This hike travels along Washington's wilderness coast in Olympic National Park, south from the LaPush area. The Third Beach trailhead can be reached by driving Hwy. 101 to just north of Forks, and then 110 west, just shy of the reservation / resort town of LaPush. Closer to town, is the Second Beach trailhead, but I guess we're not supposed to park there or something because it's on the reservation.

The forest trail down to the beach is about a mile long, and is very well maintained. Once on the beach, one simply walks on the sand dodging waves for a good 3/4 mile south to the first headland, which must be crossed on an overland trail. There is an obvious marker, and a ladder of sorts. The trail up to the top of this headland is steep and rough, with a couple of these ladder like things, but can be handled by anyone who isn't particularly afraid of heights. The headland is large, and the hike is in forest for a considerable distance. On the other side, the beach is followed for awhile, initially around some interesting rocks, complete with caves and an arch, which must be crossed behind if the tide is too high. In fact, I wouldn't recommend this whole section of beach at high tide.

Soon enough, the next headland is reached. I think there used to be a ladder up this one but it's been bashed out of existence, leaving only the ropes or something. Either way, it's a highly eroded, steep, unstable slope comprised largely of clay. This section was difficult going up, and was the crux of the hike on the way down. I wouldn't recommend it at the moment to anyone who doesn't have some experience on steep slopes. On the other side of this headland (Scott's Bluff), is a campsite. From this point on, all travel is along the beach to Toleak Point. Most of this beach looks pretty safe, but one spot could be dicey at high tide.

At Toleak, there are a bunch of campsites just inside the forest on the near side of the point. On the far side, there is a creek (the watersource). Supposedly there is a trail that heads up this creek to a shelter and campground. At the moment there's a bunch of driftwood piled around the creek and I couldn't see the trail, though I didn't look that hard.

The evening was pleasant, but there were quite a lot of high clouds hanging around, which wasn't very comforting. Indeed in the morning it was gray and drizzling. I had planned to do some exploring further south, but I decided to head out because of the weather. Fortunately, it remained a drizzle and I didn't get particularly wet.

Somewhere along the way, I realized this was my first 10th anniversary hike. Although we didn't go all the way to Toleak Point, I backpacked out here in the Boy Scouts when I was 13. I remember that hike was the first one I actually largely enjoyed (I was pretty overweight and inactive as a kid). Because of this association, and because I haven't been back to the wilderness coast in the last 10 years, this hike had a particular sentimentality to it.

Overall, aside from the one short and steep section, this is a great place to go this time of year. I was surprized that there weren't any blowdowns to speak of. There was a little mud, but it was entirely manageable.

Pictures coming in awhile.

Damian and I headed to Toleak Pt for our annual winter storm-watching trip. As a special treat, our buddy Larry joined us on this trip.

Jackpot.

We got hammered out there, with rain and high winds.

Last winter storms did some damage there. The campsite at Third Beach is rather more like a place to stand and eat sumpin' before heading on. The camps at Scotts Creek are gone. The whole area is a huge pile of logs. There are a couple of small sites someone eked out; but it's not the destination spot it once was, that's for sure....The camps just north of Toleak got hit pretty bad too.

The bluffs are gooey on the sides - the exposed clay and mud are oozing and eroding as they have done for centuries. The huge trees are coming down along with the mud, and the beaches are full of these logs and mudslumps. As we were hiking out Monday, we saw several globs of mud plopping down from the cliffs and onto the beach. It's very awe-inspiring to be amonst the geomorphology of the Pacific Northwest.

A few blowdowns on the Third Beach trail; nothing bad (as of Monday afternoon, that is).

Watch the tide charts if you go, and realize that winter on the coast is nothing to fool around with - on the coast more than anywhere else, Nature shows her indifference to humanity. The low tides can swell higher in these winter storms, thereby turning them into high low tides instead of low tides, and would be on the level of a low high tide. In other words, don't fool with Mother Nature; she's alive & kickin' on the coast.

22 mile out and back starting from Oil City Road up to Toleak Point. The weather gods were good enough to bless us with sun for most of the weekend. Most people tend to stick with Third Beach to Toleak, so it was the first portion of this hike (Oil City to Mosquito Creek) that presented the most difficult challenges. Tide was mid-level by the time we hit Diamond Point. Easy to navigate at low tide, but a good way to get your heart rate up at mid-tide. I made it through dry, but my friend caught a good wave and ended up with wet boots for the remainder of the hike. Slippery boulders and logs for the first two miles, trekking poles are mandatory if you don't want to take a dive.

Once past Diamond Point, its a nice beach hike until you reach the first set of rope-ladders. The rains have taken its toll, so the lower 4 rungs are damaged, making it a challenge to ascend. I'd bring gloves, as the ropes were fairly wet and muddy. The overland route was filled with blowdowns, I stopped counting after going up, under, and around 15 trees. Mud is also fairly thick here, so gaiters are recommended as well.

There is a section about two miles prior to Mosquito Creek where the cliff is pulling away. Up to 3 feet's worth of tree roots were exposed and we had to be very careful as gaps up to 4 feet deep presented themselves mid-trail. Its only a matter of time before the entire section is completely wiped away.

Once you ford Mosquito creek, the trail is fairly well maintained with the only questionable section being the ascent up Hoh Head, which is very muddy and with no apparent trail. The remaining rope ladders are usable. The campgrounds at Toleak are in pristine condition and we spotted many eagles flying overhead.

One last word - due to the many blowdowns and generally poor condition of the trail from Oil City to Mosquito Creek, I can't recommend this to anyone who doesn't have significant hiking experience. It took us about 10 hours to hike 11 miles. It was certainly an adventure, but a little too technical for novices (on the other hand racing tides, climbing ladders, fording rivers, and jumping boulders is my idea of a perfect hike). Stick with the Third Beach route if you are looking for an easier hike.

Damian and I camped at Mora in order to get a relatively early start Friday. Early in the morning, before I got out of my tent, I lay and listened to a wonderful bird that I had never heard before - it was trilling and screeching at the same time; it's song was short, about 6 to 10 seconds long, and not varied, but very beautiful. That, and the rhythmic high and low tones of the whistling bouys on the pounding surf already made the trip worth it. Later, I discovered the bird call was the song of an eagle - up to now, I had only heard eagles screech, and it was a pleasant surprise to hear them sing.

Friday's high tide was 7 PM, making for a leisurely hike in to Toleak Point. It was sunny and mild, almost warm. It is typical of Damian and me to take a lot of time noticing the small wonders of the Washington coast. The big scenes are obvious, but the sweet, mingling scents of the earth, the trees and salt water, and a tree full of spider webs illuminated by the sun stopped us in our tracks for long periods of time.

Nightime fell, and we had a beach fire. I looked out on the water and asked Damian, ""Hey, does the Washington coast ever get glowing plankton or jellyfish?"" ""No,"" he replied, ""not here."" ""So what's that out there,” I pointed, “some ship lost a load of flashlights?"" He looked up, and after several long seconds, exclaimed ""That’s the moonlight on the water!"" Now I've seen moonlight on water before, but this was simply amazing. The ocean was blackest of black, and gave no definition of a wave until an undulating row caught the reflection of the moon, creating a bright flash of long, gleaming, quivering ribbons of silvery-white brilliance, until each disappeared under the curl of wave, making way for the next row of sparkling shimmer. I hate to be trite, but I was blown away by it.

Another sunny morning found me wandering to the Point where I heard that wonderful bird call that I heard Friday morning at Mora. I looked up to see 2 bald eagles sitting on a rock not 100 feet away, singing and squawking. I stood a long time and watched them and listened. They got tired of me staring at them, and left. It wasn't long before I became intrigued by something else: a flock of black oystercatchers with beautiful, bright orange legs and oversized orange beaks.

The tide went out, and I headed out to the large seastack, where I stood in the middle of a marshy spot with long grasses exposed by the tide. Suddenly I got shot with little spurts of water. Ping! Ping! Ping! All over the place: I had stumbled upon a bed of clams.

Next morning I woke up to a periodic thud-clunk, and an occasional rumbling boom. During the night, an offshore storm had washed ashore several new logs, and they were bumping and crowding against each other, and against the logs that already lay on the beach. Three of the newcomers were large trees with root systems still intact.

As I was watching the power of water roll them around, I heard a series of chattering squeaks. I turned, and there were four otters, bounding and flopping thier way towards us, to the freshwater creek where we were camped. The two in front periodically looked back to the others as if to say, ""C'mon!"" Then a wave would wash ashore, and the otters gleefully bounced into the foamy water. When the wave retreated, it exposed the confused, tangled mass of otters, some upside down, some facing backwards, and all wriggling and squealing. Then they'd untangle themselves, and toddle toward the creek, and when the next wave came, the whole playful process started all over again.

Because they were so playful, it took awhile for them to reach the creek. When they got there, they washed their faces, and rolled around the fresh water before returning to the ocean.

We saw lots of bobcat tracks in the sand, and again in the mud on Taylor Point on the way out.

It’s a fine winter destination, but it takes additional planning – it’s a very lonely stretch of coast in winter; we never see anyone else this time of year except at Third Beach.

I will again exclaim about the good food and exceptional hand-dipped shakes at Three Rivers Resort near Mora. I had a pumpkin spice shake that can't be beat!