Aug 10th 9:30PM

[Pictures here.]

I think it must be about 9:30, but since I haven’t brought along a watch, I have no confirmation that it’s not much earlier or later.  Dark fell some time ago, but here at the western-most point of the continental US and the Pacific time zone, and with Canada lurking just out of sight to the north, and with a sky darkened by clouds, I don’t know if my sunny California estimate of dark at 8:45 holds.  The surroundings of tall firs and rainforest ferns, salal, huckleberry, abutting a coast of perpetually damp tide- and kelp-blackened boulders present an exotic palette to my summer-desiccated California senses.

We’ve come to this remote corner of the country to fulfil a long-standing desire - to backpack into a beach reportedly one of the most beautiful in the world - Shi Shi beach.  Far west of Seattle, behind the craggy masses of the Olympic Range, lies a stretch of coast protected from development by its remoteness and harsh landscape - where the steep temparate rainforest descends sharply to the Pacific.  This stretch of coast alternates beaches and coves with jutting headlands holding their positions against the relentless advances of their salty foe - the seemingly insignificant but constant forays of waves given crushing force by tidal surges twice a day, and compounded by furious winter blasts.  Over relentness geologic time scales, many of these headlands have faltered in their defense, leaving isolated sentinels of rock offshore bravely standing against their ultimate fall.  Among this rugged seascape, nestled just under Cape Flattery - Washington’s top-left corner - lies miles of coastline accessible only to the dedicated and adventurous.

I worked in Seattle for 10 years and never managed to explore the length of the beach although once a day hike took us to the northernmost end where a beach backed by rocky cliffs and illumined by a champagne-colored mist charmed us with it’s beauty and mystery.  We’ve wanted to return ever since to penetrate farther into that mist.

This year we had some time for adventure and since I spent a fair bit of time in the Sierras last year going farther afield was appealing.  To spend some time with my daughter (in Germany for most of last year’s adventuring) by doing something unusual and challenging, Shi Shi Beach bubbled up at last to the realm of possibility.

Shi Shi presents some obstacles - there is very little trail on this stretch of coast, requiring beach walking, one eye on tide tables to skirt the headlands, fording of a river, and even I’ve heard some ropes to help clamber over headlands even the lowest tides can’t accommodate.  What’s not to like?

In our party are my wife and I, my daughter Genevieve and her friend Anna from Germany, and my brother.  For tonight only we’re also accompanied by my other daughter, my sister-in-law and her two kids, and another friend.

We’re starting at Ozette Lake trailhead, heading generally north for about 20 miles over the next four days.  From Seattle starting with the 9:30 AM Bainbridge Island Ferry, stopping for permits and bear canisters at the Olympic Wilderness Information Center in Port Angeles, most of our party was on the trail before 4, but the car shuttle my brother and I did delayed our start until 6PM - a long day’s driving (did you imagine Seattle was close to the Pacific Ocean?)

This first night was a short 1 hour (3 mile) hike though a mossy forest to Sand Point, a popular overnight destination.  There are quite a few campers here (it is after all a Saturday night in August) but we expect to leave almost all behind as we trade the trail for coastal rambling.

We enjoyed foil packets of Indian dishes while leaning against driftwood on the beach.  Though the sky is layered in cloud we watched the subtle shifting of unnameable hues of blue and gray, and a few flashes of orange over the silvery-smooth bay, which turned out to be a satisfying sunset experience even without actually seeing the sun.

Now I’m certain we’re somewhere into the double-digits of PM as I scrawl these recollections.  The sleepy murmurs and goodnight songs of my companions have faded away, leaving only the soft crashing of the surf and the strengthening breeze in the fir tops, to lull the wildness to sleep - and to include me in it’s mothering embrace.  Tomomrrow, we leave the trail and strike out north along the beach, to immerse ourselves ever deeper into the wilderness in search of the elusive Shi Shi beach.