Sandy

Full disclosure this was not a backpack but rather a multi-night camping road trip. We stayed in state parks, hit the beaches during the day, and dug clams at low tide each evening.

We were blessed with a five day weather window miracle. Nights were bitter cold but the days were glorious. We were quite impressed with the wildlife including seals, sea otters, many many migrating birds, deer, and a whole host of aquatics.

The trails were mostly deserted. Beaches, especially at low tide were full of folks razor
Clamming. I can’t blame them though since that is why we were there.

One day we drove up to Lake Quinalt. Another we went as far south as Tokeland. We availed ourselves to numerous crab and oyster shacks along the way.

I took a stroll out to the end of Damon Point in search of a decent fishing spot.  Lots of beachcombers and dog-walkers. Fishing was sub-par as feared, but it was still fun to explore the point. Keep in mind the inland areas of the point are off limits to hikers, namely the scruffy shore pine where birds nest. There's an info board at the parking lot with details. The high tide can also sometimes make the narrow sand spit impassible, so exercise situational awareness. Got my bait snatched by crabs for a few hours then headed over to Galway Bay Irish Pub in Ocean Shores for some ceol agus ól (music & drink).

This is a nice little area, it’s right by the north jetty. you can walk on the north jetty, but it’s very slick and you should exercise caution, I saw a few people take tumble (nothing serious), but just something to be mindful of.

A few people have alluded up this, but just to be clear, you can no longer walk to what used to be the southernmost tip of Damon Point - it’s an island now. Or should I say, “once again”, since it has been that way in the past (like 20 or more years ago?) - you can find it on some maps as Protection Island.

The new southernmost tip is about 1.5 miles out from the RV park starting point, which is perhaps 3/4 mile shorter than before. So it’s now about a 3-mile round trip instead of 4. (YMMV)

We went at about a zero tide — or maybe it was up to about +1 when we got there – and there was a considerable gap between the peninsula and the new island; perhaps 50 yards or more, and it looked like there was a deeper channel at the south end. It *might* be wade-able, but I didn’t try - it was 50° out!

Kind of a bummer - it’s one of our favorite places to walk. :-(

See the link below for a DNR page that talks about how someday Protection Island may appear again!