Reached the trailhead ~12:30pm on Saturday afternoon and had no problem finding parking. There are ~20 spots at the trailhead and ~6 free when we arrived.

The trail to the beach was similar to others in the area - through coastal rain forest, to a gradual decline with peek-a-boo views of the beach, to the beach entrance. There are piles of driftwood logs between the trail and the beach that must be navigated to get to the sand. Be careful as they can be slippery, even if it is sunny and hasn't been raining, as it was the day we visited.

We walked along the beach for a little, enjoying the sea stacks and waterfall at the south end. The overland trail is a short distance before the beach ends but keep an eye out because the tree with the overland sign has fallen. There will be a dangling rope with some buoys that signals the start of your incline.

There are a few rope-assisted inclines to help you get to the overland trail. They were in pretty good shape, but quite muddy in spots. All ropes were intact though and we were thankful to have them. If it was raining, it seems like these may become tricky as the clay would have even less purchase and the ropes may be harder to get a firm grip on.

Quite cool to look out over the top of the waterfall from the overland trail. Not immediately (still ~100 ft back from the ledge), but when you return to the beach, it will be fun to look back at the top of the waterfall and know you were up there! Be careful on the boardwalks around here - they're slippy and easy to loose grip on.

Our tide was ~ -1 so we had no issues with either tidal restriction. Keep an eye for starfish on the south side of Scott's Bluff. We saw tons there! Crossing Scott's Creek was no problem either. We opted to cross via driftwood logs but it can be easily walked through, though you'll probably get your feet wet if you're only wearing ankle-high boots.

We were lucky enough to get the campsite at Strawberry Point proper. Quite a nice setup - hammock made from netting, a whale's skull, and a creative table made from driftwood logs and a metal panel, to name a few.

Saw crows, bald eagles, and a belted kingfisher flying through the sky and racoon footprints and a few crabs on the sand. If you're looking for crab sightings, go to Ozette, they're all over the place! It seems the starfish may have decimated the small crab population here as we only saw two.

Being near the new moon, there was not much light at night. The stargazing was superb! Saw Leo's head, Ursa Major, Orion, Cancer, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and the Milky Way.

We headed out early in the morning on Sunday to catch the morning tide. We used our headlamps for the entire beach stretch from Strawberry Point through about midway through the overland trail. Decided to brute force Scott's Creek without taking our shoes off and got our boots wet. Would probably be fine if boots are ankle-high.

If you're looking for a beach backpack with more adventure than Ozette Triangle Loop, highly recommend this trail! If traveling with elderly or children, would recommend Ozette as there is less elevation gain, no driftwood navigation, and no rope-assisted climbs.

Note: There are facilities at the trailhead, so please use those instead of leaving TP in the woods near the cars.

Trail to Third Beach was generally in good condition, although there were a few muddy spots, particularly in the lower part of the trail near the beach.  At the end of the trail, there was an impressive pile of driftwood at the mouth of the river, and it was a bit challenging to navigate the logs to both cross the driftwood and the river at the same time.  We did notice someone who had hiked the trail in waterproof knee boots, and they took an easy path to the river without needing to do much log climbing and then waded across (the water depth when we were there was about mid-calf).  Probably an easier option, based on our experience.

The beach itself was amazing, with lots of sea stacks and a waterfall at the southern end.

We backpacked to Third Beach, which is a nice and relaxing beach. Compared to other beaches on the Peninsula, I wouldn't say it is the most visually appealing, but it is hard to complain when you are relaxing near the ocean. https://youtu.be/VoCIHr7qWu8

I wish we had gone further and checked out the Taylor Point area. It looks like there are way more sea stacks to look at which is what I really enjoy at the beach!

A lovely forest walk to the beach with a few hazards to be aware of. Big holes in the flatter part, and major erosion in the final steep section. I lost my footing a few feet from the bottom. More importantly, the entrance to the beach is jammed up with hundreds of downed trees (driftwood). Navigating them is not for the faint of heart. I decided against trying and returned to my car a bit disappointed. But I also visited two of the other three beaches at La Push, and all were immensely beautiful.

I'm happy to report that young people were doing some much-needed maintenance on the forest trail. They told me that the driftwood is never cleared, and even if it was, it would quickly accumulate again.

Day 1:

North route from Oil city to Third beach. We started in the evening at oil city due to tide requirements. Headed to camp at the top of Hoh head. Sunset on the slippery rocks to Jefferson cove was beautiful and difficult, good gloves made this doable. Found a dead whale on the rocks about 20 minutes of scrambling due north from the mouth of the Hoh.

Found 2 streams for water filtering in Jefferson cove, it was pitch black and foggy when we got there so we couldn't see much. The climb up the Hoh head ladders at night was difficult but doable with headlamps and gloves.

The current ladders up Hoh head are in bad condition. They are missing parts of the ladders near the bottom so there are some big empty sections to climb over. We found what looked like a set of new, staged ladders and lumber near the top of Hoh head (from talking with a trail-workers: they are due to be installed next year)

Day 2:

I went down to refill water at the bottom of the ladders in Jefferson cove since it was a confirmed water source. The driver to oil city said many of the streams may be dry due to the recent lack of rain but we still found many to filter from. Found another good stream about 1.5 miles from camp at Hoh head. The whole trail on Hoh head to mosquito creek was great! The ranger said there had been re-routes on this section and that was true as well as the whole trail was cleared, so there was no overgrown trails or downed trees to cross. From reading the reports, this is not what we expected :)

We got to mosquito creek in the early afternoon and the fog rolled in. It's low enough to cross on the beach without fording. We decided to make for Toleak point, which was a mistake because that meant hiking at night in the overland trail before Toleak point. Filtering from Goodman creek was bad, the water was very low and salty, we poured it all out when we found a small hillside creek about .5 mile later which wasted another 20 minutes of daylight. The whole overland trail before Toleak point is difficult and overgrown, many blow-downs to cross which slowed us down. This type of overland trail was what I expected on Hoh head. Getting down in the dark was difficult and the trail is eroded in many places and slippery. We setup camp after dark near Toleak point on the beach.

Day 3:
Refilled from the stream at Toleak point, follow the buoys in the woods to find the spot to refill. Good weather made for a nice beach hike in bare feet over to Strawberry point and finally Scott Creek where we camped and had a relaxing day for once. Sunshine and temps in the high 70s made it feel like summer again. Filtering from Scott creek was only possible on the small sandy-beach outlet, the water looks gross but tastes just fine.

Day 4:

Hiked out to third beach in the morning and made it to the car by noon.