Elevation Gain: Approximately 300 ft.
Time: Sunday 12:30 pm - Wednesday 10:50 am
Weather: The whole spectrum: sunny and warm to overcast, cool, and a little rainy to a full on downpour.
This was the third multi-day trip with students I have gotten to take this school year. This is an annual hike for every 8th grader in my school's middle division. This is the fourth year in a row I have led a trip, and the third year in a row I went with the same co-leader. She is the 8th grade history teacher, a good friend, too.
Sunday: We hit the coast at Rialto Beach on the Washington coast. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny. We were walking at a quick pace, due to a 5 foot tide point south of Chilean Memorial that I was nervous about making. We got into camp and enjoyed a delicious meal of hot dogs and mac and cheese with s'mores for dessert.
Monday: Up early, 7 am, with a full 7.5 mile day ahead of us. We ate breakfast, broke camp, and were moving by 9:15 am. I love that this is called the 8th grade beach hike. It conjures up images of sandy beaches that you stroll along easily as you carry a pack. In reality, the coast is rocky and tough. There are rocky headlands slick with seaweed and moss with beautiful cuts in the rocks made by the tides, and tidal pools littered with marine life.
The group was 8 eighth graders, a high school senior, my co-leader, and me. Now, the senior was a special circumstance. Every year seniors do an internship for 3 weeks, and many do on campus work with teachers. This year, an amazing senior, who went into Dark Canyon with me in February, set up his internship with the school's outdoor education program.
Between his leadership in the front, pacing the fast hikers and carrying any extra weight from the kids in the back, me in the middle with a few kids keeping an eye both ahead and behind me, and my co-leader in the back with some of the kids unsure of their footing or struggling with the hike, we moved amazingly fast. It took us 4 hours and 30 minutes to get to my absolute favorite spot in all of Washington, Kayostla Beach.
I first camped here in the Fall of 2007. I was with students, and I was on my second backpacking trip ever. As we got into camp, I immediately was upset by the conditions of the site. The previous tenants left the site in the worst condition. The list of items left is far too numerous to enumerate, but here are some of the worst offenses: burnt trash, tent poles, poker chips, pots and pans, cigarette butts, etc. Including the trash left, the areas of vegetation, clearly blocked off to avoid foot traffic, had also been trampled and the many log barriers had been removed. With the help of the senior, we moved driftwood from the beach and restored the path ways. We cleaned up all the trash, one of the many items on the beach was a big plastic trash bin. We were able to fit all the trash into the bin, and restore the site to one of respectability. The senior pointed out leaving the trash bin would encourage trash being piled up by future residents. We agreed to hike it out, each holding on to a handle the next two days.
The rest of the day included, napping, a big campfire, campfire games, sub-par dinner (I burnt the stir-fry veggies), and a good brownie dessert.
Tuesday: Up early again, and out on the hike by 9 am. As we were gearing up, the senior thought it would be easier to just strap the garbage to his pack. Sure enough using rope found on the beach, he strapped a full size Brute plastic trash bin to his pack. He carried the bin the next 6 and half hours 7.2 miles up the coast.
The second full day was a tad tougher on both my body and the group. We went much slower, took more breaks, and group morale was pretty low. We made it to Sand Point and got camp set up. We explored the area, including a walk up to my co-leader's favorite spot up on a short bluff at the point.
Dinner was good, dessert was even better. Since the site doesn't allow campfires, we had little reason to stay out in the cold and went to bed early.
Wednesday: Woke up around 3:30am to the sound of pouring rain. The only "real" rain of the trip. Once on both Monday and Tuesday, I noticed rain but it ended quickly or was not enough to even worry about. But this was a good old Pacific Northwest downpour. Fell back asleep, hoping for a change in the weather.
At 7:30 am, nothing had changed except the time. The rain was not going to stop. I got up, and just accepted being wet. We broke camp and were walking on the boardwalk back to the Ozette Ranger station by 9:30 am. We were there by 10:50am. The senior had carried the trash bin, all the way to the bus.
Orchid: The senior carrying the trash bin.
Onion: I was in a foul mood Wednesday evening.
Picture:
Google Map
was that because the trip was over!
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