route I should have taken and it was blissfully free of any ocean. I guess all high tides are not created equal.

By now I was close enough to Point of the Arches that I could almost taste it. Every second further banished the past 2 miles to distant memory. Photographic diarrhea took hold of me round about this time…I spent the rest of my hike enveloped in a happy glow.

Stats:

• Distance: 8mi

• Elevation gain: Who cares

• Hiking time: 5.25hrs

• Total trip time: 17hrs

This adventure is not for the faint of heart or the weak of constitution.

It requires the dedication to travel five hours one way.

It requires the dedication to obtain permits from the National Park Service and the Makah Nation.

It requires the dedication to pay for parking in a local’s yard and hike .6 miles to the trailhead.

This trip report may be a bit long and playful, but it will (eventually) point out some dangers that can be avoided in the wilderness.

This trip was an excellent reminder that something that is no big deal in town can be life threatening somewhere else.

One of the reasons that Shi Shi Beach is the only place I will camp/backpack on a holiday weekend is because the hoops one has to jump through to get there. A long drive to the “edge of the world”, obtaining permits from two governments, paying for parking away from the trailhead and a long slog through the mud before the slimy descent of death, tend to weed out the riff raff.

People who backpack to Shi Shi Beach (and often continue down to Ozette and even further South) are a hardy group who appreciate the area for all of its sacredness and rugged, natural beauty.

But back to this weekend’s trip…

Boot sucking mud, sleep deprivation, ravenous insects, flesh eating banana slugs, the slimy descent of doom from the headlands to the beach, driftwood piles of death, bone crunching beach combing, a rival tribe camped nearby, not enough wine (oh the horror) and even more challenges faced our “Survivor Shi Shi” contestants.

Out of the Seven who originally accepted the challenge, only two survived (voting each other immunity in the end) Two dropped out before the event due to family and work obligations, bringing the number down to five. School (and an unfortunate incident with a missing data stick) took out the next contestant; only to have a personal crisis take out her replacement bringing the number back down to four, a mere five hours after the number being back up to five. In the wee hours of the morning, the number dropped to three when a contestant showed up at the meeting point on crutches after an injury.

Two left Tacoma (one after unexpectedly staying out way too late and setting her alarm for 4:00 PM rather than 4:00 AM when she finally drug home) and met the third at an obscure yet charming beach resort on the Straight of Juan De Fuca. After acquiring permits form the National Park Service and the Makah Nation, they drove to the white house near the end of the road to the Fish Hatchery and paid for parking. They hiked the .6 miles to the trailhead, patronized a stinky outhouse that may be in the top three stinkiest of all time, and began their adventure.

One participant had been sick the week before with a food borne illness and had not fully recovered. Additionally she didn’t understand how many calories were needed to carry a significantly overloaded backpack through thick mud, down steep terrain and over soft sand.

She bonked. I have done this myself. After completing a three day backpacking trip on the Wonderland Trail at Mt Rainier, and not eating enough (we figured that over two days we had expended the energy required to run two marathons and that doesn’t count the altitude) I went out and tried to run on my rest day. I was overloaded with lactic acid and under loaded with glucose and electrolytes, and I got wheeled into Urgent Care in a wheel chair after a hard bonk.

When I bonked, I was able to grab the gate at five mile drive in Pt Defiance and call someone to get me before I want down. I was darn lucky not to have staggered into traffic and been hit by a car, or to have been found unconscious by the wrong person.

A bonk in the wilderness is even more dangerous.

Anything in the wilderness is more dangerous.

Cell phones don’t work out there (in the rare few places they might, it’s not uncommon to have a 911 call answered in Canada rather than the US) It can take hours to get out to where help can be summoned, and hours running into days to get help back out to the person who needs it.

Recognizing the bonk, I had her sit down and eat and drink as much as she could keep down. Our other contestant headed out to do battle for a prime campsite while I accessed the situation. When I felt comfortable that it was a mild enough bonk that I could leave her alone for a time, I hauled butt 2 ½ miles up the beach to drop off my pack at camp (which although a lovely, sheltered site in the trees, required some serious scrambling over the driftwood piles of death with my own grossly overloaded pack)

Then I hauled butt back down the beach to get our bonked contestant’s pack. Unfortunately, her pack does not fit me, and in addition to being overloaded cut into my collar bone, shoulders and hips (all of which are now abraded and black and blue)

She kept trying to get me to let her help carry things while working her way up the beach, and I had to threaten to poke her with a sharp stick (a tungsten carbide tipped trekking pole to be exact) if she tried to carry anything in her condition.

There was more stubborn on this trip than could ever be described here. It was likely an immeasurable, indescribably level of stubborn.

At that point, after carrying both packs for several miles, I was close to bonked myself, so I sucked down as much food and beverage as I could and rested before dinner.

We had a fabulous driftwood fire on the beach (not in the trees an not in the big logs) and grilled a wonderful dinner. Unfortunately, we realized that we had not packed enough wine for a three day trip. [sigh]

After that, our bonked contestant did the smart thing and went to bed early.

Our other contestant and I ran down the beach in search of adventure and whatever trouble we could find.

We found it in the guise of one of those plastic boat floats. It was big, it was orange, and in the absence of any shiny thing to distract us (Oooh Shiny!) it was our goal. Both us of being athletes, sprinted towards that puppy at mach speed. She got to it a nano-second before I did and kicked it with all her might.

Then we heard the crunch,

Then she limped.

For those who wonder, Keen sandals with their innovative toe protectors do not protect one’s foot from the impact of kicking something that is so filled with wet sand that it might as well be filled with concrete.

She waked it off, limped back to camp and went to bed.

She awakened the next morning with the joint behind her big toe red, angry and swollen.

Early in the morning, as I was dreaming in my nice, warm down sleeping bag, I heard it…

“Lisa, would you mind looking at my foot?”

After accessing it, I advised rest, elevation, cold and anti-inflammatory medication.

If it responded, another 24 hours could make it easier to get out.

If it got worse, the delay could create a situation where she’d have to be flown out or carried out on a litter.

Knowing that she wouldn’t rest (did I mention the level of stubborn on this trip?) she made the decision to get out while she could still get a boot on the foot. Luckily, it’ wasn’t an ankle. One thing most people who do silly things, take unnecessary risks and climb things they shouldn’t’ in the wilderness don’t realize is that something as simple as a sprained/broken ankle while a minor inconvenience in town, can kill you in the backcountry (well, if you’re not traveling with a medic)

Even though this particular incident didn’t affect her ability to bear the weight of her pack (I would have carried it out if necessary) I couldn’t not get her at least to the top of the headlands to the flat, muddy logging road that was heavily used, populated.

I was pretty darn exhausted by this point, but either one of them would have done it for me.

So then there were two of us.

Still climbing over that stinking pile of driftwood, she still recovering from the bonk, me now fried from the extra tips and pack carrying.

I was staring to hate that stinking pile of driftwood. Especially after forgetting my extra batteries back at camp and having my camera die on the South Side of Point of the Arches and having to haul butt back down there to get them before the tide starting moving back in.

We did get some fabulous sunset pictures the first night. We got some fabulous tide-pooling in the 2nd afternoon and we shared food, wine, fun and friendship. I had some fun sharing stories of that trip and swapping NPS stories with the patrol ranger at Point of the Arches.

The 2nd night, as I was snuggled back into my beloved down sleeping back and drifting off to dreamland with the soothing sound of the crashing surf, I heard…

“Lisa, do you have any suggestions as to how to get a bee out of my tent?”

A bee? A BEE? WTF!?!?! It was too bloody cold and beach like for a bee.

Me: “Uh, open both doors and hope if flys out or shoo it out?”

Her: “It’s just stuck there.”

Me: “So whack the roof of the tent from outside.”

Her: “It’s still stuck.”

Me: “So poke it with a stick”

Her: “Crap! It just fell into my sleeping bag!”

I could go on, but I’m sure you, the reader can fill in the rest. Everything had to be pulled out of the tent before anyone could sleep. The next morning, a Banana Slug invaded camp and tried to eat one contestant’s jerky.

We slept in the next morning and were awakened by that silly sound that Bald Eagles make (my favorite alarm clock)

We took our time getting out, myself bruised and battered, my companion recovering from the illness and bonk. Both of us saying, “WOW, that was COOL!”

When we final two survivors made it back to the trailhead, a pickup truck full of icky boys offered a ride to the cars, and I and several others jumped in the back. What luck! On the way back, I was telling our story to some of the other guys in the back of the truck. They said, “Hey, we heard about you guys from the ranger.”

We’re infamous and our reputation had preceded us. Perhaps our story will become legend and will be told at campfires on the beach for years to come.

Or perhaps, the rangers will have a good laugh at the end of season party.

We all made it home safe and sound. (a couple of us bruised and battered, but that’s OK)

*** WHO WILL THE FINAL SUVIVOR BE? *** WILL THEY BRING ENOUGH WINE NEXT TIME? *** WHAT WAS LISA DOING UNTIL 11:00 PM THE NIGHT BEFORE AN EARLY TRIP? ***

FIND THE ANSWERS TO THESE AND MORE QUESTIONS ON “SURVIVOR SHI SHI – BACK TO THE BEACH” THIS LABOR DAY !!!

Although this may sound like a “bad” experience, it wasn’t.

It was an amazing experience.

There is no “bad” trip to Shi Shi. It is a place that will change you if you let it.

The experience could have been life threatening, but instead, it was a chance for our “tribe” to band together and help each other.

I will always have fond memories of “Survivor Shi Shi”

~L

Pictures are available here http://www.wildcelticrose.net/lisasplace/shishisurvivor.html

Shi Shi is ever changing. Most of the changes are wrought by the ocean which shifts the sands, changes river mouths, and tosses all kinds of flotsam up onto the beach. The Makah Indians have made lots of changes themselves. They've created a new, spacious parking lot with permanent restrooms and a very nice trail with puncheons and bridges for about 1/3 of the way to the cliff. The other two thirds remain a combination of forest trail, ORV raceway, and series of sloppy, black, boot sucking mud holes. Hikers have beaten primitive paths around these morasses but even these succumb eventually to mud. These must be water table or spring fed because it had not rained lately as evidenced by other parts of the trail which used to be mud but now were dried out considerably. The zig zag path down to the beach is steep and can be slippery when wet, but was no problem this weekend.

Even with lots of people at the beach for the Memorial weekend, there was plenty of space for all. The tide was average so most pitched their tents right on the high beach among the dried out logs. Beach fires are permitted. Lots to see out there, especially point of arches which are accessible at low tide.

To get there, go to the Makah Indian reservation and take the road to Hobuck Beach. Past that beach, look for a white house at the top of a small hill. You can park there for $5 per day. Hike about a quarter mile around a bend and there is the parking lot and trailhead. If you are not staying overnight, you can go directly to the trailhead parking lot.

Final word - don't kick the red balls. These big floats from fishing nets are thick plastic and often full of sand. They are hard as concrete and unimpressed by the force of a mere human foot.

We started off around 2:00 after paying a decent amount of money to the Makah nation for parking on their land. The boardwalk part of the trail is pretty good, but after a mile, the trail became quite muddy. There are numerous detours around the ankle-deep mud portions of the trail that are a good idea to take.

We spent three days near Neah Bay (Chito Beach Resort). On the first day of our arrival we had enough time for the short trip to Cape Flattery. This has to be one of he most impressive maritime sceneries there is, especially in the early evening hours! A high clearance vehicle was very helpful on the latter part of the road to the Cape. Don't forget to obtain your visitors' permission for $7 at Washburn's store in Neah Bay. Second day: 9 mile Cape Alava - Sandpoint - triangle hike. To our great surprise no other hikers were to be seen on the entire ocean leg, but lots of Bald eagles and some very tame deer. We walked up to Tskawayah Island, which could be reached due to low tide. Third day: Shi Shi beach. Northern approach. The unfinshed second half of the trail (actually an old logging road)is still as muddy, swampy as described by almost everyone who walked on or through it. We stopped at the bluff overlooking Shi Shi beach, a tent colony visible below.

Shi Shi Beach 9/22/2004

Hard to get to, but worth it. Shi Shi is the northernmost beach in Olympic Nat. Park. On the south it is accessed by a difficult 10 mile beach backpack route from the Lake Ozette trailhead and on the north via a very, very muddy day hike trail from the Makah reservation. We were staying at very nice accomodations near Neah Bay on the Straits of Juan de Fuca so I got to use the EASY day hike trail access. It was by far the muddiest trail I have ever hiked. Mud holes 100 feet long and 20 feet wide. The tribe has rebuilt the first mile of trail (which is wonderful) but then the liquid dirt begins.

It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get to the first spectacular beach overlook, just before the trail drops like an extreme skiing madman straight down the 200 foot bluff to the beach. It was a cloudy mid week day with mist, drizzle, and then rain as I was leaving. Arriving on the beach I was alone, almost. No other day hikers today but 3 tents (and 8 campers) were hidden in the best spots in the woods just above the hi tide line. In peak season you need a permit and up to 100 campers may be on Shi Shi. It's famous and hard to get to, so people come.

The beach is in the form of a gentle crescent just over 2 miles long. There is a headland peninsula at each end with clusters of sea stacks marching out to sea where the land used to be. Many of these rocky spires have caves and hollows which you can see thru at the proper angles. Some have trees and vegetation growing on top. There are tide pools too.

The trail deposited me near the north end and after admiring the northern sea stack cluster I started south on the broad sandy beach towards the southern cluster , 'Point of Arches'. The tide was receding and the waves were gentle. I walked on the wet low tide sand as near the surf as I dared. Later on one wave fooled me and I got a boot full of ocean. The mist increased and visibility was on and off down to about 1 mile in drizzle. I shielded my camera with my sun/rain hat and took a roll of photos, but the camera couldn't see as well as I did. The eyes and brain correct for conditions. After crossing petroleum creek and noticing the smoke from the campers beach fires I came upon at least a thousand gulls on the beach edge. They didn't want to fly and edged away from me as I came by.

As I got within a mile of Point Of Arches the shapes of the sea stacks started to change with my different angle of sight. Some of the caves disappeared and new ones appeared. Closer still and they all lined up and looked like a single island mountain range. The tide was not very low so I could only walk out to the first stack on the sand. I ate lunch in the shelter of a cedar tree and a giant boulder just off the beach at Point Of Arches. Just beyond the point is another beach in a small cove with more sea stacks to it's south. I decided it was getting too wet to explore any further and turned around. It rained a bit and then drizzled more as I headed north. After spotting the trailhead marker (a big black and orange target) I proceeded just a bit further to the north sea stack group. Climbing over a little headland I looked down into the hidden cove and tide pools on the northern end.

Time to leave Shi Shi and revisit the muddy trail. Even tho the rain increased the puddle size it was easier the second time thru, I knew where the bypasses and escape routes were.

Statistics 8 miles for the day, 200 ft. gain and loss 5 1/2 hours round trip 17 miles from our cozy cabin at Chito Beach Temperature 60 Humidity 100 %

Robert Michelson

As there's been no report since December, 2003, here's a current one: There are a few things to be prepared for...first, it's a long drive from Seattle...including the ferry, it took us about 5 hours to get to Neah Bay. I would not daytrip this one. From the 113 junction, there are sharply-curved sections of road which slow your speed down to at least 20 MPH on many sections in daylight...I wouldn't enjoy this at night or in rain. Close to Neah Bay, a section of road was washed out...it is a now a single-lane section with a stop-sign - you take turns if you encounter traffic from the other direction.

You need to purchase a Makah Recreation Permit in Neah Bay for $7 at present...at the Museum on your left as you enter town (which contains an impressive, full-sized replica Longhouse which you can walk into...feel like you were there, and Longboats) or at Washburn's General Store, and other stores in town. There are only 3 eateries in Neah Bay with limited menus and hours. If you want to stay in a place with bed, bathroom and shower, I'd suggest staying in Sekiu as we did, where there are a half-dozen options, 15 miles before Neah Bay and the Cove Restaurant. There's also the Breakwater Restaurant before Neah Bay.

It's sad to drive through Neah Bay to get to the signed road to Cape Flattery and ""Beaches""...a sad-looking town surrounded by the priceless beauty of nature....follow road signs at the end of town, and take a left out as signed. Drive past Waatch and Hobuck Beaches...beautiful in their own rights...If you plan on camping overnight and want to gain some security for your car, as you near the Shi Beach Trailhead there's ""Donna's"" place, signed on your left...with a private parking lot for I believe $10...some insurance and better peace of mind. Continue on the road (paved all the way) to the Shi Shi Beach Trailhead parking lot with room for perhaps 15 cars, and a couple of porta-potties but no garbage cans.

Starting out on the trail for the first mile or so is a pleasant, seductive experience...the Makahs have put alot of work in to build gravel trails and boardwalks...but then as I think you cross into the National Park / Forest Service land, you enter sections of Mud Hell. We encounted 3 blowdowns, the first of which was easy, the 2nd was muddy, the 3rd was a slippery, muddy obstacle course. At first, we tried to avoid getting too muddy...but as experience grew after awhile we just gave up and accepted the reality of getting through each muddy morass...several, literally over ankle-deep...the kind that sucks your boots off when you try to step forward...and needless to say, the mud cakes up on your pants legs a few more inches...if you look around at the muddy morasses, there may be some side-trails that wind up and down, but these are slippery with mud also, and have root tangles...watching your step is the order of the day.

So although it's a relatively flat trail, with only small inclines here and there, and rated at 3.3 miles, because of the muddy conditions, it slows you down quite a bit...it took us over an hour just to get to the trail leading down to the beach...we ran out of time and didn't go farther as sunset hour approached and we weren't ready to camp. But we charged back through many of those muddy morasses, (who cared at that point) and made it back in about 45 minutes.

Strategies for dealing with the mud: - Accept the mental attitude to ""Just Do It; Get Over It"", - Ankle-high or higher, waterproof hiking boots with gaiters, - Sturdy, secure, rubber-soled sandals and shorts (just clean off when you get down to the beach, and water-down when you get back to the parking lot).

One last comment...I've read elsewhere the Forest Service / National Park Service may not have agreed to encourage more visitors to Shi Shi Beach, therefore the more difficult trail conditions on Forest Service / National Park land. There are 2 minds on this...those who think it should be kept this way to keep nature pristine as possible, or those who think it is our land to both enjoy and care for. Unfortunately, the few who do not care for the land spoil it for the rest of us...witness littering! Because I feel this is a unique, priceless asset, I hope WTA will organize trail crews to improve trail conditions and organize to encourage visitors in keeping Shi Shi Beach pristine for posterity.

Being that I had some weekday time off from work I chose to hike the North Shi Shi Access Trail to camp for a couple of days near Point Of The Arches. This is a hike I've dreamed about doing for many years but have never been brave enough to try on a weekend with all the reports of it's popularity and the ensuing huge crowds. After a stop at the Wilderness Information Center in Port Angeles for my permit I arrived at Tilly's house for safe parking at around 6:00pm. She lives about a half mile from the trailhead and charges $5.00 for each day you're parked in her yard. A small price to pay for the peace of mind you receive knowing that your vehicle will be safe. Hers is the last house before the trailhead and the ranger in PA said there have never been any reports of vandalism with vehicles parked on her property. Not true of some of the other houses offering parking in the area. The first mile is on the new Makah Trail. This is easy boardwalk with nice trail signage. The next mile across Portage Head is yet to be completed by the Makah. There are some good size mudholes and a couple of blowdowns. All are easily navigated with a little bit of effort. The trail drops sharply to the north end of Shi Shi Beach at the two mile mark. I do mean sharply! It seems like about 200 feet down in 200 feet! Watch your step if carrying a heavy pack. I guess I still had my city legs at this point. Once on the beach I finally got the chance to realize why this is agruably the Northwest's most beautiful beach. Through the mist and fog I could see seals popping up in the surf and eagles soaring overhead. As I hiked south to the Point Of The Arches I passed Petroleum Creek and all the campsites here were full. Not to worry my goal was the tiny outlet stream from Willoughby Lake and easy access to the arches on the south end of Shi Shi Beach. I was not dissapointed. Upon arriving at the outlet stream and a lot of plodding amongst the driftwood in the fog I found a great campsite just south of the stream. It was set back in the trees with an awesome view of the arches. The camp even had a full picnic table made of driftwood! Perfect. After a rainy night the sun broke out the next morning just in time for exploring the Point and taking photos. You can make it a long way out into the arches at low tide. I could only get about half way out but I'm sure if you planned it for a large minus tide you could go farther. This spot is truly amazing. Large Stonehenge like monoliths guarding the coastline, Sea Caves, Tide Pools and Shore Birds. Some of these rocks are 140 million years old. You can really feel the sense of ancient history here. It was a photographer's dream. I truly recommend you do this hike during the weekdays. I only saw a half dozen other people the entire day. The hike out was just as nice with lots of sunshine and more photo op's. Have fun and take the time to soak in the peace that this special place has to offer. Happy Trails!!

I've always wanted to go to Shi Shi beach, but I never expected to have it all to myself for three days of beautiful weather. I hit the ferry to Kingston on the first run of the day Sunday the 28th, and still didn't get to the parking area past Neah Bay at a house near the trailhead until 12:30, thanks largely to the icy and snowy toboggan path called ""State Route 112"". There is a pleasant road walk of 6/10s of a mile to the actual trailhead, which plunges into dark and dense woods. The new trail alternates between nice gravel and death-defying snowy boradwalks. Somehow I managed the boardwalks without a slip. There are several cool bridges, and each bridge, and sometimes just a section of trail, has its own name on a little wooden sign. Next comes the worst section, the mudholes. Epic mudholes. Mudholes for a mile or more, each one deeper and more impossible to bypass than the one before. Impossible in sneakers, but to the properly-booted, no problem. Once I figured out the secret, they were pussycats. Just plow right through the center, and be sure your boot comes up with your foot. Six inch deep mud is no match for 8 inch boots! Eventually the park boundary is reached, with a trail down to the beach that drops 200 ft in about 250 ft of trail. There were some nice campsites around, one occupied, so I took in the views and headed south. Point of Arches is in plain sight all the way down the beach, but is farther than it looks. By the time I got to the first, and best, campsite just before Petroleum creek, it was 4 pm and showtime. I put off setting up camp and just took in the sunset until the last glow was gone, about 5:30. Wow. Perfect weather capped by a great sunset. Then I rather suddenly realized that it was freezing cold, and I made dinner and set up my tent while it was cooking. I brought beaucoup warm clothes, so with the lack of wind and rain, I was fine. POA and the whole beach and ocean were awesome in the moonlight, especially the frost-covered driftwood. I finally succumbed to the lure of a warm sleeping bag at 10, and immediately fell asleep, for 12 hours.

Even at 10 am, the cold was astonishing. The beach was frozen like rock, so walking left no footprints. I lounged through my usual lazy morning, then realized I had a tidal deadline for exploring past POA. I headed south and came immediately to an obstacle: Petroleum creek was raging. I waded through barefoot, and it hurt. After 10 minutes or so I could begin to feel my toes, so I figured no permanent damage was done. POA is very cool. Every rock could be called ""Stegosaurus Rock"". To continue past to the aptly-named ""Point"" to the south, I had to go through a skinny arch. The little half-moon beach between POA and ""Point"" may be the coolest beach anywhere. ""Point"" is a great collection of sea-stacks, which can be wandered through at low tide. One is stained yellow by some kind of growth. I took a hundred pictures, and headed back to get around POA before the tide cut me off. Too late!!! I was trapped by the incoming ocean, doomed to an untimely death, or to at least to wait out the tide for several hours after dark. Then I rememberd I had brought my gaiters for just such an emergency. I put them on as tight as possible, and worked my way to safety, stepping in the shallowest places possible, and doing a few semi-dangerous rock-hops. I made it through with only minor sock-wetting, and I always carry a spare pair, so that was a relief. I didn't want to fill my boots with seawater, and the rocks were too harsh for bare feet. After drinking several beers, and watching another sunset, this time from POA southward, I felt like I could go on. I walked back to camp in the moonlight, fording Petroleum creek using the gaitor trick again to good effect. After dinner and the last of the barley pop, I considered a moonlight stroll back to POA and beyond to take advantage of another low tide, but it was by then too cold, mid-twenties at the most. The numerous streams crossing the beach were frozen solid. The night was crystal clear, with amazing stars and another bright moon.

Tuesday morning brought a complete weather change. Clouds everywhere, showers, snow, rain, all that nasty stuff. My campsite was protected under some bushy trees, so I was able to pack up nice and dry. I hung out as long as I could, taking in the beauty in the different light and atmosphere. Finally, it was 2 pm and I figured I better hit the trail. It seemed like the three days went by in 15 minutes. The hike back seemed like a week. It wasn't the rain, that was too drizzly/misty to bother me much, I was just tired and sad to be leaving. I plowed through the mudholes in reckless disregard, daring them to try to overtop my boots. Ha! They couldn't touch me. When I got to the last crossing of the old road, I turned left and hiked it out to the main road to avoid some of the worst icy boardwalks. I got back to the car at 4:30, utterly exhausted. The drive back to Port Angeles, about 70 miles, took 2 1/2 hours due to blizzard conditions the whole way, with no sand yet applied. Several cars found convenient ditches along the side of the road to rest in, but luckily the drivers were OK. More blizzard conditions plagued me on Hiway 104 to and across the Hood canal bridge. I finally made it home at 10:35, six hours after leaving. I was then attacked in a friendly way by a yellow dog and a yelow-haired woman. The end. PS- I only saw three other people the whole trip.

One of the most beautiful and relaxing trips I have been to. It took a while to get there from Seattle (more than 6 hours, including ferry wait, buying permits, etc), but it was well worth it. The Bainbridge ferry turned out to have less waiting time than the Kingston ferry. The new trail to the beach isn't open officially, but Makah Indian Reservation people say it's OK to use. Definitely more varied and interesting than the old muddy slog I had heard about.

We got our backcountry permit from the Wilderness Info Center in Port Angeles, our recreational use permit from the big grocery store in Makah Village Center, and our parking slip from the private house half a mile before the trailhead where we parked.

No bug problems. No high winds. We camped on the beach, though there were some better sheltered sites near North and South ends of the beach (where most people were, and we didn't want to be). Be mindful of rising tide if you go across the Point of Arches to, say, the view point a mile or so South and up the marked trail with hanging ropes.

Ashish and Rashmi

July 26-27, 2003

The new trail to Shi Shi beach is open! I hadn't been there before, so I don't know if it's really longer than the last one, but it seemed like it was about 2 miles to the beach. Don't make the same mistake we did. When you get to the old road, go right. Otherwise, you'll make a nice circle.

The trail was very muddy. Bugs weren't too bad. I noticed a lot at the campsite on the first night, but I didn't see many on night 2. I loaded up with deet and was never bitten.

There are a number of nice campsites down the beach about 1 mile towards point of the arches. There are a couple before Petroleum Creek, and more afterwards.

I would certainly recommend doing this as a long weekend. We took the 12:55 Edmonds Ferry, and got to the trailhead about 5:30 and to the campspot around 7:30. We got back to Seattle at 8:30 after leaving our campsite at 11 or so.

Don't forget to buy a tribal recreational permit for parking. We got ours at the market, but they appear to be for sale at other locations. Also, you are supposed to pay to park at the trailhead. We didn't, and were lucky. There is no kiosk at the trailhead, but there is one back about a mile near where the old trail started. Apparently, you are supposed to pay there. You will see the sign on the left as you are going in.

Thanks to this invaluable website, I had been forewarned of an impending trail closure for the hike to Shi Shi Beach across Makah land. A phone call to Makah offices confirmed that as of next weekend (July 27), the trail will be CLOSED for several weeks for maintainance. So call before you go!

You should allow a good five hours from Seattle. Don't make my mistake of thinking that Saturday AM will be a quicker wait for the Edmonds ferry - not on a perfect July weekend it won't be! At least, thanks to cell phones, the line cheaters were turned in and thrown out by drivers calling the Edmunds cops, but even with those jerks gone, it still was a good 1 1/2 wait we hadn't counted on. What with the slow roads west of PA, we didn't pull into Neah Bay until 4 PM.

The trailhead to Shi Shi is found by heading south from Neah Bay on the well-paved road to the Fish Hatchery. Just before the Hatchery, when you see a house on your left with a front yard full of late-model cars and SUVs(in stark contrast to the beat-up jobs and pickups in most everyone else's front yards), pull in and park. The pay envelope and instructions are on the front door of the house. $5/day, no vandalism.

It's about 1/2 mile further up the road to the trailhead, a large steel gate. The trail to Shi-shi is marked on my old map as a road parallel to the beach, and the trail was obviously a logging road in a previous life. You go through some pretty woods on your way to the beach, listening to the surf crashing on the rocks below. It's dead level until the STEEP last bit down to the sand, and the big, spring-fed mudholes (why is there so much muddy terrain on the beach cliffs in the NW?) are apparently scheduled for boardwalks as part of the Makah upgrade. I'd call it 2 miles plus to the beach.

On a perfect clear warm weekend in high summer, there were a dozen other parties camped on the beach - one party had 8 tents. Unlike 3rd beach, most of the backpackers I saw came to camp right at Shi-Shi, rather than hike down the coast. It's a lot easier - anything to the south requires a reservation with the NPS, and more planning than I'm usually capable of.

Shi Shi itself is a classic NW coast beach, with picturesque seastacks anchoring the 2-mile crescent both north and south - the southern group being the famous Point of the Arches. Petroleum Creek, about 2/3 of the way down the beach, is in the center of the densest concentration of campsites. It's also a pretty damn scenic place to get water.

Because Shi Shi Beach is a destination in itself, it had a collection of some of the most developed rustic campsites I've ever seen. They have obviously been built on and elaborated over the years, perhaps by the same people returning to a favorite spot. Our hidden campsite had a rope to help haul you up from the beach into the woods, and multiple levels for tents and food storage. The driftwood kitchen table had a great view of the beach, and the various surrounding driftwood benches were convenient for seating and equipment. The bear wire worked great. Other campsites were even more elaborate, with driftwood picnic tables, shelving units, lawn chairs, even privies. Think, forest-people beach colony.

Fellow beach residents included a full range of temporary urban refugees, looking a little odd on this primeval beach. I saw joggers, frisbee players, driftwood sculptors, even two surfers in wet suits, who either floated in their gear on a Zodiac or did one of the more masochistic backpacks in history.

And speaking of Zodiacs, Carey the cheerful NPS ranger who was camped next to us said that that's what it takes to haul out the hundreds of trash bags she and the other rangers collect from the beach every summer and stash in the woods. Every August the Coast Guard sends a ship to ferry the trash back to ""civilization"", and perhaps issue a few citations to the Panamanian-registered freighters who tossed most of it overboard in the first place.

It was amazing to be on the outer beach in clear, hot weather - no fog, no mist, no rain. How often is that? Vancouver Island was so clear you could see the logging roads in the clearcuts, and the coast was visible all the way north to Bamfield and Uculet, location of their national park. It wasn't a good time for migrating whales, but we did have lots of eagle and tame deer action, and the swarms of beach-loafing gulls were in epic numbers.

Fearing an epic ferry line, we didn't leave the beach till 5:30 PM Sunday. We ate a smoked salmon dinner off a paper plate in the backyard of a gentleman with a little home business in Neah Bay, and talked fishing with his buddies who were tending their salmon in his backyard smokehouse. We didn't get out of there till eight, but what was the hurry? We caught the redeye out of Bainbridge no problem, and hit the sack at 1 AM feeling pleased with ourselves and ready to get back out into the NW outdoors while the getting is good.

This isn't a ""trip report"" per se as I did not actually hike this trail, but a phone call to the Makah Tribal Council revealed some news of interest, both good and bad. The bad news is that the Makah trailhead, which has been officially closed but unofficially open, is slated to be closed completely sometime this month. The good news is that the closure is in order to construct the long-awaited private property bypass. The currently estimated completion date is in the October time frame.

Very muddy, several spots over-the-ankle deep. Seek out side trails that run parallel to main road/trail, many not visible from main trail. Mmmmmm, Salmonberrys.

Water access is tea-like on beach. Bring filter or pills & lots of flavoring.

The road to Neah Bay is long, but the crowds do thin as the distance grows greater. Expect around four hours to the trailhead from Seattle. The road gets rougher and slower as it nears the end. We arrived at around 9:30AM, and tried to park at the last house from the trailhead. No one answered the door, so we went down to the next house and walked even further. The normal policy is just to drive right up on their lawn, and if they're not there, find an envelope and pay the proper amount. The trail starts through a clear cut along an old forest road, and quickly turns very muddy. Wear your lawn mowing shoes. At one point my husband (burdened by a heavy pack) fell face first in mud. At about two miles, we filled out a permit, entered the park, and descended steeply to the beach. Campsites are numerous along the beach and just above it, most dense around petroluem creek (the only source of water, bring a stove or filter). Wildlife included numerous sea lions, a flirtatious fawn on the beach, and a whale (presumably grey) that sent a huge flock of seagulls out of the water. Some tribal fisherman drove us back to our car from the trailhead, and on the way out, we stopped at the Makah museum, where we found out that the women who let us park in her yard, Isabelle Ides, is a tribal elder who turns 99 in November. Nice trip!

A hike to the beach is a
perfect antidote for too much time in the mountains. Getting to the Shi Shi trailhead can be troublesome if you do not know the way- we had to ask for directions from Neah Bay three times. A woman up the road from the trailhead will let you park in her yard for a fee, although rumor has it that vandalism has been decreasing. The open stretch of the trail has sun, the covered stretch has huge mud pits. We had one shoe sucked right off in the sandy black goo. The beach was fogged over and had quite an ethereal other-world feel as campers moved in an out of visibility. It was fairly crowded, but the surf, fog and space nearly made us feel alone. The fog departed at night for amazing phosphoresence show in the rip-tide and shooting stars above. The next morning we trekked the low tide to the now visible Point of Arches before heading up and out into the heat.