<< Cape Alava - Part 2

07/01/24 - Cape Alava - Part 1

It's almost a two hour drive out to Cape Alava, so we don't get there that often. There's also the matter of the tides. We weren't planning on doing the entire loop, but if we had hoped to hike the triangle to Cape Alava and then via Sand Point, we'd want the tides low enough to get comfortably around the headlands. There have been some good low tides lately, so we figured we'd head out and at least get from the trailhead to Cape Alava, and, if we had the energy, to return via Sand Point.

There were a few nice views of the strait along 112, but the road was twisty and not banked well. We passed through Clallam Bay and Sekiu noting the number of rental cottages along the water. We took the Hoko-Ozette road and, once again, managed to get the very last free parking spot. We weren't the only ones taking advantage of the good weather and the low tide.

We crossed the Ozette River near where it flows into Lake Ozette, and headed into the forest. A lot of the trail is boardwalk, and there were lots of ups and downs. Several times, we'd take a series of steps down, cross a wooden bridge, and then take another series of steps back up. We made our way to Alstrom's Meadow. On our way back we met a group of Alstroms pondering their relation. Here the forest thins and the trail follows mostly a boardwalk through a sea of grass.

Then, we entered the coastal forest and began our descent to the beach. It was a long way down. The forest here was subtly different from the earlier inland forest. Then, we began to get glimpses of the ocean.


The Ozette River

The bridge over same

The Ozette River heading into the lake

Forest trail

A candelabrum tree with horizontal and vertical branches

Steps on the trail

One of the bridges

More trail

An omen?

Another bridge

More steps

Pacific dogwood

Towards the meadow

Across Alstrom's Meadow

More boardwalk

A boardwalk closeup

The trail repaired, a story told

More meadow

More boardwalk

Even more trail

Even more steps

Trail through forest

More forest trail

Keywords: cape alava, tides, weather