Shi Shi Beach Winter Hike

 This is a wonderful hike near the NW tip of the Olympic Penninsula. The hike starts on the Makah Indian Reservation and a 2 mile trail leads to the boundary of Olympic National Park where a short steep trail leads down to the beach. We then hiked 2 miles along the beach to the Point of Arches for an overall 8 mile hike. with 200 ft of elevation gain overall.

 The forested trail is beautiful with a mixture of trail covered with sections of wooden boardwalks,

 water,

  bridges,

 and lots of muddy stretches all year round. We planned on having wet, muddy boots today.

 There are a couple of spots where you can look out over the Pacific Ocean before the trail reaches Olympic National Park.

 The boundary to Olympic National Park and the trail down to Shi Shi Beach are well marked.















The trail down to the beach is short but steep.  Some of the steeper sections have ropes you can hold on to.

Panorama from the north end of Shi Shi Beach (Point of Arches to the left in far distance)

 Rocks extending from the point at the north end of Shi Shi Beach.

 We arrived at Shi Shi Beach about 2 hours before low tide. Plenty of time to hike out to Point of Arches and back before the tide came in. The first part of the beach was soft, deep sand,

 but before long, we were hiking on nice firm sand. We had the beach to ourselves, until we returned to the northern end on our way back.

 There was quite a bit of water in Petroleum Creek (about 1.3 miles down the beach), but by crossing down near the ocean at low tide, we were able to cross without the water going over the top of our boots. Although this was a good opportunity to clean our boots of all the mud we picked up earlier.  ;)

 A bald eagle in the tree along the shore.

 nearing the rocks at the Point of Arches

 Looking westward at the Point of Arches

Panorama looking south from the Point of Arches

 We saw some anemones in the tide pools.

 Back in the woods, we saw Skunk Cabbage in bloom and

 flowering Salmon berries. Hoping Spring comes soon!