South Coast Wilderness Trail - Toleak Point — Tuesday, Sep. 3, 2013

Olympic Peninsula > Pacific Coast

We just completed the 17-mile hike (part of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail) beginning at Third Beach and ending at the Oil City trailhead. The trip required two cars, one placed at each end and the trip was done north to south due to the timing of the tides. I want to emphasize two pieces of information that I think is really important. First, trip reports and guidebooks suggest bringing a pair of gloves for the “ladders” and cables that are used on the overland trails. This is a really important suggestion as multiple places only had a rope tied to a tree to help you navigate the steep slopes. Second, the section over Hoh Head is very steep, slippery and treacherous and should be approached with caution and care. Often you read these kinds of warnings and say to yourself yeah, yeah ok. This is a tough stretch of “trail”. Take it seriously! The trail down to Third Beach is in very good shape and was easy going. As mentioned in other reports, there is a substantial slide at Third Beach (that no one at NPS mentioned) that requires some work getting over. As we had not planned on needing low tide for this section, there was little choice but to go over the side. There is a path of sorts that can be found for this purpose, but this is not apparently obvious when you first encounter the slide. The hike continued on from the other slide of the slide to Scott Bluff where nice camps exist. We were accompanied by a cute mother otter and her two small ones that swam in the creek and surf and provided some great entertainment. The second day we hiked from Scott Creek to Toleak point. The beach is beautiful, the weather was great and the going was easy (assuming you bring and read the tide charts). Great skies at night with an amazing amount of stars and color at sunset. We hiked past Jackson Creek closer to where the next overland trail begins. That next section of the trail is manageable with the caveat that gloves are a good item to have and the knowledge that what the NPS calls “rope ladders” are more often than not a rope tied to a tree or rock to assist your ascent or descent on the very sleep slopes. I found that often these ascents/descents looked more foreboding than they really where (at least here). This section requires fording both Fall and Goodman creeks. These creeks were easily forded, but I can easily see how at high tide or during rail run-off the fords could be waist high and tricky. So, use caution and consider timing and rain when making these crossings. The final section for the day continued on to Mosquito creek. This is a very nice spot with places for camping on the beach as well as a short way up the bluffs into the trees. Should you choose the camps in the trees, just remember you have a short but steep descent down to the creek for water. The next day we had planned to hike from Mosquito Creek to Jefferson Cove, over Hoh Head. This trail, in my opinion is very poorly maintained (sorry NPS) with very steep areas that have no rope aids. My hiking partner took a very bad fall on some slippery mud that could have resulted in serious injury. Personally, I would not attempt this section of the trail in heavy rain, I think it is just too dangerous. After several hours of exhausting up and down, sometimes using all fours, and constant fear of falls, we reached the infamous rope ladders and cables descending down to Jefferson Cove. These ladders are probably more psychologically daunting than anything else, but do require constant mindfulness when using them. A fall from here could be lethal. Additionally they could be very slippery and dangerous in a wet, rainy situation. The original plan was to camp at Jefferson Cove. However, what the NPS and the guidebooks say are “nice camps” consists of one small, rocky area where you might fit one tent at the end of the rope ladder. There is water and a fire ring. All other potential camping spots are on the beach and run the risk of being caught in high tide. I would not choose to camp here unless I was forced to due to weather or light. So, we waited for the eight pm low tide and boulder hopped over Diamond Rock. This is a time consuming section. We finally ended up at the mouth of the Hoh River at about 9 pm after an 11-hour day! Finding spots to camp above the high tide line takes a bit of looking. The hike out the next day was short with no problems. If I had to do it over again, I would start at Third Beach as we did, and do an out and back trip to Toleak, which has been recommended on the WTA site and other places. Hoh Head is no fun, I personally think dangerous and the relative rewards for doing so are minimal. The best beaches and sea stacks are between Third Beach and Toleak Point. So, bring gloves and a tide chart, take you time and enjoy some beautiful and wild sections of the Olympic Coast.