I had been hoping for one more mountain adventure but not wanting to mess with winds from the late breaking wind advisory we headed to this classic winter hike instead. For a mid week day the larger cemetery lot was surprisingly full. Still enough spots and folks coming and going for low stress parking. Outhouses clean and stock.
With a chilly low 40s start, this is not a trail to forget your hat and mitts. There's always a breeze here sometimes straight in your face. Once we turned up the bluff the wind was at our backs, and in the shelter of the cliff top trees it really was quite pleasant. So much so we regretted leaving the lunches in the car. How nice it would have been to sit in a sun warmed spot gazing out over the sun kissed sea to the Olympics. The trail is in good shape no rain issues and the switch backs down to the beach are graded and safe. We followed the trail directly adjacent to the lagoons on the way back, just a few short slippy spots. Limited bird life today but the low light makes for a impressive views. At the end of the far lagoon the trail sort of disappears so we headed over to the beach side through an only mildly challenging driftwood barrier. It's remarkable how slick some of those logs are, so I did my best hands and feet crab imitation to gain the sandy shore. And now for the best bit. Normally I would find the windy hike back on the cobbles a slog but today even though the tide was quite high there was enough packed sand to make the beach hike more fun.
Once at the landing proper we turned back up onto the prairie then retraced our steps to the car. The views out across the fields to Baker, Rainier and Glacier are superb. There's a lot of history here and if you've been watching the new Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolution it brings home how this nation was born from quite violent times. The block house you pass brings that into sharp relief. Back at the car my tracker said around 5 miles, a nice distance for a short-day hike.
On the way home we paired the ferry ride with cookies and hot coffee, for a post hike win. No line at all, and winter fares.
Comments