Shi Shi Beach and Point of the Arches — Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011

Olympic Peninsula > Pacific Coast

This was my first visit to Shi Shi Beach and it won't be my last. I backpacked in with one other person. We did most of the hike in, in dusk. We got to the beach just in time for a breathtaking sunset. Days were about 70 degrees and nights were just a bit cooler. We decided to set up camp behind the tree line and not use a tent. We woke up at dawn and while my partner made breakfast i went exploring. I climbed the nearby rocks on the north end of the beach and took plenty pictures of the changing morning fog. By 9 am we decided to walk south to the arches. There were hundreds of starfish in assorted colors and other marine life that i've never before seen.... except for at the aquarium of course. When we made it to the arches there were large areas of mussels. tons of them! We decided to check out the tide pools on the south side of the arches and found many more mussels, starfish and other kinds of animals. My favorite were the hermit crabs. By noon we headed back to our camp at the north end of the beach. An hour or so after we returned we could see whales spraying from there blow holes out in the ocean. There must have been a few of them because they were blowing a lot. So exciting. a few clouds came in that evening and we didn't get to enjoy another sunset like the night before but it was still a fairly warm night. I highly recommend people to check out Shi Shi Beach because it is truly stunning. I'll be making this an annual trip.