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Shi-Shi Beach, Olympic NP, 8-23-25/07

Posted by Grannyhiker (2007-09-23)

This was a family trip with my-son-the-surfer and his two older children, JP and Sis, ages 7 and 5. His youngest (age 2 1/2) and my dog Hysson stayed in Seattle with mommy.

Shi-Shi (pronounced "shy-shy") Beach is at the northernmost tip of the Olympic Peninsula, between Point of the Arches and the rocks and reefs south of Portage Head.

Here's our goal--Point of the Arches:

Lots of overlapping bureaucracy here: You need wilderness camping permits from Olympic National Park for the beach and a recreation pass from the Makah Indian Nation to access the trailhead (get at the grocery store in Neah Bay). You need to pay to park your vehicle overnight at one of the private Makah homes near the trailhead. In addition, hard-sided bear canisters are required on all Olympic NP beaches. They can be rented from the ONP Wilderness Information Center in Port Angeles for a fee of $3.00. Ursacks are not allowed either on the coast or above timberline in Olympic NP. The canister requirement for the coast is to discourage not bears but raccoons, which in the past have attacked in groups, jumping on hikers' backs to rip open their packs. If you already have a canister, you can get the ONP permit along the trail where it enters the Park--you're on the honor system to send the fee in afterwards. If you come up the west side of the Olympic Peninsula, permits and canisters are also available at the Forks ranger station.

The ranger on duty at Port Angeles was rather shocked that we managed to cram food for 4 people for 4 days in one canister (Bear Vault 400)! Of course I don't eat a lot and the two kids together count as one adult for food-planning purposes. I did a lot of squashing, used only dried foods and had to leave the marshmallows at home. I left out the first night's dinner, figuring that an odor-proof sack would suffice for that. The one feature about the canister that I liked is that it makes a great seat in camp.

The trip began with a 5-hour drive from my son's home in north Seattle. It was quite scenic and included a ferry ride, Hood Canal, Lake Crescent (detour due to construction on the coast road) and especially the final stretch to Neah Bay along the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, all punctuated by the inevitable "Are we there yet?" queries from the back seat. The kids loved the ONP Interpretive Center in Port Angeles.

The first mile of trail is beautifully built with a lot of TLC: boardwalks, a cantilever bridge, interpretive signs, etc. This luxurious trail doesn't prepare you for the mud pits of the second mile. The kids loved the muddy part, of course! Finally you reach a spectacular viewpoint (when not fogged in), the Olympic NP boundary and a steep drop to the beach. Once upon a time there were switchbacks down, but there are so many "social trails" now that the original trail is impossible to find.

Rest/"energy" (snack) stop on the beach:

While we were told there is no water at the north end of Shi-Shi Beach, we found a number of sheltered campsites in the woods and a modern, shiny stainless steel toilet. We headed south along the beach towards Petroleum Creek, supposedly the first fresh water source. Less than ¼ mile from the north end campsites is a small stream coming down the hillside with water in it--something to remember the next time we do this trip! A lot of people were camped along the beach well above high tide line, and we almost did the same, although camping on sand with non-free-standing tents is a bit of a pain. However, about 200 yards before Petroleum Creek we found a great campsite above the beach in the woods. It had a wooden tent platform, a rather iffy old wood toilet (adults sit at their own risk, since the seat is rotting away) and an excellent little stream about 75 feet south of the campsite). It was sheltered and secluded. Somebody had collected a bunch of floats, rope and other debris on the beach to create some interesting temporary structures for kids' play, and that section of beach was relatively flat, much more suitable for kids' wading, as well as in full view from the campsite. There was even a swing at the campsite! We found out later that this site was originally built for the wilderness ranger once stationed there (a victim of budget cuts in recent years). The kids' recreational stuff was obviously a current year addition.

We set up camp while the kids played on the beach and gathered driftwood--fires are allowed on the beach below high tide line (loosely interpreted by most to be the winter high tide line--ours was lower than that but above the current high tide line, in an "established" firepit) and I got dinner ready. After dinner, Dad lit the fire, changed into his wet suit and went surfing (yes, he packed his wet suit and carried his board, total pack weight about 45 lbs not including the board), catching several good waves. He was somewhat mortified, though, that the kids described his jumping off the board at the end of each run as a "wipe-out"!

Our "film stars" by the fire:

Sunset first evening:

This was the first trip for my new 3-person Tarptent Rainshadow. It's a palatial tent, but weighs only 43 oz.! Dad and kids slept there while I used my Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo. With a little cozier snuggling, the Rainshadow would also have accommodated the stay-at-home baby brother and my dog!

The next day Dad surfed in the morning (the best surfing was at the mouth of Petroleum Creek, on an incoming tide). Unfortunately my attempts to photograph him while surfing were unsuccessful.

Then JP got ready to try a little boogie-boarding.

Unfortunately, wetsuits for children are made only in 3-mil thickness, insufficient for cold Olympic waters, so after a few minutes a shivering JP had to be dried off, dressed in all his warm clothes and shoved into his sleeping bag.

After he warmed up, we had lunch and Dad and the kids set out to hike to Point of the Arches.

Note the "playground equipment" in the background.

They had a fun time and got to see some tidepools, although the best tidepools there need a minus tide. I was having some knee problems (the mile in on soft beach sand at high tide with 27 lbs. of pack didn't do it any good) so I decided to forgo the dayhike.

We debated Friday evening as to whether to stay until Sunday as originally planned or to hike out Saturday. Dad worried about long waits for the ferry Sunday afternoon and evening. The decision was made for us in the wee hours of Saturday morning when one of the kids (name omitted to protect the guilty!) had an accident resulting in a wet sleeping bag, and then it started raining, so no chance to dry out the bag. Then JP got sick in the morning and couldn't keep anything down. A rainbow made the morning seem a bit brighter:

So we packed up. Of course, just as we were ready to leave, the rain stopped and the sun came out! However, we were really worried about the sick kid, who by noon had barely progressed to keeping down a few sips of a Gookinaid solution. Dad and I shared most of the sick one's pack contents and we started north on the beach, slowly, with frequent rest stops and hand-holding with the invalid. Dad was even more burdened because wet suits absorb water, so that portion of his pack was heavier going out.

He strapped the bear canister on the outside of his pack on the way in, but it kept slipping out. On the way out, the bear canister went inside while the wet wet suits were on the outside in a trash compactor bag.

By the time we got to the exit from the beach, the invalid had perked up amazingly--here we are near the unnamed "rocks/reef" at the north end of Shi-Shi Beach:

JP devoured a PB&J sandwich for lunch and then led the charge up the hill and along the 2 miles to the trailhead while vehemently insisting that we stop for pizza on the way home. The recuperative power of kids is amazing!

Just in time for dinner, we found Gordy's Pizza and Pasta in Port Angeles, which turned out to have really excellent thin-crust pizza. The formerly sick JP had no problems putting away quite a few slices! While we waited for the ferry at Kingston, Dad made a quick run to the crepes shack (another highly recommended place to eat) for dessert. Chocolate walnut crepes, yummy! The kids had ice cream.

Shi-Shi Beach is a wonderful place to take young children--a much shorter hike than the Sand Point-Cape Alava loop with its slippery boardwalks. Unfortunately, it's a long drive (at least 8.5 hours) from Portland, not counting the traffic mess for I-5 construction at the south end of Seattle. While it's pretty popular (supposedly 300+ people were there over July 4), there is plenty of room to spread out.

I suspect that this trip will become an annual event. We learned some lessons for future trips: (1) We'll make sure the kids go "potty" at bedtime. (2) Dad has ordered a much lighter and stronger surfboard that doesn't have to be carried in a protective case. (3) Dad will get a pack with better load-carrying capabilities than the travel pack he bought to visit Europe 15 years ago, with room for both bear canister and wet suit. (4) We may camp closer to the entrance to the beach, now that we know there is water there. However, the surfing there is a bit more hazardous (reefs) and the beach isn't as kid-friendly. At least the option exists! (5) We'll try to pick a week with a daytime minus tide, so that more tide pools will be accessible, although the timing depends mostly on Dad's work. (6) I need to take a lot more stove fuel for 4 people than I take for myself--I'd have run out and had to use the beach fire if we hadn't left a day early. (7) I need to make adjustments to my cooking/cleanup routine for feeding 4 as opposed to feeding myself on solo trips. When I go out alone, the only dishwashing I do is to lick off and then rinse my spoon. For this trip I had to wash lots of dishes, yuck!

Re: Shi-Shi Beach, Olympic NP, 8-23-25/07

Posted by nwbobby (2007-09-23)

nice trip report,nothing like speding time with the family.glad the young one is ok.Bobby

Re: Shi-Shi Beach, Olympic NP, 8-23-25/07

Posted by jimsiff (2007-09-24)

Great report! I love trips like this with kids. My first backpack with my dad as a kid was the Sand Point-Cape Alava loop. The Olympic coast is a great place.

So the hike to Shi-Shi is two miles? I'd love to get up there with my kids next year.

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