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Noeh Bay Day TripAug 5, 2009
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Clallam Bay
Shi Shi Trail Entrance
Complex Trail Structure
Today we took a day trip to Neah Bay. They say that the most northwestern point in the United States is at Neah Bay. I can’t figure out how you measure the “most northwestern” point?
Anyway, we left the See Ya at about 9:00 and drove west on 101 to Port Angeles where we stopped at the Visitors Center to get some information about the coastal drive. Then we turned onto highway 112, the Olympic Peninsula Scenic Drive. 112 winds its way through tree farms and along the coast of the Straight of Juan DeFuca for about 70 miles. The drive from Port Angeles to Neah Bay took over two hours. Along the way we passed through the towns of Clallam Bay and Sekui.
Neah Bay is located in the Makah Indian Reservation. We stopped at the local museum to pick up a parking permit. Because it was already well past noon we didn’t have time to tour the museum. Instead we had lunch at a picnic table by the museum and then drove fourteen miles to the Shi Shi Trail Trailhead.
The Shi Shi Trail is a relatively flat 3.3 mile trail that leads into Olympic Peninsula National Forest’s Shi Shi Beach. Unfortunately, Arnie is not permitted on the National Forest trail, so we could only traverse the first 1.8 miles of the trail and had to stop at the park boundary.
The Native American portion of the trail reflects a great deal of work in its construction. We immediately entered a rain forest with copious vegetation and lots of trees. The trail was damp, and could have been damper, so there were many log sections and bridges along the first half mile of the trail. The vegetation and the trail itself were scenic and interesting.
As we neared the park boundary we were beginning to wonder if we would have any opportunity for a view of the Pacific coast. But then we found a short side trail that led to a nice overlook point. From that spot we had a nice view of some rock formations along the coast. It was an almost foggy kind of day, so it wasn’t quite as spectacular a view as a sunny day would have provided.
Although we had to stop at the boundary and couldn’t walk to the beach, we did catch a glimpse of it from a second vantage point just before the boundary. As we made the trek back, we enjoyed some of the unusually shaped trees. We particularly enjoyed a large reclining tree where Arnie and Sue took a break. We also found a “pretzel” tree that had started growing horizontally and then turned back on itself to begin its vertical growth.
After the hike, Sue took the wheel and drove us back to Port Angeles where we stopped for dinner and, of course, a Dairy Queen. We got back to the See Ya just at dark around 9:00. It was a long but fun trip.
