North Coast Route — Thursday, Jul. 27, 2023

We backpacked from Shi Shi Beach to Sand Point and out the triangle to back to Ozette. We parked at the Ozette Ranger Station and took the 1:15 shuttle to the Shi Shi trailhead. This was so convenient. We set-up camp at the south end of the Shi Shi beach and took layover day to scope out Point of the Arches and tide pool. We left Shi Shi at 6 am for the low tide. We had a four hour low tide window to go 2.5 miles. This is a very difficult section with backpacks. Gravel, sinking sand beaches, slippery seaweed covered rocks, bigger ankle breaking rocks, three over-land crossings and huge barnacle encrusted boulders to scramble over. The ropes were okay and overland trails a bit overgrown. We missed one headland trail and ended up bushwhacking. We missed the last rope/headland crossing but were able to get around as the tide was coming in. The most difficult part is scrambling over the boulders with a pack. You must know what you're getting into here. Knowing the tides and difficulty is important. We met a party that had been stranded on the rocks overnight, lost supplies and had a hard time getting out to the road. We stopped at Seafield Creek for a break and to filter water and onto camp on the North side of the Ozette River. This is my favorite beach so we took a layover day to enjoy. The water here is terrible. We were not able to find the spring. We left 6am to get the low tide crossing of the Ozette River and have the low tide to go around all of the headlands. This is your typical rocky/slippery beautiful beach hike. We stopped at Cape Alava to filter water and onto Wedding Rocks to camp. There was a teenage bear on the beach, but we didn't see the mama. There is no water at Wedding Rocks. The petroglyphs were amazing. They are past Wedding Rocks, just before the headland. They are hard to find; look on all sides of the rocks. The last day we hiked to Sand Point and back out to our car at Ozette. This was the last leg for us hiking all of the North Coast down to Oli City - done over a few years - a dream to finish up. The Washington coast is so rugged and beautiful - just be sure to be prepared and know your tides!