Trail review

Olympic Peninsula South Coast Wilderness Trail - Third Beach to Oil City.

Colter Co_olympic south coast wilderness trail

The coastline of the Pacific Northwest is a beautiful and unique ecosystem. The moment you step out of the car you can smell the salt of the sea and feel the heavy ocean air. The trees grow tall and in areas block out all the light creating a shadowy canopy. The forest near the coast is thick with dense ferns and salal bushes 6 to 7 feet tall, as far as you can see. The only possible way to pass through is the trail you are on. Most of the trail isn’t overly steep, but there are spots where the only way to get past the big bluffs is to climb straight up. There are ropes from washed up fishing nets and sometimes ladders built into the cliff. It makes it feel like a true adventure. Like Indiana Jones on his way to some ancient temple in the jungle. This dense rainforest trek is interrupted by stunning vistas of beaches and rows of sea stack rocks that are home to sea birds, eagles and tide pools. There are long stretches of beach hiking where you see what the surf has brought in from the sea. There are always a broad range of floats broken off of the industrial fishing nets in the Pacific. Some of the camp sites along the way have trees decorated with these floats like the walls of a quant beach house. The freshly swept sand and low tides shows the tracks of passing wildlife. We saw the wanderings of raccoon, coyote, deer, squirrel and pelicans.

TRAIL INFORMATION

Date we hiked: August 15-17

Distance: 17 miles point to point

Elevation gain: 2,004 over the whole trail. The highest point is 250 feet.

Difficulty: Moderate with several Rope ladders, and rock scrambles.

Kid friendly: I took my 12 and 9 year old boys on this hike. It was very challenging to be sure, but they rose to the challenge when they felt the thrill of real adventure. The rope ladders and rock scrambles were my biggest concern. They were very challenging, but they boys did well.

Dogs: Not allowed on this trail

Permits: You do need to get permits for this trip from the ranger station. There are quotas for each camp area and you will have a designated area for each night you stay. Not a reserved site, mind you. But there will be an area there for you. You can find out more about the permits here.

Parking passes: None

Edible plants: This trail is lined with salal berries that were in season while we were there.

Other considerations: Bear cans are required (you can get one at the ranger station). Take a current tide chart! You will need it in passing certain areas and for determining safe camp sites.

Gear: Trekking poles were a must on this one for the rock scrambles and river fords. Work gloves for the rope ladders (I was skeptical of these but very glad we took them). Bear can is required. Water shoes for river fords. Water filter (even with filtering there was a high amount of discoloration in the available creek water and using water treatment tablets wouldn’t be suggest…) I took gaiters for my boots to keep sand out of my socks and would highly suggest doing the same.


There are sections of this hike that must be passed at low tide. If you miss low tide you have to wait about 8 hours for the next low tide. There’s no way around this, so make sure you take a tide chart! In retrospect we would probably do this one from south to north if we could have a do over. The most tide sensitive parts were close to Oil City so leaving that close to the end left us with little flexibility on time. We ended up waking up at 5 AM the last day to cover 4 miles before that days low tide at 9:30 AM. It was a bit of a rush and didn’t leave time for breaks or to enjoy views. But that was just because of the way the tides landed during our trip. I suggest checking on the tides during the window you will be there and then decide if you want to go north to south or south to north.

 We started out at the Third beach trail head (not Beach 3. That’s a different beach. Very confusing…) We left a car at the Oil City trail head with the plan to shuttle ourselves back up to Third beach at the end. Lots of people will do part of this trail as an out and back to avoid the shuttling, but since we had 2 adults and 2 cars we did it as a point to point hike. Third beach to Toleak point is a common out and back. I would definitely suggest that if you are short on time or two cars.

olympic coast trail- colter co

It’s only a little over a mile from the trail head to Third beach. That’s where the first set of ropes and ladders comes in. You can see from the elevation map exactly where the big climbs and descents are. Each time you drop out of the rainforest and onto the beach is amazing. It never gets old! 

olympic coast trail elevation profile


We camped at the first night just south of Scott’s bluff. There are several campsite there and a water source at Scott creek.

That brings me to the water sources… There are several creeks and small rivers that you will be crossing and can filter water from. While we were there the water sources were discolored and even after filtering it looked a lot like ginger ale. It made me a little nervous, but tasted fine, and nobody suffered any ill effects from drinking it. One note on filtering water near the beach. Make sure you go far enough up stream to avoid getting water that may be tainted with sea water that can wash up stream with high tides.

 We arrived at low tide, but we could see a clear line of where that last high tide had been. We made sure to camp in an area out of the splash zone.

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Another bonus to this trail is the plentiful firewood on the beach. You are allowed to burn driftwood. Obviously, pick the dry stuff. It made our evening camps very cozy on the beach.

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In order to save on weight and space (those bear cans aren’t huge…) we used almost exclusively freeze dried meals. This worked out great for us. It’s also nice to only have to wash a spoon at the end of a meal :)

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 Day 2 was our long day. We did around 8 miles to end the day at Mosquito creek. There was a fair amount of climbing over bluffs and even a couple small creek ford: Falls creek and Goodman creek. We took the opportunity to eat lunch after crossing Goodman creek and let our feet dry out. We did bring flip flops or water shoes for water crossings to avoid having wet feet during the rest of the trips.

 The stretch of the trail passes Toleak point which is a big draw for a lot of hikers. It’s at almost exactly 6 miles in. There are several campsites in the area, including some off the beach in the woods that are quite nice. Most of these sites are clearly marked with hanging fishing floats and bouys. Toleak point is amazing, and it’s very clear to see why people make this spot a destination! Coming around the corner at Toleak you can see a lot of sea stack rocks and amazing bluffs going all the way down to Hoh head near the Hoh river.

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 The second half of the day was mostly beach hiking with the exception of one overland stretch. We ended the day at Mosquito creek, camping up at the top of the bluff overlooking the beach. It was a great site, big enough for 3-4 tents. There was a nice firepit and even some flat benches there. There were some other sites around and even a pit toilet. Mosquito creek was a beautiful spot that (thankfully) did not live up to its name.

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Day 3 was a shorter than day 2, but required us to be on the trail at 6:20 am to hit the tides at the right time. No time for breaks or lollygagging! Our tight pace wasn’t helped out by us marching into a very angry bunch of hornets that made clear their displeasure with us being there. Most of us sustain a sting or two or 5. The overland section of this leg was about 3 miles before dropping back down onto the beach. About a mile later is Diamond Rock. This is the area we needed to hit at low tide. There are two outcroppings that are only accessible at low tide. Even at low tide they are a challenge! The smooth sand of the beach is interrupted by large boulder fields. We tried to stay up closer to the dry rocks as the ones that spend a lot of time underwater tend to be covered in slippery seaweed. It is a pretty challenging stretch and requires making your own route through the rocks. It’s slow going but it’s the last major obstacle of the trail. After that it’s a little bit more beach hiking and then less than a mile along the beautiful Hoh river to the trail head.

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In summary, this was a fabulous trip that my boys and I will surely remember and talk about for years to come. A fabulous mix of sand, sights, and challenges. I would do it again in a heart beat!

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Let me know if you’ve done this trail, or if you have others you’d suggest. I’m always looking for new trials to explore.

instructional article

DIY survival fishing kits for kids

Colter co. survival fishing kit

This summer I am taking a small group of 12-14 year old scouts (including my son) on a 4 day camping trip. It’s going to be awesome! We are going to be focusing on building shelters, and basic survival skills like fishing. In preparing for this I helped put together some ultra simple fishing kits. I wanted to make these are simple as possible for them to use safely. They would be a little over simplified for an advanced angler but for the sake of young anglers I have made these super simple. They only require one knot to be tied and don’t require any tools to add or remove weights.

Here’s what I included:

survival fishing kit Colter Co.

3 - Red #8 hooks with leaders

1 - #8 spinner with leader

2 - 5/8” bobbers

5 - Swivels

5 - Small bullet sinkers

3 - Small dipsey sinkers

1 - PowerBait nuggets (not pictured)

The weights are all the kind that slide over the line which means you don’t need to use your teeth or a multitool to add or remove them. They also allows you to fish easily from a bobber or off the bottom with floating bait. I find the sliding sinkers preferable for fishing off the bottom. Be mindful that this options should be used only when you know what the bottom of the water is like. If there are lots of snags and down trees a bobber is going to be a better approach.

I chose to include the PowerBait nuggets because they are super easy to put on. I’ve tried to eliminate any possible way for these guys to get their fingers hooks. Putting bait on a hook is prime hooking territory. The nuggets are pre-formed in a good size and are very easy to slip onto the hook. I made sure to get floating bait to be able to fish off the bottom.

survival fishing powerbait nuggets Colter Co.

I decided to use the hooks that are pre-tied to the leader. I don’t usually use these because they take up more space in the tackle box. But I was thinking about these 12 year old trying to tie a a line onto these tiny hooks and imaging all the hooks in finger and I didn’t want to mess with that. These pre-tied hooks just need to be attached to a swivel. The only knot you need is to tie the line to the swivel. I picked the red colored hooks so, in a pinch, you could tie a bit of colorful paracord or something on and make it a lure.

survival fishing kits Colter Co.

I’m going to try a replacement to the tradition rod and reel this year. I got a hand reel, or Cuban reel. It’s basically a plastic line holder that has one lip formed at an angle that allows the line to come off easily. While holding the “reel” facing forward, throw your weighted line out and the line comes off the reel just like a spinning reel. The line is then wound around the reel by hand. It’s very small, light weight, and doesn’t have any of the breaking issues that can happen with the delicate fiber glass rod or small moving parts. Can you cast as far with this set up? Probably not. But I think the pros should out weigh the cons. I’m going to try it this year and I will report back on how it goes!

I did make one improvement to this product by cutting a small slit in the rim with my pocket knife. It gives me a place to hold the line securely when in transit.

Survival fishing kit Colter Co.

In training for this outing I taught the boys how to tie a clinch knot. For this particular fishing set up, that’s the only knot you would really need. If fishing knots are your thing, or if you are looking to do fly fishing (which uses waaaay more knots), we make a handy fly fishing knot reference bandana that will help you refresh your memory on some of the knots that are farther back on the line and tied less frequently.

I am also going to be providing a “Stayin’ Alive Bandana” to each of the boys with reference information on the 4 top priorities for survival: shelter, water, fire, food. If you are teaching youth about survival, this is a solid way to make sure they have a lot of information in a format they can use for lots of other things and are more likely to take with them. Also it doubles as a bright location marker with reflective silver ink for high visibility at night.

Tell us about the amazing outdoor activities you have planned this summer! Are you teaching kids survival skills? What skills are you focusing on?

-John

A more self sufficient life

self sufficient life Colter Co.

If it hasn’t come across to you yet, I am a big believer in the principles of self sufficiency. Now I sometimes feel very under qualified to speak on the subject. No, I do not live on a homestead. No, I do not provide my own drinking water from a well, or have solar panels to provide my energy needs, or chickens for fresh eggs. I would love to be doing all those things, but I am not able to at this point in time. But I can do somethings, and that’s what I’m doing. Each of us can do something that make sense. Maybe you aren’t going to be buying a draft horse to plow a field anytime soon, but you can grow herbs in the window sill of your apartment. I’ll be sharing my experiences and learnings as I go and I hope it inspires you to do something on the level that makes sense for your own life.

Since the age of 10 I have been fascinated with primitive skills like flint and steel, foraging, leather tanning and basic survival skills. To me, these feel like the foundation of human existence. Sure, we live in an advanced world that makes all of these skills feel straight out of the stone age (which they are). I would argue that they are still important to know. Some things don’t ever truly become obsolete. Human survival is one of those.

I will certainly be talking more about those skills later, but today I’m going to move up a rung on the ladder of human progression to agriculture. Being able to plant and harvest food without having to travel great distances foraging allowed humans to establish permanent residence and really develop. And on an emotional level, there is something very healthy about working in the soil to produce your wont food!

The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.
— Michael Pollan

Every year that I grow a garden I learn a lot. Mostly, it seems, through failures. But that’s how we figure things out, right? Hopefully sharing my failings will help others learn and avoid them.

Last year we built a few garden boxes and ended up grown quite a lot of food! Lettuce, kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, chives and a carrots. We ended up eating salads from our garden once a day for a couple months. It was fantastic! I think it was the first year that we feel like we actually saved money from it. So this year we doubled the space and are going all in! We ended up adding some raspberries as well for a nice, perennial feature. So what did I learn last year?

#1 THIN YOUR SEEDLINGS!

I hate thinning plants. It feels like I’m killing all my hard work just as it’s starting to grow. So I didn’t do it very well and my plants suffered. Especially the kale. It was stunted, and grew and strange angles to try to get sun. The leaves never ended up growing to full size. We still got a lot of food from them, but they would have produced much more. This year I have been way better at it, and have already seen huge benefits. I thinned our radish plants and the ones left immediately started to thicken up. Within a week and a half they were ready to eat. Thin your seedlings. Many seedlings (like beets, kale, lettuce, radishes, and more) can be thrown into a salad. So don’t think of it like thinning, but as the first harvest.

#2 Kale will grow for 2 years

Kale is super hearty and grew through the week of snow that we got this winter. They got a little wilted and I thought they were gonners for sure, but they came back after that. You can get 2 years of growth without having to replant. I’ll be leaving them where they are for my winter garden this year.

#3 Prune your tomatoes

You can get way more tomatoes if you learn to prune them. Each branch puts off a sucker stem in the “armpit” of the branch. Pinch those off. They will never produce fruit. Plucking them lets the plant focus its energy on tomatoes and growing taller. Be careful not to pitch the top branch of the plant! It will stop growing taller if you do.

tomato sucker plant Colter Co.


#4 Go with indeterminate tomatoes

There are two kinds of tomato plants: determinate and indeterminate. Determinate plants will grow to a specific size and produce through a determined season. Then then stop. Indeterminate will grow as tall and produce as many tomatoes as the weather conditions will permit. I had both last year and loved that the indeterminate plants gave us tomatoes way longer than the others. If you’re super smart about pruning and fertilizing you can grow 8’ tall plants that produce a ton of fruit! This year I made sure to only buy indeterminate plants.

#5 Copper foil for slugs

This is a classic, but it came in handy for us already this year. Our first round of kale starts got decimated by slugs… Very disappointing. So I put copper tape around all our garden boxes and they haven’t been an issue since. Worth the effort!

I think that’s enough for today’s entry :)

I will check back in from time to time as I learn more (from success or failure).

Please share your gardening learnings with us!

-John


instructional video

Mountain House food packaging styles

I’ve been planning out our summer camping and backpacking plans and doing some meal planning. I frequently do freeze dried meals for backpacking trips. Especially if it’s a long haul that I know I’m going to be super tired at the end of the day. It’s hard to beat the speed and ease of a freeze dried meal in those circumstances.

I’ve tried a few different brands but generally I go with Mountain House meals. I know what I’m going to get and enjoy what they offer. I noticed a while ago that there are a few different packaging styles that they offer. I decided to order one of each style to see what the difference is. Sometimes it’s hard to get a good idea just based on a website.

I put together a video of my thoughts on the comparison. Hopefully it helps you understand the difference and figure out which style will work best for the trip you’re going on.

Let me know what you think!

- John