Hiking Clallam Bay Spit

I continue to accomplish trails in my Day Hiking Olympic Peninsula hiking book. Clallam Bay Spit is the second spit that I have hiked (see previous blog posting: Hiking Dungeness Spit).  When we arrived, the beach was absolutely deserted and remained that way for our entire visit. This beach is surrounded by the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Canadian mountains. When we first arrived the mountains were obscured due to the low clouds but as we were finishing the hike on the way back, the mountains were visible. This spit had a non-conventional lighthouse (no tower or light). During high tide expect to walk on mostly rocks, rather than sand. Since it was high tide there wasn't any tide pools to explore but there were dead sea urchins, mussels, and crab on the beach. The Strait of Juan de Fuca created some big waves that were impressive while gazing from the beach.

It is stated in the hiking book that in 2003 that the bridge was rendered useless because of the river flooding; we then assumed that the bridge would have been rebuilt after over 10 years, but we were wrong; which added a few miles to our hike. Which wouldn't have been problematic but we had already hiked 11 miles on a previous trail that day, and we didn't realize this until we hiked the entire spit. There was no where to cross the water (river or the strait); therefore, we had to backtrack the way we came. If you have a kayak you can ford the river.

If you are in the area, I recommend this short hike (with the bridge out, it's just a little over 4 miles if you do the whole thing) and then stopping at the local grocery store. The grocery store has some interesting food items; I grabbed some chinese rice crackers and they were amazing. The owners are from Australia and they have lots of food from Australia. The city of Clallam Bay is definitely a working-class town so there are definitely some "shady" areas but it still has a lot of character, and some spectacular views even if you are just driving through it.

The bridge that one cannot cross unless they are a giant or can jump really really high

Waves rolling in; in the background are Canadian mountains (Vancouver Island) that are not really visible

Seiku Point (the city of Seiku)

The mountains are somewhat visible

The rocks and a dead, purple sea urchin

Typical Pacific Northwest beach attire: gloves, winter jacket,  and hat

You can see the Canadian mountains a little bit better; the landmass is Slip Point