Took a weekend off from all my projects and headed for the beach. The northern coastal beaches here are remote, undeveloped, and raw. They don't even have proper names. From north to south we have Rialto Beach, First Beach, Second Beach, Third Beach, Ruby Beach, Beach 5, Beach 4, Beach 3, Beach 2 & Beach 1. They're all part of the Olympic National Park and backcountry camping is the way to go.
I started at the trail to Third Beach which goes through the woods for a mile and a bit to a nice sheltered beach about a half mile long. Lots of day hikers, families and travellers there. At the end of the beach is a rope tied off at the top of the bluff. A rough scramble up that rope leads to another trail over the headland.
A couple more headlands and a bunch of beaches later I came across a nice sheltered stretch of beach right around sunset.
And that's where I camped. The skies were clear so no tent for me. Just slept out under the stars.
In the morning I woke to an incredibly low tide. Lots of rocks and tidepools filled with critters to explore.
I hiked on down the coast to Strawberry Point - it's a little finger of land connecting the mainland with a seastack with two beautiful cove beaches on either side. Next time I'll probably camp there. Hiked back that afternoon and made my way back to Seattle before nightfall. (But not before stocking up on a load of fireworks for the 4th. Photos of those coming soon. Hee-hee.)
