We woke up in our tent to the sound of gentle rain. Ahh, what a lovely way to wake up. Except that we had to pack up our wet gear and hike the next section in said rain. The hike in was on a beautiful boardwalk through the forest and our group covered the three miles in about an hour. "Where's today's hike?" we started wondering, realizing we didn't see a trail marker anywhere on our way in. "Oh! We hike along the coast for three miles."
"Oh." "We hike along the coast for three miles."
With our packs. In the rain. On six inches of squishy sea vegetables or slippery rocks with barnacles.
So there are zero pictures of the actual hike. It took 3.5 hours to go the three miles. It was actually very Zen. Every step could cause a fall and a twisted ankle so you could only focus on the moment. Or stabilize yourself to see what was coming next, how much farther we had to go (there was no way to tell). It was definitely the most strenuous hike I have ever been on and it was flat. However, we eventually did arrive at Cape Alava and scored an incredible camping site! Photos galore!
The Noodle carried a 28-lb. pack and when we arrived, we opened the chair immediately.
Our reward -- the skies cleared and we had this view!
I saw a pile of these found objects so I put them on display.
Shortly after sunset, we tucked ourselves in bed.
The view from our tent at Cape Alava.
The beautiful boardwalk on the hike out, we love you boardwalk!
Stay tuned for the photos from the Osett Memorial to an ancient Makah village. Part one of our backpacking trip is here if you missed it.