Then, a few months ago, Jeff bungied his board to his backpack, hiked the trail from the ranger station out the Sand Point, and camp/surfed for a couple days. My head was back in the game. So, after some research, I found a kayak harness/backpack device at NRS and planted the seeds for my birthday present. Sure enough, I got my birthday wish and the planning started. Unfortunately, summer activities and trips kept me away from making this happen until just last weekend, when Jeff and I not only hiked the three miles out to the beach, but another 3 miles south of Sand Point to a beach called Yellow Banks.
Challenges associated with this overnight trip included not only carrying a 30 pound, 6’ kayak and a paddle, but also packing in my camping gear, wetsuit, pfd, and helmet. It all looked like so much stuff to fit into my kayak. Some decisions had to be made – decisions that included not taking my camp stove or my tent (just the rain fly and footprint), or even a change of socks. I’d come to regret the change of socks, but more of that later. Jeff offered to carry the food and the mandatory bear canister in his pack.
We left town at 8:00 Friday evening and made the 3 hour drive to the Ozette Ranger Station to spend the night in Jeff’s van. We made the mistake of having a couple beers before bed, which had us getting up a few times to deal with excessive hydration. The alarm went off at 6:30 and we were up and packing our gear. After some discussion about what we could leave behind, we agreed that it was OK to be redundant in our gear when it came to the tarps. Jeff brought his and I brought the one I got for Christmas and hadn’t had a chance to use yet. All my gear went into the kayak, which I put on my back. We started down the mist covered trail and hoped to avoid the crowds.
does this kayak make my butt look big?
The trail out to Sand Point primarily consists of a 3 foot wide boardwalk made of cedar planks. It was a bit slick in the early morning dew as we silently made our way out to the beach. The kayak harness seemed to be doing the trick nicely, although there was no way to ignore the weight and bulkiness of the boat. After a while, it started to slip and slide a little and I had to make a few adjustments. This was Jeff’s third surf/camp trip, so he’s got his system dialed in. I’m sure I slowed him down a bit, but nevertheless, we made the trip out to the beach just fine with only a couple little breaks. As we made our way down the beach, the mist turned into rain – and the rain turned into a downpour. Within a minute, it seemed we were soaked to the core. I had made a conscious effort to avoid wearing cotton (with the exception of my socks and underwear), but Jeff had a cotton T-shirt that really set a chill into his bones. After some discussion, we stopped for a short break while Jeff traded the t-shirt for his rash guard. His mood instantly improved. Hiking the beach was relatively easy compared to the boardwalk, but our greatest challenged came in the form of a rocky headland through which we had to navigate slippery rocks, kelp and tide pools. This is treacherous hiking when one has a bunch of bulky gear on his back. I nearly lost it a few times, but was redeemed when we came to a break in the action and saw a nice clean swell breaking on some rocks. A few steps further and Yellow Banks revealed all of her beauty in a sweeping panoramic view of pristine Washington Coast beach.
Although the downpour slowed a bit, we still had some rain to deal with as we set up camp, hanging our tarps from ropes and trees and making sure everything would survive another big rain. Jeff had his hammock and I had my rain fly/footprint all in the upper level of the two-level campsite we found in the trees. We’d be using the lower level of the site for our campfire. After making some solid investment in our comfort, we put on the surf gear and headed toward the north end of the beach where the waves were breaking. On our way, the rain slacked off quite a bit and Jeff said, “OK. That’s it for the rest of the weekend.” I agreed and suggested we shake hands on it. We must have been blessed, because the clouds started to part and we didn’t see another drop of rain until the drive back on Sunday.
The waves for our first session were a on the smallish side, about waist high, but clean and peeling. It was also all ours, which made it that much better. We caught wave after wave for an hour or so and just enjoyed the fact that were finally doing what we’d come here to do. A few hikers came by while we were out and another couple watched us from their campsite up above the beach. We wondered out loud if we were entertainment or an eyesore. After some time the sky turned blue and the sun came out, so we thought it best to get back to camp and dry out some of our gear and our cotton clothing. As we were getting out of the water, two black-tailed deer were grazing on the hillside. They didn’t seem to mind our presence and quickly went back to their work.
Back at the campsite, we started a driftwood fire using some toilet paper smeared in Vaseline to keep the flame while the wet wood dried out. It was a team effort and in silence, we finally got a nice hot fire going. We roasted a couple of sausages and put the socks and other gear near the fire to dry.
After a walk to the other end of the beach and a couple sips of blackberry brandy, we got back into our surf clothes and made our way back to the waves. Along the way, we talked to the couple in the campsite above the surf spot and they verified that we were indeed entertainment, which made us feel good about our spot in the wilderness. The waves for our second session were quite a bit higher, closer to chest high, and still nice and clean. We surfed to near exhaustion and started the, “one more wave” talk that lasted about another hour. We finally dragged ourselves out of the water and headed back to the campsite. After another dinner of sausages, we got into our now dry clothes and settled in for a long night of conversation and brandy. Late in the evening, we took a hike down to the beach and saw one of the coolest sights of my life – bioluminescence in breaking waves. We watched forever at the long, glow-in-the-dark waves crashing on the beach.
The next day dawned bright and sunny. The waves were quite a bit smaller than the day before, so we broke camp and started the long, sweaty hike back to the ranger station. Before leaving the beach, we stopped for a snack and enjoyed the sunshine, then slowly made our way back via the boardwalk. Once at the lake, we took a quick and refreshing swim in the chilly water and tipped a couple beers to celebrate our adventure.
Needless to say, I think 6 miles with a 66 pound pack (good thing I weighed it after the trip) is pretty much as far as I’d want to take the current set up, but I’m thinking of ways to improve the situation and lighten the load a bit. Who knows where this will take me.
