Well, we had the perfect trifecta of good weather, favourable tides and spousal approval so it was off for a quick overnighter on the Juan de Fuca Trail. We hit Sombrio Beach at about 9am.
The tide was good and we made it past the tide cut-off with no problem. 1.5km along the beach and it was up into the trees. The trail was a little muddy but nothing like winter. Alan (with the orange Osprey pack) was on the trail a month earlier and claimed that there was even dust…
Here the trail is a tree. Solid ground is several feet below in all the salal.
Looking back towards West Sombrio Beach.
I believe that the guide book labels this section of trail as 'moderate.'
Some of the trees were too small for the loggers so they left them behind.
Most of the 7km or so between Sombrio and Chin Beach is away from the ocean although there are several pocket beaches that you can see through the trees. 
All was still well at this point as we approached the second tide cutoff at Chin Beach. When we arrived at the rocky point where you climb down to the beach we realized the ocean was much higher than the tidal predictions. We were there one hour after high tide but even at high tide we should have been able to get to the beach without getting wet. I foolishly put my camera away in my pack without taking a picture of the water. Alan and I decided to man up and jump in the ocean. Between waves the water was about knee deep for me. Alan is short than I. The water was uncomfortably higher on him… Daryl on the other hand decided he would have none of this and engaged the tides in a game of patience. Eventually the tide won and even Daryl had to get his feet wet but the water was much lower after waiting about 1 hour.
We had to jump off the rock into the surf. You can just make Daryl out engaged in battle with the tide. The pictures the next morning when the tide was out show the location a little better.
The water was brisk but at least it was sunny and the forecast high for the day was around 13 degrees.
The hike out was pretty uneventful but the weather was nice and cool. Total time to Chin from the Sombrio trailhead was about 2h45m including fording the ocean. Return trip was only 2h25m for the 9km hike. Short but sweet trip!
