Second Beach

We decided to hike down to Second Beach for lunch today in Olympic National Park. The trail down to the beach is 0.7 miles through the woods

interesting trees that had started growing on nurse logs, which has since rotted away

















lovely spiral new growth on ferns

the fungi loved this tree

lots of false lily of the valley in bloom

great trees

lots of salad

a green "arch" at the end of the woods as we reached Second Beach

driftwood to cross at Second Beach












Pano at Second Beach

The beach continues south and is 1.3 miles long. We did not have time to explore more today, but enjoyed this gorgeous lunch spot before heading home.

Rialto Beach

This morning we drove out to Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park, to hike to the Hole in the Wall and a bit beyond, We hiked a bit more than 3 miles.
There are several signs warning of dangers of hiking along the ocean beach. It's very important to know the tide schedule. We knew we were hiking at high tide and would not be able to hike through Hole in the Wall, but could hike over the headwall there to the other side safely.




Pano looking west near the south end of Rialto Beach

watching the waves roll in

It was a bit foggy as we started out

a raccoon or otter left tracks on the beach

There were only a handful of hikers on the beach until we were almost back to the start of the trail.
Some nice large rock formations and sea stacks near the shore

Hole in the Wall and headwall, we would go up on the trail to the right of the tree on the saddle of the headwall

sea stack

There is a well marked trail going up the headwall

view from the headwall looking south














view from the headwall looking down on the north side of Hole in the Wall











saw some paintbrush in bloom up on the headwall

we saw many bald eagles soaring overhead this morning

Hole in the Wall from the north side

even at high tide we saw some anemone in the tide pools

We hiked a bit further up the beach north of Hole in the Wall, the views out to the ocean with the rocks and sea stacks was beautiful

On the north Olympic Coast, the forest comes down to the beach












hiking back south toward Hole in the Wall

I love the view from the north side of Hole in the Wall

our high tide was 5.7 ft, so not extremely high, we were able to stand near the opening on the north side (there is a lot more water on the south side of the Hole in the Wall)
view from Hole in the Wall

The Hole in the Wall is large enough for a couple of people to walk through when the tide is low enough

The waves seemed more intense as the tide was receding on our hike back

juvenile bald eagle in a tree

view of the beach through some driftwood

There were probably 50 people on the beach as we returned to the parking area












some of the wildflowers we saw in bloom along the trail today:

 

Ozette Triangle

We headed out to the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula to hike the Ozette Triangle in Olympic National Park. The triangle trail is 3 miles to Sand Point, 3.1 miles north along the beach to Cape Alava and then 3.1 miles back up. From the parking lot to the trailhead is 0.2 miles each way, so overall we hiked 9.6 miles today.
Sign before the trailhead reminds us to protect the petroglyphs at the Wedding Rocks.










On the way to the Triangle trails, this bridge crosses the Ozette River near where it exits Ozette Lake.

view of the Ozette River where it exits Ozette Lake, from the bridge

A boardwalk covers large sections of the trail to Sand Point



















We saw lots of wildflowers along the way, including bunchberries growing up the sides of large trees

There were also lots of mountain laurel and Labrator Tea.


We met several backpackers on their way out, by the time we reached Sand Point, there were no hikers/campers there. We hiked from Sand Point to the Wedding Rocks by ourselves.
















The trail comes out on the south side of Sand Point. Our first view of the Pacific Ocean on this trail

At the end of Sand Point is this large rocky hill. We went up the boot trail to the top for a lunch break.

Looking back at Sand Point












View to the west from the rocky hill

There were paintbrush growing on the side of the rocky hill at Sand Point

It was near low tide as we hiked along the beach.

We saw this young deer, which was more nervous of sounds in the woods than of the hikers on the beach.












We also saw shore birds in the ocean

I love the sea stacks

This large sea stack as a hole in it that can be accessed at low tide

The hole in the sea stack is large enough to sit in


















view from the hole in the sea stack

At the Wedding Rocks, we saw petroglyphs I had seen before, and we found some I had not seen on previous hikes here.

Pano from Cape Alava: Ozette Island in the distance

Ocean view as we hike out of Cape Alava back towards Lake Ozette












The hike back up to Lake Ozette from Cape Alava seemed to have more ups and downs than the one from Lake Ozette to Sand Point. Either way, they are both lovely forest trails.

large beetle

some wildflowers we saw along the trail today: