Cape Alava Bone Shack

Last weekend I had the opportunity to assist Jason ‘Kiwi’ Goldstein, in leading a group of six on a three day multi-sport event hosted by REI Adventures/ANEW Outdoors. Kiwi had done this trip once before, (see Paddle & Hike Ozette), but it had been many years since I had been to this part of the coast. The last time was during the winter of 2003 when I was shipwrecked on the Cape while making my way from Neah Bay to La Push. That was when I had more testosterone then good sense. I was anxious to see this part of the coast on friendlier terms; during the ’03 trip winds had been BFT 5 to 7 and swells 12’ to 18’. Although I had hiked in to the lake while waiting for the epoxy to cure, I had been unaware of the petroglyphs just down the coast at Wedding Rock, and was anxious to see them for myself.

We had quite the diverse group, with some from England, California, south Texas, and one local here from Bellingham. However, they all shared a great sense of humor and as such where a blast to spent time with. I hope to see each one again sometime on another adventure. Our guests arrive on Saturday afternoon, and after a light lunch of sandwiches, we headed out on the lake to explore the shoreline. Lake Ozette is the third largest lake in the state of Washington, and the only one of this size without any shoreline development. We had a solid marina layer overhead, but that did nothing to dampen our spirits as we cruised the lake and got to know one another. Turns out that Dan Rogers was as big a fan of Man vs. Wild as I am and we hit it off as we reviewed our favorite episodes. Dan used the weekend to try some of his fire making skills, and although he got off to a slow start, he quickly showed that he had been paying attention to Bear Grylls. That really set the tone of the whole weekend, humor, good company, and trying new things.

The next morning we traded boats for packs and started our hike out to Sand Point. It didn’t take us long to reach the coast and as soon as I saw the sea-stacks I was hit with a flood of memories. However, I didn’t dwell long on the past as I noticed what turned out to be a mid-air dogfight between a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus). We all held our breath as we watched them barrel roll, bank, dive, and out maneuver each other. After approximately 60 seconds, the eagle finally out-turned the gull and with an explosion of feathers, hit the gull. Cruising just over the wave tops the eagle landed on the beach for his hard earned meal. Although I’ve seen many smaller birds harass eagles I’ve never seen an eagle make an in flight attack on another bird.

And this was just the beginning. Turning to the north, we started hiking along the coast, taking time to enjoy the view and explore the tide pools. We soon reached Wedding Rock and searched for the numerous etchings on the rock. Although we didn’t find them all, we did manage to locate a fair number. These etching are dated back 300 to 500 years old; there were Orcas, a Humpback with calf, and even an old sailing ship believed to represent the first contact between Natives of the area and Europeans.

It was a long day full of wonder, and we gratefully dropped our, by now, heavy packs. However, Kiwi’s Chicken Sausage & Tortellini soon had us on our feet anxious to take advantage of the long days here in the Northwest. We made our way up the coast towards the Ranger station and someone in our group jumped up the bank to explore what I thought was just a wood shed. Turns out it’s a memorial to the Osett Summer Camp that was excavated back in the 80’s and whose artifacts are now on display at the Makah Museum. In addition to the plaque, the building was filled with marine bones ranging in size from the smallest bird to the largest whale. Dennis Salvin, a physician, called my attention a set of bones that looked suspiciously like a tibia, fibula combination and my spook meter quickly peaked! It didn’t help that was we made our way back to the beach a thick fog bank moved in from off shore. However, our attention was quickly diverted to a doe, yearling, and spotted fawn that were making their way up the beach toward us. The yearling obvious was in a playful mood as he nudged and danced around his younger sibling. It was amazing that they passed with a stone throw of us seemingly unconcerned with our presence.

Our last morning as we hiked back toward the lake, Kiwi who had a tip on the general location of one of the homesteads from the 1890’s, lead of off the trail and into the bush. We where rewarded with finding Pete Roose’s homestead which he had built in 1901; a great new find to top off an awesome weekend.

Kiwi and I reluctantly said good-bye to our new friends after lunch, and started the long drive home. I know we’ll be back to Cape Alava to explore the rest of the serene part of the Olympic National Park. You can view some of the photos we took over on the galleries page.