Second Beach — Saturday, Mar. 15, 2008

Olympic Peninsula > Pacific Coast

I hit the trail to Second Beach at 2 pm Sunday after being dropped off by my girlfriend Tanja, with instructions to meet back at 6 pm. This meant I had no way to escape the cold and the wet, which I thought I was adequately dressed for. Whoops. The walk out to the beach was very nice, through really cool forest of wind-twisted trees, growing in every direction. It was nice and warm, maybe in the low 40's, and not raining, with a light breeze. There is a rather large field of driftwood that separates the trail's end from the beach, and it was somewhat slippery in places, but by following the sand spots left by previous hikers I made it through without any slips. It was just before low tide, so my plan was to to head south-ish to the far end of the beach, but first I wanted to see up-close the natural arch at the near end of the beach, so I went that way. I found a nice spot under a bluff to have my lunch, and I hung out and did some exploring and picture-taking. I saw anemones, and hordes of submerged hermit crabs running around like a Chinese fire drill, and of course the great sea stacks in the area. By this time it had started to rain a little, and the wind was picking up, but I had partial shelter in my little cubbyhole in the bluff. I started getting cold from lack of exercise, despite putting on multiple layers of warm clothing, including a completely waterproof jacket. I figured that a walk down the beach would warm me up, so off I went. As soon as I hit the open beach, the full force of the wind, rain and cold hit me. It was brutal, the kind of stinging rain that makes you turn your back to it instinctively. It was very unpleasant, made more so knowing I had no car at the TH to scoot back to. It was only 3:15, and the hike back would only kill at most 30 minutes, so I had two hours to kill while trying to fend off hypothermia. I found a nice sheltered spot in amongst the driftwood that afforded some protection from the rain and wind, but not enough to last two hours. Several people came and went during this time, each of them at first looking at me kind of funny for hunkering down in the driftwood, but then 15 minutes later they were scurrying back up the trail themselves to escape the elements. Several other people appeared to hardly even notice the cold. I grew to despise those people. (just kidding) I eventually retreated to the outhouse to completely escape the wind. It was actually pretty pleasant as far as outhouses go. I stayed in there at least 15 minutes, after which I was warm again, and could face the wind with the aid of a sheltering stump. I was able to see the nice views of the beach, and enjoy the rest of my time, with a couple of jaunts partway up the bluff to keep the blood flowing properly. I was happy to see Tanja and Daisy the Wonder Dog waiting for me when I got back to the TH. Pictures are posted at www.flickr.com/photos/slugman/ The first ten pics are from Kalaloch on Monday, the next eleven are from Second Beach on Sunday.