Sometimes you get the best conditions you could ask for! The skies clear, the sun comes out, and the colours arrive. You hear birds singing in the trees, as waves slowly crash on the shoreline, and you get to see one of the most beautiful sunsets you’ve ever seen. We’ve had plenty of moments like that during #TheBigTrip. Sometimes, however, things look more like this...

That video is an overview of what our hike to Shi Shi Beach and overnight stay on the sandy shores looked like. It was crazy! Bad weather had been forecast all week, but we decided to pick up our permits from the Wilderness Information Center (WIC) in Port Angeles and brave the rain anyway.

It had already started as we pulled into the parking lot. It wasn't pouring, but it was constant. The sort of rain that soaks you in a few seconds without you realising it. We hid under the boot of the car as we prepared our packs and put on the waterproof covers for our rucksacks, cameras, and ourselves! We’d driven all the way out here to the Olympic Peninsula to see this beach, so a bit of rain wasn’t going to stop us.

The trail begins in the trees. You walk through a rainforest full of mushrooms, ferns, and beautiful boardwalks. Aside from how stunning this part of the hike is, the thick tree cover protected us from the worst of the rain. For a moment it almost felt like the rain had stopped!

That feeling didn’t last for long though, as the trees started to thin. We walked out of our protective canopy of branches into what was now torrential rain.

The wind had also picked up, blowing the trees violently from side to side, as we splashed our way down the path. Well, 'path', is a generous description of what had basically become a river. If we weren’t standing ankle-deep in a puddle we were trying to avoid even deeper bogs. It all started to feel never-ending. It all started to feel a lot less fun!

The so-called 'path'.

Thankfully, the trail is relatively flat for the entire hike, unfortunately, that was about the only silver lining we could find! Our waterproofs apparently weren’t waterproof enough and as the rain pounded us for the next 30 minutes it soaked through everything. We couldn’t help but laugh. It was either that or adding tears to the raindrops that were already pouring down our cheeks!

A few more puddles later and we could finally hear the waves crashing on the shore. A break in the trees revealed our first sighting of the beach. About 10 minutes later and we arrived at the first designated campsites that are located behind the tree line.

The rain still hadn’t slowed down and it was way too wet to dare to take my camera out. We walked through the trees until we got to the first beach entrance. As we walked out, we were met by the sand painfully blowing on our faces and some of the wildest waves we’ve ever seen. It wasn’t quite what we had in mind, but it had a unique beauty amongst the chaos.

We set up the tent in record time, trying our best to not get the inside soaked as we unfolded it in the downpour. Once it was up, we jumped in and stayed there for hours, drying off and warming up.

We had no idea if the rain would ever stop, it didn’t feel hopeful! Every so often, the constant pounding on the tent would slow to a peaceful pitter-patter, as the rain seemed to tease that it was stopping. I would get up to unzip the tent and see if the skies were clearing, just as the rain would pick up again. It was the most incredible rainstorm I’ve ever seen in my life and we had decided to camp outside in it!

The evening drew closer and we’d almost given up on there being any change in the weather. Then all of a sudden, everything fell silent.

The waves seemed more distant and the sound of the raindrops on the tent had disappeared entirely. I poked my head out of the tent and could hardly believe my eyes. We’d closed our eyes for a few minutes and in that time the clouds had broken and the tide had gone out. It was almost sunset and I could see the first sign of colour on the horizon.

I threw some dry clothes on and squelched my feet back into my boots. It felt horrible, but I was too excited to care. I would finally be able to get some photos of what we’d hiked through this craziness to come and see. I jumped up and literally ran towards the colours.

The rain stayed away for about an hour while we watched the sunset. As the skies darkened it added texture and tones to the sky, making for a beautiful evening by the beach. It wasn't the most amazing sunset we've ever witnessed, but after everything we went through to get here, it felt that bit more special than the others.

Against all odds, the sun appeared before us just before it crept below the horizon. It was unbelievable.

We even had a few minutes to set up our fire (we hiked in with our own firewood).

Just as we got our first marshmallow toasted, raindrops started sizzling on the fire and Johana ran back into the tent. I tried to persevere for a little longer, hoping that it was going to stop at those few drops. Seriously, how much more rain could there be!? Unfortunately, it got strong and stronger, even putting the fire out for me. I reluctantly clambered back into the tent and we called it a night.

It rained pretty much all night, with the wind arriving again at around 3am and blowing the tent from side to side as well as the trees! We didn't sleep much, but we were content that we'd had such a stunning evening and break in the clouds, even if it was shortlived.

We checked the forecast which seemed to promise an end to the rain again at around 9am. We packed up everything we could inside and as the rainfall slowed at 8am, we ran out and set down the tent as quickly as we had set it up.

We didn't wait around for anything as the rain wasn't going to stay at bay for long. We rushed back to the trail and made our way back to the car.

Funnily enough, it didn't rain again for the rest of the morning. If you'd visited the beach that day, you would have had NO IDEA what we went through to get there the day before. Sometimes this sort of experience makes for much better stories though. As we look back on these photos, there's a lot more behind them than just a normal image and that's the sort of photos that I want to capture more of!

THANK YOU FOR READING!

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