It was a little over two years since the last time I camped at Dead Crow campsite on Kayostla Beach in Olympic National Park.. Personal health and other issues have kept me benched from other recent trips so it was nice to get back to camping with old friends. I have been camping there off and on with the same people for over 15 years now. The rustic trailhead is behind national park and timber company gated roads now so it was a pleasure to discover that we got the nod to enter for free under the condition that we left with some garbage from the beach, surveyed the area for tsunami debris, and kept watch for wreckage of a fishing boat that went down in a storm last week.
The trail is only a mile and a half long but it still kicks my butt! It was in very good condition with very little mud this year although the tree roots and downed trees across the trail were challenging.
Every year I go on this trip, there are improvements made to the camp. This year it was hot water. One of my friends, Bruce, attached a home made copper heat exchanger with some plastic tubing to one of his 5 gallon buckets, now converted into a hot water tank.
We played a few rounds of beach golf, walked, feasted, and told tall tales into the wee hours of each night.
