Taking advantage of a break in the weather, I headed out once again to do the Ozette loop on the Washington Coast. My primary mission was to arrive kind of late and photograph the sunset, but truth be told, I was feeling rather un-inspired this trip and skipped the sunset.
The loop consists of two trails and a beach walk. This trip is sometimes called the Ozette Triangle due to is shape on a map. Each segment about 3 miles each for a total 9 mile loop. One part of the loop, Cape Alava, is actually the westernmost spot in the continental United States, worthy of a trip in itself. It is about a 3 hour drive to get out there from Silverdale. There are lots of places on the web that offer directions and route information so I’ll skip that step this time around.
One of my favorite things to do before a hike is to research the area I’m going to. Generally this research is nothing more than an internet search but sometimes a trip to the library is also in order. This time my research was actually post hike since I have already been to Ozette on another occasion. During my research this time around, I did an internet search for “swimming to Ozette Island”. Now I’ll let you know that I’m smart enough not to try something so foolhardy. But you know, hopefully by asking an interesting question, I would get an interesting answer. Because you know, there are no stupid questions. Right? Anyhow, in typical google fashion, I got a lot of hits for the query but one really stood out, “My 40 years on Ozette Island“. When this guy was a young man, him and his friends made a raft using long spike nails and driftwood and paddled out to the island. His story is very reminiscent of a Tom Sawyer type of tale. He even claims to have spent a whole summer on Ozette one year, leaving only long enough to restock his supplies. You really should read his tale because it is very interesting. Poor guy got swept out to sea once for four days because he mis-judged the currents going out there. I highly recommend checking out his story. »Read More
