Well folks, as of a few weekends ago the Churchills are officially backpackers. True, it was a pretty easy trek, but we're starting slow and working our way up. I'm considering this the Churchill Family CAMPING tour stop to be a continuation of Yurt Tour. We've sort of already hit our top yurting destinations, and we also had it as a goal to go beach camping this year, so we're took a hiatus from the yurts to hit Rialto Beach.
Rialto Beach is on the western edge of the Olympic Peninsula. Sort of north central. We hiked down roughly 3 to 4 miles and set up camp in a nice little cove with a view of some beautiful sea stacks. At first, the hiking was pretty easy since we were just following the sandy beach. When we got to a spot about 2 miles in called Hole-in-the-Wall (because the water erosion has created a hole in the wall...) we had to take a quick jaunt over said hole via an overland pass since the tide was too high to walk through the hole (can I just say...it's really more of an arch). The hiking from there on out got a little bit more difficult. Because of the high tide, we sort of had to scramble over the rocky shoreline at a pretty slow pace. If we did it again, I think we'd definitely make more of a point of getting an early start so that we'd cross those tricky bits during low tide.
Here, I feel is a good spot to briefly talk about gear. Our backpacks are from Rivendell Mountain Works and we both absolutely love them. They're made in nearby Monroe, WA and are just the perfect size for us. A nice overnight-or-two size for camping and big enough to pack for say, a ten day trip to Tunisia. We first heard about them when our friend JC (aka High Above) did a tote bag for them. We purchased our new lightweight sleeping bags and second-hand tent from local shop Second Ascent. Seriously a great place for affordable, used, and still in good shape camping gear. Plus, the salesperson that helped us was both very knowledgable and good-humored (he expertly answered my question about the "cuddle-factor" on the bags temperature rating when he informed us we could zip them together). Since this was our first time, we weren't too sure about lashings; in other words, how to attach all our stuff to our packs. After some head scratching, I ended up performing an elaborate tying ritual with some sewing seam tape, and Kevin scrounged up every wayward carabiner from the dusty corners of our house and clipped his things on. We kept making jokes about what we called our "unconventional lashings". Ha!
There were quite a few people camped along the beach, so we kept hiking farther to get to more of a remote spot. But, we started to loose hope a bit after Hole in the Wall because the shoreline was so rocky. Kevin had also brought his fishing pole in hopes of catching some surf perch, which requires more of an open ocean feel than a rocky, shallow cove. But, we kept on, rounded several rocky points, and settled in a nice sandy little cove. It wasn't the open ocean needed for fishing, but, what can I say...I was hungry. So, we stopped, made camp and cooked dinner.
Dinner was fire-toasted our corn and a can of lentil soup. Shout out to the Shifley family for the delicious corn, and a big thanks to Mom and Jim for the little camp stove! Then, we took a little bit more of a hike down the beach, and enjoyed our fire and the view. That night it sprinkled a little bit, but we were nice and cozy in our new sleeping bags and tent. Although I did have to make a clumsy middle-of-the-night exit as per usual to dig a cat hole in the sand (ahem).
The next morning we got our fire going again, breakfasted on pb&js, packed up our tidy little camp, and headed back. This time, the tide was low so we had a bit of an easier time and got to walk through Hole (Arch) in the Wall. All in all it was a wonderful first beach camping AND backpacking excursion.
If any Washington-vicinity folks out there have recommendations for a next backpacking destination, we'd love suggestions! We know (and love) the beaches on the Olympic Peninsula the most, so we're thinking of somewhere near Kalaloch next. Tag-alongs welcome :)
