Olympic National Park

More trespassing, but in a light fashion. In all honestly I felt bad making the unpaid Ranger work any harder than he needs to right now. I’m not necessarily afraid of a citation, but of making the guy work harder considering he is not even getting paid. I feel for those guys, so I moved on to easier prey and to leave the Rangers alone for now.

Firstly, Lake Crescent is part of the National Park but since Hwy 101 runs right past the lake, there is little the feds can do to prevent anyone from pulling over and enjoying the view. I certainly did and I was not alone. Just about every pullout had a more than a few people with cameras enjoying the National Park’s Lake Crescent.

Afterward, I continued West on Hwy 101, stopping to consider a National Forest trail that would have lead me right into the Sul Doc Hot Springs area of the National Park in total secrecy. It would have been a very long hike, and it was mighty chilly out, so I chose not too.

Instead I stopped into a local cafe for lunch. I’ve been hankering for a burger and fries for weeks so I caved in. As I enjoyed my burger I was talking with the owner, a 70-ish year old lady no taller than my shoulders, about the impact this shutdown has had on their business. While I complain of not being able to see the sights, these poor folks are losing money hand over fist. I was their ONLY customer for the day (it was noon), so I didn’t say anything about paying $13 for a burger and fries.

After lunch I set out to go see the Pacific Ocean coast, which as it turns out, would not be possible to see the coastal beaches on USA soil, thanks to the shutdown. See, the coastline for a hundred miles or more is part of the National Park system, and is included in the shutdown. To see the coast, I actually had to leave USA sovereign soil and enter a Indian Reservation at La Push, WA. “Beach One” was the only beach ‘legal’ to visit. The beach was littered with enormous logs piles up like dinosaur bones. It was nice to see the ocean again, but this beach simply was not enough for me so I went back to trespassing…

The trailhead for ‘Beach two’ begins in the Indian Res, but the beach itself is within the National Park boundaries. Beach Two was my next target, so I set off down the trail. Three quarters of a mile through dense forest brings you inside the Park and to the beach… and this was the kind of beach I was looking for! Large, soft sandy beach with monolithic rocks mixing up the surf, and not far to my right was a nice arch in those rocks where the waves would jump through every so often. I set out for a stroll with my camera.

I spent a fair amount of time hopping from rock to rock to take pictures of the star fish, sea urchins, and the beach surrounds before turning back towards the van three quarters of a mile back through the rain forest trail. Once again, I was not alone in this adventure. At least two dozen other cars were parked in the lot and there is only one trail leading off from that lot. I did not trespass alone today. I did see two Ranger trucks pass by, but neither stopped to offer me a second addition to my scrapbook.