PNW Road Trip Day 9: Lake Quinault to Lake Crescent

On Day Nine of our PNW road trip, we were headed up to Lake Crescent, which is in the northern Olympic Peninsula, via Forks, Neah Bay, Cape Flattery, Shi Shi Beach and Point of the Arches. We got up and took an early morning walk around Lake Quinault and walked to the lodge to check out. It was a really nice morning and I was very much looking forward to this day...especially the Shi Shi Beach and Point of the Arches hike. Little did I know what was in store...

A couple last photos around Lake Quinault...the kayaks around the lake and one more of the boathouse.

After our walk, we loaded up the car and headed north. Our first stop was in Forks...yes...mainly just to get a photo at the Dazzled by Twilight store. I know...rather embarrassing...but it had to be done. Of course, it should be pointed out that out of all my Facebook posts on this trip, the Twilight post got the most comments, by far!

After visiting Forks, we continued heading north and then northwest. The first place we came to along the northern coast was Neah Bay (pictured below) with Vancouver Island in the distance.

We were on the Whale Trail!

After Neah Bay, we drove further northwest to Cape Flattery. We parked and took a bit of a hike out to the most northwestern point in the lower 48. It was absolutely beautiful here and a good little hike. We didn't really know that much about this stop, but it turned out great!

Views from the most northwestern point in the lower 48 states.

Cape Flattery Lighthouse

One of the viewing platforms along the trail.

Just some pretty little flowers along this lovely trail.

After Cape Flattery, we headed south along the coast in search of Shi Shi Beach. As we were driving, I noticed on the map that it looked like the road ended pretty soon and the rest would be on foot...and it looked to be quite a ways off the road, I might add! I was most definitely not prepared for what was in store on this hike. Before I go into that though, Shi Shi Beach is one of the last additions to Olympic National Park (1976) and is part of the Makah Nation. There have apparently been access issues for many years, unbeknownst to myself and my travel mate. The trail has been shut down a time or two in land disputes and is still not very user-friendly in parts. While the first part of the trail is very well maintained, there is a section in the middle that was anything but! While there are plans to rehabilitate this rough part...it was too late for us, at least this trip. Anyway, we found the parking lot for the Shi Shi Beach Trail Head, parked and started merrily along the trail. We first came to a few cool wooden bridges.

After about 20 minutes or so, the trail started to get more and more muddy. We found ourselves looking for ways around the trail, rather than going down it. We kept thinking that the mud would end...every time we came around a corner where there wasn't mud, we found some hope. I don't even know how many times we said, "I think it's ending," or "that must be it." HA! How wrong we were! The mud grew more and more intense, with mud extending now to our "shortcuts" around the edges. We hung onto trees and branches trying to jump over it. Sometimes the mud and water were SO thick and squishy, that our shoes would get stuck in it and make big sucking sounds as we tried to pull them out. Yikes! The mud must have gone on for at least 90 minutes (it is 7 miles round trip to Shi Shi and 8 to Point of the Arches)...I kept thinking we were nuts to keep going on, but we had already come this far, and I wanted to see Shi Shi Beach and Point of the Arches, darn it. Below you will see a couple of muddy photos from that hike. I don't think they really express the insane muddiness of the trail or the exhausting effort it took to get through all of it, but it does give an idea.

After schlepping through the mud for forever, we hit a decent trail again as it got closer to the ocean. Another 20 minutes or so brought us to an extremely steep trail (if you can actually call it a trail) down to Shi Shi Beach. I have to admit that at this point I was tired (seriously...the effort it took to muck through that mud and to try and skirt ways around that muddy trail...exhausting!). I started going down the trail to the beach, but just felt it may not be worth it. Point of the Arches was still another mile (at least) down the beach, and we really needed to be heading back down the mucky muck trail because it was getting rather late in the day. If we had known the whole situation as far as getting to Shi Shi and Point of the Arches, we would have planned accordingly and been there early in the morning and then spent some time at the beach before having to head back...unfortunately, we didn't know this..next time! Below is a glimpse of Point of the Arches from the top of the Shi Shi Beach Trail. Yep, that's as close as I got!

Shi Shi Beach

    

Well, a couple of hours later, we managed to make our way back to the parking lot....a lot worse for the wear! We were covered in mud and muck, but, hey, at least we got to see Shi Shi and Point of the Arches, albeit from above. *sigh* Anyway, we were ready to get on the road again and head toward Lake Crescent, where we could relax and recover from the day's events.Needless to say, it was a welcome sight to see the sign below.

Beautiful Lake Crescent Lodge

Lake Crescent at Dusk

View from the main lodge building and restaurant.

Lake Crescent Pier

View looking up at Lake Crescent Lodge from the lake.

Well, that's it for Day Nine of our PNW road trip. It was a nice day, but definitely one of the more unusual and exhausting. After having a beer sitting down in those chairs by the lake, it was time for sleep...thankfully. Tomorrow, we are off to Hurricane Ridge in the morning and then Sol Duc Falls and Marymere Falls in the afternoon!