Need advice — WA Olympic coast in October

[Joshua Gilbert]

Most places out there, I wouldn't camp on the sand, see Dougs post about waking up in the surf. I second Sarah: Camp in the forest, and use logs or rocks as deadmen or as guy points if you have to camp on the beach.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

And not only the tide….but the wind. It howls at night. One thing alpine tundra and the coast have in common is the sand that scours through mesh. You wake up in the morning covered in a fine layer of sand all over everything. The woods give you a somewhat break in the wind. It also helps if you have a storm come in as well, in breaking the rain.

[Jaime Ondrusek]

Is that an option at the usual overnight spots?

Speaking of which, where would you recommend overnighting along the route? I'm thinking of 4 relatively easy trail days (so 3 nights), from south to north.

The first night I'm thinking probably at Chilean Memorial, or near there, but somewhere short of Cape Johnson, since we may miss the tide window to get around it and will have to do it the next day.

thanks!
vv
J.O.

[Doug Johnson]

HI Jaime,

The only sand spot that's okay is at Sand Point and that's basically just overflow for summer months. You'll not need sand stakes.

Sand Point is great. Some great spots between Sand Point and Cape Alava. That spot I mentioned earlier…

Here it is, by the way, and a couple of Johnson Head at low tide…

But here's the deal with camping- there are so many wonderful hidden spots. Keep your eye to the banks as you approach campsite selection time. Look for random trails, especially those with ropes for handholds. You'll find some great, great spots…probably some I've never noticed before.

Really cool spot just before Norwegian Memorial that's on a bluff. Tough to get to, but it's wonderful. I found this by studying the side trails… you won't need to select spots ahead of time- except some idea of what to do before Johnson.

Yellow Banks I think it's called- that's another brilliant spot!

Have a blast!

Doug

[Jaime Ondrusek]

Thanks for the photos! Do you have others posted somewhere?

Also, so you remember what the tide level was in those Cape shots?

thanks!
vv
J.O.

[Doug Johnson]

Nah, I don't have them posted. Sorry!

That last Cape shot was with rising tide near the end of the section. It was dead of winter and the tides never got very low, but I don't remember where it was at this time. This was the worst spot- the rest was pretty straightforward. But you can see the benefits of low tide in this situation. :-)

A couple more nice shots for your enjoyment:

Just north of La Push.

An overland crossing

Now that's a high tide!

Have a great trip!

[Jaime Ondrusek]

Anybody have any experience with them? They're mentioned in one of the trail guides I had.

I see Sarah there is a fan of Windsox…just wondering how they compare with one another.

thanks!
vv
J.O.

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