Since I had gotten to Yellow Banks Camp, I knew I could make it to the end of the PNT on that fourth day on the beach. I had a few headlands with tidal restrictions to get around, but I had plenty of time to make them even though the walking continued to be slow, slippery and rocky, with the addition of some large driftwood trees to maneuver around. I had just under six miles to go.

I had gotten in late the night before and had trouble finding a place to camp. The best spots were all taken. I worked to not feel upset and finally found a spot someone had flattend out just above the tide line. I would be camping on solid rocks, but at least they were smooth rounded rocks. As the sun set I pitched my tent, securing it by tying guy-lines to large driftwood. I could not get most of the stakes into the layers of rocks and hoped no big wind came up. I knew my tent setup was tenuous and was happy when it remained standing the entire night.

The walking continued to be slippery and rocky, with lots of seaweed and a number of huge driftwood trees to maneuver around. Nevertheless I saw quite a few people on this stretch of beach. Many were coming in to see the petroglyphs left by native people at a place called wedding rocks. These are estimated to be between 300 and 500 years old.

I was nearing Cape Alava and the official end of the Pacific Northwest Trail when I saw an old blue container washed up on the beach. I joked to myself that that was the final monument. Little did I know how accurate my joke was. About 2/10 of a mile past the container, I looked at my trail app and realized I had indeed walked right past the end of the trail. It was back where that blue container had been! It seemed kind of fitting that just as this whole trail has sometimes been nonexistent, consisting of a make your own way bushwhack, the ending was a make your own end with absolutely nothing marking this western milestone.

I had been told about a native memorial half a mile up the beach. I was interested in seeing that so rather than turning around to where the trail ended I kept going further north up the beach.

I eventually located the memorial which is in memory of the Makah people who once had a thriving village in this vicinity. It is estimated that in 1560CE a mudslide covered the village killing many people. While it was known that a village had been in that area, it wasn’t until a storm in 1970 exposed numerous artifacts, that the full extent of the village was known. Thousands of artifacts have been recovered, suggesting these people thrived there for about 2000 years. The land is now part of the Ozette reservation.

I noticed the tide was coming in and that it had the potential to cover the entire beach, so I decided to end my time at the memorial and head back to Cape Alava. When I arrived there I again looked for something designating the end of the Pacific Northwest Trail, but found nothing. I took a quick selfie on the beach and began the 3 mile walk along mostly boardwalks to the campground at Lake Ozette where Kelly was going to pick me up.

When I arrived at the lake I ran into the same John who had fed me at Rialto Beach. He again created a wonderful meal and fed both Kelly and I before we parted ways. Kelly drove me back to Port Angeles where we were invited to stay again with Kindabird and SOS. It was a lovely way to decompress from the trail and begin to think about the next stage of this adventure, which includes a few weeks of adventuring in Alaska.

Usually, finishing a long trail brings up a mix of emotions in me. I was interested to observe that in this case it did not. The fact that I stepped over the finish line without knowing it was kind of symbolic. I no longer feel these trails are separate from the rest of my life. I’m beginning to feel that whatever I do is all a part of some bigger whole. Even though I’ll no longer be following the mostly nonexistent blazes of the Pacific Northwest Trail, I’ll still be putting one foot in front of the other, curious to see what’s going to come next. I hope you continue to come along with me through these blogs.

#thruhike #thruhiker #thruhiking #nationalscenictrails #nationalscenictrail #kindness #pnt #pacificnorthwesttrail #healingtrauma #ptsd #did #themarybadass