Backpack - Ozette Triangle

Meet at 9 AM Saturday on the front porch of the Olympic National Park Wilderness Information Center (WIC) at 3002 Mt. Angeles Road in Port Angeles.  It is reached by driving west on US 101 to Port Angeles, turning left on Race Street, where a large brown sign directs you to Olympic National Park.  Continue up the hill on Race Street, past where it becomes Mt. Angeles Road to the south end of town, where the WIC is on your right.

At the WIC the leader will register the entire group, paying  camp fees of $8 per night per person over 15, and pick up required bear canisters for those needing them.  There is no charge to borrow a canister.  Olympic National Park requires that all odor emitting substances be stored overnight in an approved bear canister on backpack trips on the Olympic Coast, mainly to protect the contents from raccoons.  There is no convenient way to carry a bear canister outside a backpack, so those borrowing canisters at the WIC will need to repack their gear so the canister can be placed inside their backpack. 

We will caravan from the WIC to the Ozette Trailhead, which will take about 1.5 hours.  It is reached by heading west from Port Angeles on US 101, turning right on SR 112, continuing right on SR 112 at the stop sign, and through the town of Clallam Bay, then turning left onto Hoko-Ozette Road and continuing to the Ozette trailhead parking lot at the end of the road.  There are nice restrooms at the WIC, the trailhead and several intermediate points on the driving route.

We'll backpack into Cape Alava on the boardwalk trail when we are ready on Saturday morning and set up camp there in the woods above the beach.  There are two outhouses in the camping area.  Water is available from a nearby stream.  A filter that eliminates both cryptosporidium and giardia needs to be used for all water consumed from Olympic coastal streams.  Water from the coastal streams has an orange tinge to it caused by tannin from vegetation.  It is not harmful. 

After  setting up camp, we can walk north on the beach to the site of an ancient Indian village, where we can inspect a small museum with some Indian artifacts.  After a camp dinner, we can have smores around the campfire.

Sunday morning, after a camp breakfast, we'll pack up camp and hike south on the beach to Wedding Rocks, where we'll take time at low tide to eat lunch and search for ancient Indian petroglyphs.  Then we'll continue south on the beach to Sand Point, where we'll set up camp on the beach, if camping is available there.  Otherwise there are multiple large campsites in the forest near the beach.  Stream water is available here also, and also must be filtered.  After a camp dinner, we can explore the beautiful beach and climb the hill at the tip of Sand Point to take in the magnificent view from there up and down the coast .  Unfortunately, campfires are not permitted at Sand Point.

Monday morning, after a camp breakfast, we'll hike back to Ozette on another boardwalk trail.  On the drive home, we'll have an optional lunch stop at the Breakwater Restaurant in Clallam Bay, where we can enjoy good food while taking in a nice view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island in the distance.

The long daylight period at this time of the year will allow us lots of time to explore the two beaches where we camp.  Doing this trip ahead of the main backpacking season will allow more good campsites to be available to us.