Weekend Photos: Ozette Triangle

A few weeks ago, while weather in Seattle was waxing hot and hotter, I nabbed my backpacking pal Zeke and headed to the WA coast to hike the Ozette Triangle, with extras. It's peak season for backpacking, but by going midweek we were able to nab a permit for a nearly empty camping area at the mouth of the Ozette River (adding about 5 miles to make a two-day trip of just under 14 miles.

I started early from my home in Seattle, choosing to drive around via Tacoma rather than take the ferry across the Sound (total time isn't much different, and the gaps between ferries were inconvenient).  Zeke brought Second Breakfast (some tasty home-made "egg mcmuffins" with bacon, a total treat for me), and we were ready to hike by half past 11. 

Crossing the Ozette River where it leaves Ozette Lake. The river meanders a lot to cover less than 2 linear miles and drop about 150' to the ocean. Our trail cut a (comparatively) straight line through the forest instead, though I think early settlers of the Lake Ozette area went up the creek.

 
About 3 1/2 miles from the car, after a pleasant stroll through the forest mostly on boardwalks, we emerged at the coast, ready for another lunch. 

Pika Pete isn't used to this. He didn't live with me when I dwelt in the Fog Belt near San Francisco!

There's a popular camp area (with quotas and permits required) where the trail comes out, at the NW corner of the triangle. We ate, checked out the outhouse (with a conveyor belt to separate liquids and solids... pump with your foot to move it along when you're done...), and turned north up the beach.

Wave patterns in the sand. The tide was on the way out.

For the first mile or so walking was easy along the generally firm sand. With the low clouds but no drizzle, hiking was about perfect--cool enough not to do much sweating. With just one night's food and water enough to hike a few hours, our packs were no great burden. 

Eventually we came to the end of the beaches and easy walking. You can see in the photo above that we wouldn't want to try to walk around that headland.

Zeke on the "trail" over the neck. There were ropes on the steepest bit, which helped with balance while carrying a pack, but I'd probably have scorned without the pack.

 Once over the neck, the going got rockier. That meant tidepools!

Anemones and crabs were the obvious things in these pools not far below the high tide line.

We rounded one last corner, passable only at mid or lower tides, and came on the river. Now, there are campsites on both sides of the river, but we had info that suggested the north side is better. Here's the scoop on each.

On the south side you'll get more shelter, unless you choose a right-on-the-beach site (unnerving as the tide comes, in, but at any but they highest tides they clearly remain dry). The drawback here is that the tide will come in and cut you off from the river, and thus from fresh water, so it requires some planning. The other sites, in the woods atop the bluff lack views, and at the highest tides you can't get upriver beyond the tidal zone--i.e., to fresh water. 

On the north side, there are sites in the trees, but right on the edge of the beach, and one or two that are more or less on the beach. There is easy access to fresh water no matter what the tide, but to reach the camps you have to wade the river. Pick your crossing with care.

We hung out for an hour or so until the tide was well out, and walked across the river in water that wasn't much over ankle deep, by following the sand bars.

Camp. We chose a spot right on the edge of the trees so we could have both the beach feeling and some shelter. 

Several very habituated deer--3 young bucks--grazed around and practically through our camp for a while.

 

I'm not usually one for campfires, but the beach is special. We gathered dry driftwood and enjoyed a virtually smokeless fire. We weren't cold, but the evening was cool enough for a fire to feel good.

The author, engaged in the essential behavior of poking at the fire.

 

At dusk I heard noises in the river right by camp, and stepped over to take a look. To my delight, we had otters! A pair of river otters were hunting in the water backed up by the tide. By the chewing when they came up each time, they were having good success. Picture quality is poor due to the low light, and I have no video-editing skills so you get the rough cut.

 

After watching the otters for a while, we declared it to be "hiker midnight," put out the fire, and hit the hay.

Stats: Hiked 5 3/4 miles in just under 3 hours (including breaks), with minor climbing and descending (steep up and down over the impassable headland).

Day 2

Morning brought a very low tide, so that when we left camp at about half past 6 we could walk across the river almost dry-shod. Almost. I still chose to wear my water shoes, and Zeke chose to hike in wet shoes. 

Picking a route among the rocks, looking for sea stars.

 
Despite the low tide, we went back over the headland, as the rocks going around looked slippery and awkward.

With the tide so far out we got to see what lives around the rocks that are only exposed on negative tides.

Look for the flash of orange.

Weird shrimp-like things.

 

The beach was a busy place overnight.

A busy track-maker.

We soon reached the trail we'd come down, and passed it by to continue south into unknown territory (to the best of my memory, I last hiked this loop when I was 10, which was a few years ago). The next 2.25 miles are all on the beach, which sounds easy until you get there. Picking our way over often-slick rocks slowed our pace to about 1 mile per hour, as neither of us was interested in hurting ourselves. 

While we are making our slow way south, check out some of the super-cool rocks we saw. 

Tafoni--weathered pits in the rock.

 

Before we hit the rocks, there were cool wave patterns on the sand.

 

A beautiful piece of weathered driftwood.

When the end (of beach walking) was in sight, and we seemed done with the rocks, we stopped for elevenses and a good long rest, something we should have done sooner. We had also been so focused on not hurting ourselves that we forgot all about the petroglyphs at the Wedding Rocks, so will have to go back at some point. 

Petey enjoys another lunch break, still hiding in his bag to stay warm. Looking toward Sand Point. 

Looking back the way we came.

About this time, the sun made a huge effort and emerged from the fog!

Sand Point

Still some atmospheric fogs looking north.

Our trail finally turned into the trees, for another 3+ miles of walking mostly on boardwalks.

The area was logged a century ago, but here and there a large tree remains.

The boardwalk adaptation suggests to me that the tree is leaning more than when the path was first routed through here.

As so often happens, in the last couple of miles I got into "I'm done" mode and powered on to the car at speed, arriving almost exactly 24 hours after we left. It's amazing what good work these little breaks can do for my psyche.

We found ourselves a late lunch in the little town of Clallam Bay (or maybe Sekiu; they're side by side and the restaurant was in the middle). I dropped Zeke off at his house and headed for the ferry, this time choosing to sit on the dock for a half hour rather than sit in traffic for possibly much more than that.

Crossing the Sound with views of Rainier one way, and Baker the other, is always a nice way to end a trip.

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed this little getaway with me! I'll share a few more photos that didn't make the cut over on my Instagram.

In other news, the launch date for Edited Out  has been pushed back to August 25, as neither the cover nor the interior is ready, and I'm going kayaking. My mother was right: I don't play well with deadlines. I am hoping to have a pre-order ready on Amazon before I hit the water.

All this beach stuff seems like a good time to remind readers of the first two books in the Seffi Wardwell series, A Coastal Corpse and Washed Up With the Tide.  

A corpse among the dahlias is no way to start your day.

Beautiful weather, bountiful baked goods… and bodies on the beach.

 

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2025   
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