Dungeness Spit
4-07-02
It's always a treat to hike a
trail for the first time. This is one trip I have meant to do for a long
time. I signed up for a Mountaineer hike to the Spit. I was fortunate to
have a driver on Bainbridge Island pick two of us up at the ferry dock and
handle the driving. We were on the 7:50 ferry arriving at Bainbridge at 8:25.
It takes roughly 1 1/2 hours to drive to the trailhead. Drive Highway 101
just west of Sequim. Beyond the Costco is a right turn on Kitchen-Dick Road.
Follow the signs into the Wildlife Refuge.
The hike begins with a short walk
in the forest to a viewpoint. From here you can see the whole route out
to the lighthouse. Drop down to the beach and follow the spit. We were beneficiaries
of the Olympic Mountains rain shadow. It rained in Seattle, and on and off
to Sequim. The entire hike we had blue skies. The wind did blow. It was
a very steady 20 mph or so all the way out. The wind was loud enough to
make it difficult to hear conversations. The south side of the spit is all
refuge. Hikers must stay to the north. The spit is curved enough to keep
you from seeing the lighthouse until you are most of the way there. It is
10 miles round trip. We took about 1 1/2 hours to reach the lighthouse.
Once there we had lunch at the picnic tables and took a tour of the lighthouse.
From the top the view was great. Buildings in downtown Victoria were clearly
visible with binoculars. We saw a large sea lion as well. The lighthouse
is manned by volunteers who stay one week in the guest house.
On the return the wind lightened up a little.
We saw several eagles fly overhead. By the afternoon the spit became much
more crowded. Many people seemed content to just go out a short distance.
It turned out to be a very nice day for a shoreline hike with great weather
and great company.