Artist Point Snowshoe

Is it just me, or do you always have something you feel you need to redeem at REI? They are masters at “giving” you money so that you go and spend more money…money you probably shouldn’t be spending. I know this…yet I fall for it every time. I may be cheap, but my cheapness includes a “I can’t waste this” category that ends up costing me far more than what I’m trying to save. They have figured me out…damn them.

Though, they did save me from wasting my money on Costco snowshoes. My friend, Leigh, had gotten some for Christmas and wanted to test them out at Artist Point. I had some sort of $30 offer at REI, so I used them on a rental. At the end of the day the lesson was: if you are going to snowshoe, use real snowshoes. And I’m sorry, anything under $200 is not going to cut it. (Unless they are used…which is probably your smartest move, actually.)

Look how Leigh is widening her stance to try and make me look less short. Sweet…but it’s not working 

Anyway, the lowdown on this hike is pretty simple. Drive up to the old Mt. Baker Ski Lodge (the farthest one up) and go to the farthest end of the parking lot that you can. The bathroom at the end–that’s where you start. If you want to avoid starting your day waiting in a ridiculously long line to pee, find a way to pee beforehand. I won’t tell you how I did…but I will say, where there is a will, there is a way.

 

Then you follow everyone else. Really. On a scale of 1-10 in popularity, this place ranks in at a 10. I’m quite sure that unless it’s a white out blizzard, it won’t be a problem. Unless you have crappy snowshoes…then the problem will be just trying not to cuss them out. (Though I will add to please follow the MAIN set of tracts. Don’t follow tracts that are going off to who knows where, unless you know what you are doing.) 

Also, 4 miles round trip may sound easy, but it feels twice that in the snow. You may want to quit early, but pushing to what is obviously the end is worth the effort. After seeing the many tents set up for what looked like a glorious night, I may even return. After I find someone who will loan me their expensive snowshoes, that is.  Happy trails. 

Cheers! Oh, and don’t forget to go to the home page and buy my book. I’m going to have to say that every time now, darn it. But a girl has got to make a living if she’s ever going to afford good snowshoes!

Railroad Bridge Park is for Cheapskates

 

A ferry is always my favorite way to get to a trail

If you are headed to the Olympic Peninsula for any reason at all and you love to be on a trail, you are going to try and squeeze in a hike if you can. You’ll scan hiking websites for something you can fit into your schedule, and then realize that all the good hikes are within the Olympic National Park, which requires its own special pass. Then, if you are anything like me, you will face a dilemma.

So here’s the thing with the hiking pass system in our state – for a recovering cheap ass like myself, it’s a lot to handle. But let me tell you something; if you are going to hike at all in a national park, then you should just bite the bullet and buy the $80 America the Beautiful Pass that covers everything. (Which I should have done when I already paid for a pass to hike on Mount Rainier…but instead I cheaped out and got the one that was only good there.) Otherwise, you could be just a half hour away from an amazing hike like Hurricane Ridge, but because you can’t stand the thought of forking out another $30 when you already spent $30 for the Rainier pass AND $30 for your annual Forrest Pass, you refuse. And that will be a sad moment, I promise you.

But if you find yourself in that conundrum, or you are just in the Port Angeles area and looking for something to do, I can recommend a hike that doesn’t require any pass. Just a few minutes off of Hwy 101, the Railroad Bridge Park is a great place to spend a couple hours. 

Or many hours, considering it’s part of the Olympic Discovery Trail; an ambitious project that is 80 miles done, with 60ish miles left to connect Port Townsend with La Push. Yes, you’ll have to share with dog walkers and bikers, but that is part of it’s charm. Though it’s biggest charm is the Dungeness River Audubon Center found right there in the parking lot. What a fun little gem. 

SO many birds at the Audubon Center…though none of them alive 

Dead…but still cute

Or, if you prefer a beach vibe, you could choose the Dungeness Spit, which is just a 20 minute drive away. No pass there either, but instead a $6 entrance fee. Even a recovering cheap ass like myself could swing that. (For a story about the full hike to the Lighthouse, click here) Happy Trails!…and don’t forget to check out my book! Link is on my home page 

Dungeness Spit

 

Getting Stuck in the Hole in the Wall

 

So, I’m going back in time to my last backpack of 2018 (New Year’s Eve, to be exact) since I never had a chance to write about it. This trip was about needing to say goodbye to the wonderful year I celebrated being a half century, and even though I had already spent over two months on the trail, I felt I needed one last hurrah in my tent. (Get the book about my trip on Amazon )The problem was finding a trail in December where I didn’t have to deal with snow. Thankfully we are blessed here in Washington with the wild ocean coast – where anyone can go (after getting a permit at a Ranger Station first) anytime of the year, and stick a tent up pretty much anywhere they want. I wonder how long it will be before that changes. 

But for the time being, if you get a hankering to be in your tent in the middle of winter, and want to avoid the hassles and crowds at Shi Shi, (which you can read about on my old blog here) Hole in the Wall at Rialto Beach is a great place to be. You can self permit at the trailhead if the Mora Ranger station is closed, but be sure to have your own bear canister. (They are required along the entire coast, though more for raccoons than anything.) Then it’s only a little over 2 miles to the famed hole…but half way there you’ll first need to get across Ellen Creek. 

Beach hikes are all about the tides, so check here before you go. (http://kaleberg.com/tides/lapush/index.html) A low tide at Ellen Creek means a quick crossing of 25 feet or so in ankle deep water; a high tide means scrambling over what looked to me to be a real pain in the ass jumble of logs. (In case you didn’t already know, log crossings are not my favorite.) Plus, if you don’t hit the tide right, you won’t be able to make it through the hole – which is kind of the whole point of this hike. I guess it is possible to go up and over on an impossible looking trail to the side; but that way didn’t look fun in the slightest.

I know I said you could set a tent up wherever, but I have to admit this was much harder than I expected. There were more options before passing through the hole, but I loved the idea of the hole “closing” so I could have complete solitude. Without really having a good idea just how high the tide would come up (something I probably should have paid attention to when I was looking at the tide information) I wanted to be extra careful to choose a spot that would not include being washed out to sea. Thankfully I found one, squeezed in between the drift logs.

When I watched a fellow hiker make it through the hole the next morning, I figured the tide had gone out enough for me to make my departure. What I didn’t figure was that it’s much easier for someone to climb up wet, slippery rocks without a pack, than for me to go down them with 30+ pounds on my back. So, after barely being able to pass through the hole without taking a dip, I still could not make it down to the beach on the other side. Not wanting to risk turning around on the ledge I really didn’t like going over in the first place, I found a place on the rocks to sit (for almost an hour) and wait for a few extra feet of less steep rock to become exposed as the tide continued to recede. Trying my best to enjoy the crashing waves, it was difficult to ignore my mind’s ominous imagery of a rogue one dragging me to my death. That would not have been the ending I wanted for 2018.

Though an adventure with solitude, mixed with some fear and excitement, was the way I wanted to say goodbye to one of the best years of my life – and that’s exactly what I got. Thank you, Rialto Beach. Happy Trails!