Coastal Olympic Mini

Welcome to Alpengirl!

Arriving at SeaTac International Airport in Seattle, WA, your Alpenguides will greet you and introduce you to the rest of your camp group. Icebreakers, name games, and get-to-know-you fun abound before you and your new expedition mates hop in the van and drive to our first campsite.

Once we arrive, we'll learn how to set up our tents and enjoy the first of many delicious and fresh camp meals before settling into our tents for the night.

Waking up refreshed and renewed, you'll grab your sleeping pad and set up for your first daily morning yoga session. After a strong morning stretch, we’ll fill our bellies with a yummy Alpengirl breakfast – perhaps Warmed Cinnamon Apple Topped French Toast.

We’ll start off strong as we attempt to complete an 11-mile round-trip day hike along the beaches of the Dungeness Spit – the longest natural sand spit in the United States. At the end of the spit, we’ll get the chance to explore a historic lighthouse, and enjoy the wonders of this protected National Wildlife Refuge!

It’s time for sea kayaking!

We’ll pack up camp early and head out for our morning sea kayaking trip. After meeting our professional guides, we’ll get paddle-ready in our tandem or triple sea kayaks. Following the designated Whale Trail, we’ll kayak along the beautifully rugged and rocky cliff shoreline of Freshwater Bay on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Along the way, we’ll enjoy searching for bald eagles, otters, marine birds and other nearshore species. Our outfitter guides know the best places to take us for wildlife sightings, as well as how to keep us protected from wind and weather conditions, making this a great introduction to sea kayaking.

After kayaking and lunch, we’ll head out to the coastline of Olympic National Park and spend the evening getting prepped for our beach backpacking trip!

Backpacking time!

For the next three days, we’ll follow the famous Ozette Triangle trail on our mellow backpacking and camping trip along the majestic coast of Washington State in Olympic National Park. Before we drive to the trailhead, your Alpenguides will teach you how to properly pack your backpack and adjust and carry it throughout the expedition. Packing only the essentials, we’ll leave our van and extra gear behind, grab our cameras, and hit the beach!
Our first day of backpacking will be a leisurely 3-mile walk through the coastal forest, leading us to our first campsite just above the beach. Perhaps our Alpenolympic Talent Show Event will take place tonight!

Waking up the next day, we’ll enjoy yoga on the beach, and continue our beach hike for another 5 miles along the ocean shoreline. We’ll pass petroglyphs carved into the rock, and possibly head up and over a headland trail to add a personal challenge and avoid the high tides! We’ll set up camp above the beach again and continue on to explore the ebb and flow of tidepools and play some beach Alpenolympics. Tonight is a great night to set up a small campfire that might allow us enough flames to roast a s'more or two!

Our final day, those who dare will have a chance to take a dip in the frigid waters of Washington’s Coast before we hike the final 5 miles away from the beach and enjoy lunch en route before arriving back at the trailhead. We’ll hop back in the vans and head back to the front country. We’ll spend the evening freshening up with hot showers, perusing the Alpengirl Camp Store, and enjoying the views overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the distant shores of Canada.

Life’s a beach!

For our last hurrah together, we'll spend the day exploring tidepools near our campsite and sunning on a sandy private beach. Then, after packing up, we’ll hit the road again and make a brief stop to explore the heart of downtown Port Angeles for a bit of shopping and treats. We’ll spend our final evening at a local organic lavender farm where we'll have a special dinner to kick off our End of Session Awards ceremony, in which Alpenguides present each camper with a unique award celebrating their contribution to our group! Skill beads and necklaces will be awarded as beautiful keepsakes to recognize the hard work each camper has done to commit to learning new outdoor living skills, all while sharing laughter, hugs, tears, and talk of when we’ll see each other next.

It’s time to go home!

Exchanging hugs with your friends, you’ll depart from SeaTac International Airport in Seattle, WA, knowing that you’ve had a ton of fun and accomplished great things as an Alpengirl and will be a part of our fantastic community for life. See you next summer!