Third Beach (called First Beach on some maps)
White sand, rugged cliffs, sea stacks, and pretty tidal pools full of life, this is the best beach on the Trail — a great place to kick back for an extra day if the weather is nice.
Don’t tent too close to the surf as the tides rise higher than you might expect.
There’s plenty of fresh water for washing.
Explore the huge sea cave just north of Third Beach.
We learned not to sleep under the stars on Third Beach — sand insects called beach hoppers emerge in the middle of the night, jumping up on your face while you try to sleep. The dew can get your sleeping bag wet, as well.
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Day trip to Ferrer Point
A nice side trip, if the weather is good, is Third Beach to the westernmost tip of the island. Here you’ll find the Esperanza Mission Camp at Ferrer Point. Look for an overgrown trail up to the Northwest Cone — there’s supposed to be a radar installation site there though none of our contributors have managed to find it yet.
Aerial photos of the Radar site from 1943 are posted. If you saw concrete pads or other remnants of the site, please e-mail. Historians are interested.
There’s a major shipwreck en route to Ferrer Point with an abandoned salvage operation. Near the shipwreck you can pick up an old road through to the inner bay if you want another side trip.
Leaving Third Beach, schedule your departure for very low tide & you might be able to round or scramble the headlands to the south. More likely you will bypass those headland by heading up the steep slope to the forest which had a fixed rope in 2002.
The rope is a harsh start to the day. We learned here that the most dangerous foliage is fallen trees with protruding branch stubs. You can walk into those stubs without ever seeing them. Be attentive. Return to the beach as soon as you can after crossing the headlands. It’s good & interesting coastal hiking through to Skuna Bay though, depending on the tides, you may be forced up into the trees at times.
Along the coast expect a strong stench from rotting seaweed. Distract yourself from the smell by counting the thousands of plucky crabs.
After a long rocky section you’ll come to a huge surge channel (or narrow inlet) which might be skirted at low tide — without a pack, for fun. It is far wiser to bypass through the forest.
You might be able to camp at Skuna — finding drinking water may be a problem at times — but we’d recommend continuing to photogenic Calvin Falls. You may hear that the headlands north of the Falls are impassable. Actually many hikers take the coast finding it one of the highlights of the Trail.
