Third Beach — Sunday, Jun. 9, 2002

Olympic Peninsula > Pacific Coast

This trip was two days, June 9th and 10th. I left the parking area at noon, and soon was at Third Beach, a nice one and a half mile walk from the car through old-growth forest. A short walk south on the beach brought me to the first major obstacle: the rope ladders needed to climb over Taylor Point. These contraptions reminded me of the game ""Mousetrap"", with me as the mouse and a fall off of a large cliff to certain death as the penalty for losing. There are several to climb to get to the top of the bluff, each steeper and longer than the last. The ""trail"" seems to gain 250 ft of altitude in about 250 ft of trail (only a slight exaggeration). The path along the top of the bluff is very muddy and slippery. When I reached the beach again, I was immediately confronted with an actual cliff to ascend and then descend using only a rope. How I wished for more rope ladders at this point! A short wait allowed me to skip this ""human fly"" path and simply walk around the rocky point by boulder-hopping, possible within two hours either way of low tide, at least on a day with no waves such as Sunday was. The half mile of beach south from there is the start of the truly excellent sea stack garden that continues south for many miles. Next on the agenda is the worst and most dangerous rope ladder of them all. The top of it is muddy and slippery and leads to a section of trail that should have a rope but doesn't. This bypass of Scott's Bluff is thankfully much lower and shorter than the previous one. There are several nice campsites at Scott's Creek, and the last good source of water for the next two + miles. When you get this far, be of good cheer: the next two and a half miles to Jackson Creek past Toleak Point are the sweetest and easiest miles around. The Giant's Graveyard is a collection of sea stacks that could easily fill the smartcard in your digital camera. Strawberry Point is the finest camping spot I have ever stayed at, surrounded by natural beauty and the awesome powers of the sea. The were at least a dozen large seals frollicking in the sheltered bay between Strawberry Point and Toleak Point. There were no waves at all, giving an unusual quiet and peace to an ocean setting. The sunset from Strawberry Point is a pleasure not to be missed. This hike is the first I've done where I really had a problem with the write-up in ""100 Hikes in S. Cascades and Olympics"" or other ""100 Hikes"" series. The extreme difficulty and danger of the overland crossings is not even hinted at in the book. Also, the vertical feet total (250) listed in the book is way off: my altimiter and the Custom Correct topo map both added up to 900 ft just to Strawberry Point and back. It would be that much or more to continue straight through to Oil City. The book lists the high point at 250 ft, which is reached from sea level at least three times, plus several ups and downs, so how is the total gain 250 ft? Must be a typo. While the overland portion of my hike was as difficult and dangerous as any I have been on, the ease and beauty of the beach portions of the hike made it well worth the trouble. I am definitely coming back when I have more than two days to savor this stretch of wilderness beach.