South Coast Wilderness Trail - Toleak Point, Third Beach — Wednesday, Sep. 3, 2025

We had a great hike from Third Beach south to Taylor Point today. The parking area was 3/4 full when we pulled in at 9:30. It was fog laden air and in the upper 50’s. This was a first foray into hiking the rugged Olympic Coast for most group. The trail to 3rd beach was mostly dry hard packed soil.  It always feels amazing walking through coastal forests especially the areas close to the beach that have never been logged. 3 groups of backpackers had camps set up above the beach driftwood. I haven’t hiked here in 5 years and was very pleased to see the newer steel Cable ladders with knotted ropes to help you get up to the bluff around the impassable headlands. Also, there were many newer wooden stair cases leading down from the bluffs to the next beach cove. Wildlife sightings included gulls, pelicans, seals, chipmunks, a frog, garter snake and lone mouse. Trail traffic was really light and when we did encounter other hikers it was easy to step off to let others pass.  The sun came out and we had a great lunch / rest break on a solitary beach cove watching the tide go out and sea birds flying around off shore. A few wildflowers were blooming as trail descended to the beach and bluffs above the beach. We saw goldenrod, pearl everlasting, seal heal and Sagifrax. On our return to 3rd beach the tide was out so we went wading and walked back to the trailhead by the outlet steam in the surf at the waters edge. The fog was moving back in quickly as we headed up from the beach. Our out and back hike came in at 7 miles. Since most of my group have never been to the La Push area we also made a trip out to explore 2nd beach. The main parking area was full when we pulled in just before 4:00 so we ended up parking in the overflow area which had about 10 Vehicles parked there. This trail was much easier, wider and only .8 miles to the beach. The slight elevation gain and shorter distance made it a very popular trail. It was a good 10 degrees cooler and fog was thick on the beach with limited sight distance out to the seastacks just off shore. A sea otter was floating out in tide pools near the western seatacks and was a real attraction for all beach goers. The tide had turn and many of the anemone were opening. 4 tents were on the beach near the beach access trail alongside fully loaded touring bikes. With these 2 Combined beach hikes we ended up the a 10 mile day discovering the Olympic coast. Another great hiking adventure with friends.