The trail into the beach entrance ended with tons of bordering driftwood skeletons of ancient trees, washed white by the sun and the waves, all along the coast. We climbed through this drift wood pile up with the weight of our backpacks like two giddy kids on Christmas! We kept our eyes on the sea ahead of us and the sea stacks, remnants of headland, broken off by years of erosion. The tide pools beckoned us onward but first we had to find a campsite.
Anderson ditched his backpack for the moment with Gwen and explored trail heads leading into the dense headland. He was vigilant. Though he reported that many scenic spots had already been claimed, he found us the perfect perch, nestled amongst the scrubby bushes of the coast, up steep steps indented in the raised headland, lined with helpful rocks for climbing. Situated at a point, we enjoyed a clear view of the length of Second Beach. Our nook on the coast provided a ready made fire pit surrounded by driftwood benches and a privy! This was no ordinary privy. This privy was just that, a smelly hole with a toilet seat above it about 20 yards from the campsite that itself boasted some scenic views! We took the time to make our room with a view, or view with a room rather and Anderson went to pump some water for dinner and we gathered firewood, which was plentiful.
The tide was out and on its way in, and we used the sea stacks as a playground to explore the filling tide pools. We walked to each end of the beach, taking in the scenery and observing the many starfish, green and aggregating sea anemones, sea grasses, limpets and barnacles inhabiting the tidal pools. On one end of the beach we rounded a corner just in time to scare a bald eagle into flight! We love bald eagles. They're huge and majestic and really exciting to find. When we made our way to the spot the bald eagle was hanging out we could see just how amazing these birds are! It's talons were as big as Gwen's hand and we could see where it's wings had brushed the sand as it took flight. At the end of the cove was a small, shallow cave which we were just able to explore before the tide forced us out. We walked back to our campsite into the sunset for a warm fire, Gwen's first mountain house meal, feeling so lucky to have come upon this treasure of an adventure.
If you haven't had a mountain house meal-even Gwen says they're freaking delicious! We had chicken Alfredo. We enjoyed our hot meal with some hot green tea and roasting apples over the fire. This was a successful Gwenvention as roasting the apples cartelized them from the inside and we enjoyed a sugary dessert. As the sky darkened and the stars flickered on, we wondered what stars we were seeing while away from home. The serenity of our evening was interrupted when Anderson noticed signal flares from a boat in the water. Two flares, followed by search lights from the boat made us curious and a little concerned. Minutes after the second flare we heard a helicopter approaching, which shined a search light as well extensively up and down the coast. We couldn't read the side of the helicopter to get an idea of what was going on but after the initial curiosity, the extra noises became a bother. We retired to the tent for good conversation and peaceful sleep.
We woke on the beach and enjoyed a lazy morning and after pumping more water from the creek together we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of oatmeal, tea and bananas. We again took our time exploring the sea stacks up and down the coast. Anderson even scaled one of the exceptional sea stacks - pics to come, and made it back down in time just before the tide could close in around us.
We hiked back up the steep trail, this time ascending instead of descending, and made our way back to the car. After a quick lunch we headed to Chez Cascadia, the hostel in Olympia which we would be staying for two nights, looking forward to the opportunity to have a hot shower and a cold beer.
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