I loaded up the kids and took them down to 3rd Beach the other day.

The Family

The 3rd Beach trail is located by LaPush and is around 2 miles from the car to the beach. It’s a great little jaunt for the kids and they really do enjoy the beach.

This day, the sun was shining and the breeze was light. I set our stuff down and then strolled down to the south end of the beach and found a huge jumble of rope and som crab pot buoys. I hauled the birds nest of rope back to our “base camp” and discovered that in our absence the crows had discovered my dehydrated fruit that I had made to keep in my backpack. There were apples and strawberries scattered all over the beach. I don’t even remember taking it out of my pack. Oh well, most of it made it through unscathed.

Enjoying the day

We played around for a while. We played jump rope with a 30 foot section of line. The kids, of course took off their shoes and waded around the surf. I spent a while untangling the rope and coiling it up. There was about 300 feet of good quality crab pot line in sections ranging from 20 feet to 100.

After a while the weather started to turn. The clouds started rolling in and the temperature dropped. It never actually rained, but it felt like it could at any moment. By now the kids were ready to start heading back too, so I strapped the coils of rope to our backpacks and started back towards the car.

Rope and Buoys

The temperature had dropped considerably, but no one noticed: The climb up out of the beach was enough to get Kelsi to take her jacket off.

They taught me a couple of new grade school songs and rituals that kids are doing these days. They filled me in on who likes who and the latest news on Justin Bieber. It was a great day.

The 2 mile walk back to the car was too short.

Kelsi was in need of some daddy time on Sunday, so I packed up some goodies and took her up to Lake Ozette for a little hike.

We decided to take the south route to Sand Point as the destination is much more kid friendly: There’s big rocks to climb on and a long sandy beach with lots of driftwood to explore. Occasionally, if you get to the beach early after a storm you can find glass floats from fishing trawlers across the Pacific.

We set off early in the afternoon and Kelsi set the pace quite nicely. It was a Sunday afternoon so we met many groups of campers coming back from the beach after spending the weekend enjoying the sites. I also brought along a couple of my pocket guides to help her identify some of the plant life in the area. The bunchberry was first on our list. According to the guide, the berries may be used as a poultice to relieve the pain of burns.

Big Spruce

Next I showed her the blue huckleberries and bracken fern. Apparently, today we were learning about the B’s. Other prominent flora in this area is salal, hemlock, and the huge spruce trees along the trail.

We made it to the beach and naturally, she took her shoes right off. She played in the water a bit, we found some hermit crabs and watched the sculpins dart around in front of us for a while and then made our way to the driftwood piles for lunch.

Driftwood and the Trailhead Marker

I had a couple MRE’s and some MRE heaters in my pack so I broke them out and started heating up the entrees. While we were waiting for that we snacked on the other goodies I brought along. Once the MREs were warm I tore them open and she took a bite. Then promptly spit it out. I don’t remember them tasting that badly, but for some reason even I didn’t really care for them that day. I let her eat the good stuff I brought and I choked down the other stuff. I left about half of it on a log for the birds to snatch up, if they dared.

About a half mile into our return trip up the boardwalk, Kelsi started complaining of her feet hurting. I took off her shoes and despite my attempts at getting every bit of sand off her feet back at the beach, I apparently missed a few grains and she was getting a hot spot on the side of her foot. We decided to go barefoot. It was easy on the boardwalk sections, but we had to slow down a bit on the gravel. Regardless, we did really well and kept a pretty good pace even without our shoes. All in all we went about 2 miles barefoot. I made sure to get her shoes back on before the final section; about a half mile of gravel. I knew we couldn’t handle that much.

Kelsi's Frog

Before long, we were back at the car and on the road again. For dinner we stopped at a friends house on the Hoko road to pick up momma and we roasted hotdogs over a fire in their back yard. It was a nice relaxing Fathers Day.

View Ozette – Sand Point in a larger map

I set out this morning hoping for snow. I was initially disappointed. However, before long the flakes started falling and by the time I got back to the highway, I was wondering if I was going to make it home without going in the ditch.

The Spruce Railroad Trail is a 4 mile point to point stretch connecting the end of Camp David Jr. Rd to East Beach Rd on the north side of Lake Crescent. The trail itself is almost exclusively flat and follows the shoreline closely. It is also one of the few trails in the park that allows mountain bikes.

I set out from the Camp David Jr. side of the lake, my clothes layered up more than I have ever been bundled. I never get cold, but I figured, if I get too warm I can always take off some. Before I was done though, I wished I had another layer.

The trail was clear. Not a trace of snow, but the breeze was biting at my nose before I even reached the 1st tunnel at about 1 mile in. Shortly after that, a couple snowflakes fell and gave me some hope that I’d get to play in the snow before the day was done.

There are 2 tunnels on this trail. The 1st is, in my opinion, the most impressive. You can walk right through it, it has several railroad ties laying around and you can just imagine a train, cars loaded with old-growth logs barreling through. The other tunnel has more timbers intact, but it doesn’t connect all the way through.

Shortly after the first tunnel is a nice little flat spot along the lake, perfect for a family picnic on a nicer day. (That is where I took the family earlier this year on a nice little outing).

The trail follows the shoreline closely, but it rarely gets within 20 feet or so to the water. Like the name implies, it follows the route of the old rail road that was built here in WWI to haul out the big spruce trees for the aviation industry. However, the war ended and the need for the railroad disappeared before it was able to pull a single load.

The other tunnel is about 50 yards south of Devil’s Point and Devil’s Punchbowl. There’s a steep climb up to the mouth of it and a steep climb down into it. The other end is completely closed off and it’s quite dark in there.

Devil's Punchbowl

About 3 miles in, (about 1 mile from the Peidmont side), is the Devils Punchbowl. This is the best spot of the whole trail. There’s an iron and wood bridge spanning the mouth of an inlet, about 50 feet square, and there is speculation that it’s in the area of 300 feet deep.

On nicer days, daredevils can be seen jumping from the cliff on the south side of the cove and the bridge itself. Today, however, I never saw another soul on the trail.

The trail continues another mile or so the the Piedmont side of the lake, but I decided to turn around here. (The rest of it is kind of boring after the awesomeness of the punchbowl).

By this time the snow was accumulating on the bridge and leaves along the trail. It was nice. Apart from the breeze, and the waves lapping at the shore, it was dead quiet. Strangely, also, it seemed no matter which way I was walking, the breeze was straight in my face. On the way out it was biting my nose and then, on the way back, it was right in my face again.

Barkface

Also, I noticed more of the little things on the return trip as well; There is still old telegraph wire hanging here and there, small birds nested in between the multitude of boulders along the trail, and mushrooms all over the place.

There are little viewpoints along the trail where you can look straight down into the water and see the cliff face extend indefinitely down into the blue-green depths. On warmer days, this trail is a haven for picnickers and swimmers.

As chilly as it was, I was quite comfortable. A couple months ago I won some gear from Merrell on Twitter. It was quite a surprise; Merrell tweeted “It’s Merrell Monday! Submit a pic of you in your Merrells outside and win free gear.” I figured what the hell and posted a pic of my boots on the last trip I took them. A couple days later I got a message saying I won, and they sent me a $110 gift card. I was stoked. So I got an $80 shirt (Merrell Cairn) and some $20 socks. I didn’t care, they were free. (In fact, it’s Merrell Monday right now)

I tell you what though, that shirt is nice. I don’t think it’s $80 nice, but it’s close. It keeps the wind and the water off of me, out here and at work. If nothing else, it shows that Twitter isn’t just a bunch of idiot teens tweeting that they got wasted on 4loko last night, it’s quite a powerful tool for businesses if used wisely.

Before long I was back at the car and there was a light dusting of snow on the roads. My little “Mario Kart”, (my nickname for my Geo),  is quite an adventure on the roads. On the 4 mile trip back to the main highway I was, intentionally, spinning the wheels, and sliding around the corners: You have to have fun when you can. Once I hit 101, though, I was sliding around UNintentionally. Heading up Fairholme hill I was lucky to get up to 35 MPH.

Lovin' the snow

Before long, though, I made it home and the kids were playing in the driveway. Every year it’s like this. You’d think they never saw snow before. It’s all good though, they love it, so I love it. No, wait, I love it anyway.

All in all, the Spruce Railroad Trail is a great, easygoing trail suitable for the entire family. You can go as far as you like or turn around where you like. There’s plenty of little spots to stop and fish, have lunch or go swimming.

You can see some interesting photos of the construction of the railroad here: http://bit.ly/cIIATf

Additionally, this section is supposedly in planning to become a paved section of the Olympic Discovery Trail. I can’t find any definitive on the timeline, but I do know that it’s already in use connecting the ODT between Piedmont and Camp David Jr. Rd. I don’t know how I feel about it becoming paved, but I think I like it best as it is.  On the converse, the 2 mile stretch of paved trail leading to the Olympic Hot Springs are vetted to be removed and turned to dirt in the near future. I know that a dirt path is easier on the legs to walk on, and a mountain bike is built for dirt, and horses like walking on dirt better.

What do you think?

Picasa album here, including a video of one of the tunnels.