Gear list for Olympic coast mid-May (next week)

I'd love to hear the thoughts of the group on the suitability of a poncho for coastal camping in the Olympic National Park in Washington. What do you use when you camp at the coast?

If you are going this weekend, the weather looks really nice!

As a person who has done several coastal trips, the weather can be all over the map. I am interested in finding out how this works for you. It can rain very hard on the coast and wind can be an issue. I prefer going out this time of year; there aren't a lot of people out there.

With a poncho, I'd recommend keen site selection, as I would with any lightweight shelter. But I am sure you already know that. Also, don't underestimate the tides on the coast, we nearly got swamped while camping what we thought was well out of range of any waves based upon the tide tables. It sounds like the tides are higher.

Your mileage estimates are spot on. I was surprised how slow going coast travel can be, especially considering the tides.

Let us know how it goes!

Dirk

yes, the weather looks amazing. thanks for the reminder on site selection, i am still new to tarp camping so that's worth noting. one concern at the coast is sand, hopefully i don't have trouble getting my tarp pitched if the ground is soft. any tips or tricks for making it work? the area where we'll likely be has some sites that are back in the woods a big which will hopefully allow me to set up between a couple of sturdy trees.

In that environment I will often take three or four 1.5 to 2 inch wood screws and stake one side of my tarp directly into a downed log (no shortage of these in ONP) using the screws. This gets you all the extra protection of the log on that one side of the tarp. Just look for the lightest weight Phillips head screw driver you can find or use a multi tool/Swiss army knife. Any medium size rock or larger stick will get the screws started and you have the tool to screw them down and back them out when done.
I plan on being in the park this weekend as well on the Hoh. Hope the weather holds. Becareful with the tides!!

also keep an eye out for long narrow driftwood. IMHO nothing makes a better sand stake than a 2 foot long stick!

I spent a few days walking from the Hoh up to Cape Alava last August and I was tarp camping. I did low-mile days the same as you plan to in order to deal with tides. I found myself spending a bit of time under my tarp as the sun and rain seemed to interchange with each other almost by the hour. If you were to consider bringing a 'community tarp' for lazying away under then you should have no problem implementing a poncho as rain gear and as a shelter.

Kenneth,
If you're gambling on good weather, that's fine… But, if it rains, you're gonna be soaked using a poncho as your raingear and shelter. My experience out there is that when it rains it rains hard, and with lots of wind. The ground's back in the trees is already soggy, the sand is pretty exposed, hard to find an optimal campsite with good drainage. Not the best place to build tarping experience with a small tarp. Unless you're real confident in the forecast, I'd bring a bigger tarp or a tarptent, or something.. Just not a poncho only…