The timetable for our March hike was one from hell but the hike turned out to be just heavenly. Will and I sprung up from bed at 3.30(!) in the morning and met Giles, Nicole and Emil at the Microsoft campus to carpool to Edmonds to meet Markus. The 6 crazies took the 5.45am ferry from Edmonds, a small town 20 minutes drive from Seattle, across the Puget Sound to another small town called Kingston. From Kingston, we drove 3 hours to the westernmost point of the contiguous 48 states to Lake Ozette (Marker B on map) to begin our 9.2 miles Cape Alava - Sand Point Loop hike. We started our hike at 10.30am and there was no one else along the trail and on the beach but us. It felt really special to have the whole place to ourselves.
Lake Ozette in the distance
First 3 miles of our hike was on this well constructed boardwalk. It was a piece of cake other than being slippery when wet. We completed this Part 1 of 3 of our hike in less than an hour.
Emerging from the rainforest onto the beach. The red and black sign marks the location of the trails from the beach.
Hey! Atop that ‘rock’ is a good spot for lunch!
We realized there’s another beach on the other side!
Emil prepared for the group, fancy smoked salmon and turkey sandwiches dressed with his famous homemade mayo of course.
We didn’t see any deers except for their dainty treks
Markus did spot some sunbathing beauties (click for bigger pic)
A souvenir Will insisted on bringing home. ME bringing it home that is.
It was low tide so we decided to walk out towards the ocean. Each step could be treacherous as it was covered with seaweed and kelp making it super slippery and the rocks could be loose as well.
See that teeny tiny little starfish?!
Wonderful colors of nature
Weather forecast warned of 60% chance of shower. Turned out to be absolutely warm and sunny. We couldn’t be luckier!
We finally found this marker for the last 3 miles of the loop. The past 3 miles on the beach were much much harder than we anticipated – practically a balancing act with each step! We were exhausted.
It was the longest hike we’ve ever embarked on and the longest day we’ve had (we got home past midnight) but it was so worth it!
