Photo Safari to Shi Shi Beach 2003

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This is a report about my photo safari to glorious Shi Shi Beach in the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Images taken on this trip are available for viewing and purchase in my online gallery at Shi Shi Beach.

I awoke at 5:30 a.m. the morning of June 11, 2003. My gear was all assembled for a field trip to Shi Shi Beach which was recently nominated by the Travel Channel as one of the top 5 beaches in the U.S. The National Geographic recently published an article about Shi Shi.

My friends, Jon and Lisa were over for dinner several weeks earlier and I told them about my plans to visit Shi Shi to take photographs for my online gallery. Jon and Lisa were last there about 3 years ago and were eager to go again, and act as guides for my first visit.

I had planned to drive to Neah Bay and back pack almost four miles from a trail head on the Indian reservation to the beach. The Dunns said they had a better way that required backpacking less than a mile. I was attracted to their offer to guide me to Shi Shi using their alternate route.

Just for fun, the day before we left on our excursion, I went online and retrieved the weather forecast for the area. Wednesday looked like a great day, followed by four days of cold, drizzly, wet weather. Humm. Better take a book or two to pass time in the tent.

Wednesday morning I loaded up the Forester with my gear. Jon had brought by two mountain bikes the day before our trip. I lashed Lisa’s bike upside down on top of the Subi and hung Jon’s and my bikes off the bike rack at the back of the car. Jon and Lisa showed up about 7:30 a.m. We packed their gear and departed for the adventure.

Along with our bikes, we were taking two carts that trail behind the bikes with gear. Generally these carts are used to tote children, but we found another good use for them.

Wednesday afternoon we arrived at Lake Ozette, a large fresh water lake and part of the Olympic National Forest in the north Olympic Peninsula. We parked in a lot near the ranger office and assembled our equipment, trailers and gear for the biking portion of our trip to Shi Shi Beach.

In preparation for the adventure I purchased a bike trailer cart several weeks before we left and practiced a couple of Sundays with Nancy and Shaddy, pulling the trailer with the Shad in it behind my bike, and Nancy rode her bike. For our practice rides, we purchased picnic lunches at Subway and drove to local bike trails to get a feel for what it is like to pull the cart behind the bike. We restrained Shaddy in the cart with a short shank on his leash and I practiced pulling him along. Shaddy weighs about 13 lbs.

Peddling out of the Lake Ozette parking lot, I quickly realized that there is a big difference between pulling the cart with Shaddy in it along flat, paved bike trails, and pulling the cart with a 70 lb back pack and gear along dirt and gravel logging roads that seemed to be mostly uphill.

The back road out of Lake Ozette was uphill for approximately a mile through a major clear cut. Long before reaching the top, I was off of my bike gasping for breath and pushing my tandem rig one slow step at a time up the dirt road. Goodness gracious! I certainly felt in the moment.

Lisa and Jon seemed to remember the correct turns to make until near the end of our mountain bike marathon which took almost three hours. We encountered at least four locked gates at which we had to person-handle our bikes and carts around, often through wet, muddy terrain.

A lot of new growth since Jon and Lisa last made this trip made them a bit tentative near the end of the bike ride, but I found some packets of taco bell sauce leading down an overgrown side road, and along with their sighting a familiar snag tree, we located the last link of the bike ride. The only waggle was that a bridge over a stream had either washed away or been torn out by a logging company.

We had to do a portage of bikes, gear and carts across the stream. After reassembly, it was less than a mile to where we unbundled everything, hid the bikes and carts in the forest and shouldered the backpacks for the hike to the beach. We could hear the thunder of the ocean in the distance.

Did I mention that I brought along a fold-up portable toilet seat with me? Along with my photo equipment, I was planning on making two trips from the bikes to the beach. Jon had a larger backpack than I, but he grabbed my toilet seat and my photo pack and led the way through dense, dark foliage that was supposed to be a trail. Lisa quickly took the lead and made noise to shoo the bears and other critters away. The “trail” reeked of neglect and abandonment.

Nearer to the beach we began a descent from the headlands to the ocean, and began a process of slip-sliding our way down precipitous slopes, searching for ancient steps created by others who passed this way before us. I can’t believe my knees didn’t buckle and that I did not stumble and fall. I spent some time sooshing on my butt, sucking air, bumping on tree roots, stabbing at them with my boots in an effort to control my descent. This would be a good place for several escalators along with a mountainside resort.

Finally we were at the beach, and walked out into a gorgeous expanse of sandy log-strewn shoreline. My head was exploding. My mouth tasted like a pickle. Backpacking in the sand was a different experience. “Just don’t stop, Just don’t stop,” became my mantra.

Between the beach and the campsites just beyond the sand line is a barrier of logs tossed up from ocean storms. There is no way around this barrier; there is only over it. So with our backpacks on we became tight-wire aerialists performing a ballet atop the logs.

Spring floods from melting snow pack in the central mountains of the Olympic Peninsula grab huge evergreens and transport them down west side rivers to the Pacific Ocean. Storms and tides deposit these limbless torsos on the beaches of the peninsula in random “pick-up-sticks” fashion. High tides frequently rearrange the assembly of logs which are bleached bone white by the sun.

We selected the second campsite we inspected as our home for the next four nights. Separate tents went up on each end of the site and the middle featured a circular rock lined fire pit. Around this smoker, logs and driftwood had been fashioned into benches and surfaces to set cooking equipment by previous campers. There were tall trees in the site which provided a break from sun and partially from the wind, but not rain. Jon had brought along a large oblong tarp which we used to cover this gathering area, tying corners to trees and stretching anchor lines to drift logs. It was a comfortable nest.

Not knowing what nature would deal us weather-wise, we pitched our tents, aired our mattresses and unrolled our sleeping bags. We had good shelter. We hung food bags from tall limbs in the trees out of the reach of animals.

Lisa surprised us the first evening by bringing out a plastic container of wine. I was so spent; a single aluminum camp cup of the Shariz gave me a buzz. That first night I didn’t cook my planned freeze-dried camp meal. Lisa favored me with a turkey dog, after which I found my tent and passed out from exhaustion.

Good fortune came our way, and as often occurs in the Pacific Northwest the actual weather was far different from the forecast. Some of the days were overcast and some had sun breaks. The only time it rained was at night, and it was more of a drizzle than a shower. The bugs decided they didn’t care for our smoke barrier generated by the fire pit.

What a magnificent beach. The next morning broke to a surging ocean capped with larger waves clawing at the beachhead. To the south of our campsite was a magnificent stand of sea stacks and arches. I was up early and trotted down the strand with my camera gear. I’ll post the best of the photos in my gallery at www.nwexposures.com.

The beach was strewn with flotsam of a comber’s delight. North from our campsite was fresh water Petroleum Creek that flowed into the ocean. It was a narrow, shallow creek that served as our fresh water source. Jon had a special filter pump that made the stream water safe to drink.

A major discovery for us, which added to the pleasure of my stay, was an outdoor privy with a low 3 walled privacy fence, and a real throne to sit upon. Dreams can come true!

We spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday walking the beaches, taking pictures, exploring tide pools at low tide, building paths around logs and exploring. Lisa treated us to a labyrinth which she sketched in the sand, and we used it for walking meditation until the next high tide.

I had trouble sleeping at night because of the roar of the ocean so close to our camp site. It was like trying to sleep near a cacophonous jet engine. My old frame does not mate well with a thin foam pad on the ground, and my sleeping bag is no longer as roomy as I remember.

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast and struck camp. For a detailed report on our trip back to Lake Ozette, simply return to the previous section of this report that describes our trip to the beach from the lake, turn around and return to the lake.

Driving back to Olympia, we stopped off at Kalalock Lodge and enjoyed a sit down, ocean view lunch.

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