Adventure 41/50 : Cape Flattery Trail

The Makah people -- a name given them by neighboring tribes, which means, in Salish, "people generous with food" -- see their land as "the beginning of the world". And if you look at the map of where the Makah reservation is, you can see why:

The very tip -- "the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States" -- is Cape Flattery.

For our anniversary -- given we just returned from Japan -- we decided to stay closer to home. We love holing up in a cabin and hanging out for a few days, so we went to Neah Bah and stayed at the Hobuck Beach Resort.

view from cabin 15

Nice, well-appointed cabins, just steps from the beach. And it's a glorious beach.

One day we drove out to the trailhead for Cape Flattery. 

On a blustery Friday morning in November there was plenty of parking at the trailhead, so we hung up our Makah recreation permit ($10, available in town, valid for a calendar year) and headed out.

Everywhere we went on the Olympic Peninsula was saw these big chairs. I don't know why.

The trail was deserted and relatively gentle, though there were a couple of short stretches that were a little steep or "rooty".

I always love "built" trails, with raised boardwalks.

The boardwalks, of local cedar, were in great condition, if so narrow that I wouldn't have wanted to pass another hiker.

A few stretches were also these "log circles" sunk into the earth. You can see that the ground was pretty muddy in places, hence the boardwalks.

As we got closer to the end of the trail, we went down some stairs to a few different built platforms.

We went to the farthest platform first, of course. To get up on it required a little ladder -- maybe difficult for some to go up or down, but sturdy. And the platforms were sturdy, too.

And the view? Postcard lovely. 

 Off the coast is Tatoosh Island, where a lighthouse stands. 

We stood for a long time on the platform enjoying the solitude and the sounds of the seabirds and waves.

I love seeing the sea caves being carved by the surf. Apparently this cape is "riddled with sea caves".

Eventually we turned back to explore some more, stopping at each platform. Each one had different, glorious views.

Eventually we turned back up the trail. Did I mention how much I love a raised boardwalk?

We stopped for one last glimpse of "the beginning of the world", before heading up to the trailhead.

We saw a few people heading down, but the trail was still really quiet. And at only 2.4 reasonably gentle miles round trip, it's a perfect little hike.