Visiting the Shipwrecks on the North Spit

By Don Luce

Our original plan was to just cross the spit and see the New Carissa before work begins on March 1st to dismantle it and haul it away.  That would have been a 4.4 mile round trip and a piece of cake for our fearless band of hikers.  The Pacific Ocean moved quite a bit of sandy shoreline to reveal a little surprise.  The wreck of the George L. Olson, last seen sometime in the 60s. 

We couldn't pass up such an opportunity, so the hike was reworked to include a visit to what was being called the "mystery wreck".   We met at the BLM Boat Ramp parking and then drove down to the end of the paved road to start our hike.  The hike started on a sandy road that runs along the east bank of the spit along the bay.   A total of 69 hikers started the trip and we soon spread out for about a quarter mile along the shore looking back toward Empire.  We skirted a little marsh and had to get back onto the sand road before we found the "Dune Trail" and started to head west across the spit.  

The Dune trail turned into one long deep puddle and we turned off onto a route that Mei and I had marked the previous week.  We climbed up onto the open dunes on a short but steep 70% grade and were rewarded with a view of the ocean and the wreck of the New Carissa.  We headed on across the sand dunes until we picked another piece of the Dune trail and followed it until it went underwater and we began another piece of our detour.  Florescent green flagging marked the route and we zigzagged and ducked through trees until we came out into open country again and could see the FAA tower and the trail to the beach.

We took at quick look at the New Carissa and left 6 of our party who had decided that one wreck was enough for the day.  Now began our race to reach the wreck of the Charles L. Olson before the +7.4 tide reached it.  Surf Scoters diving in the surf provided an escort as we made our way 1.75 miles down the beach to the wreck.  We kept getting pushed closer and closer to the foredune as the tide slowly began to rise. By the time we reached the wreck it was taking on water and it looked like the Pacific was going to try and refloat the ship.   We all took photos and considered what life was like back in the days when the Charles Olson began it's service as a 223 foot schooner by the name of the Ryder Hanify.  State Parks Beach Ranger - Robin Sears was there to provide some background on the history of the wreck.  We barely had time to start eating a mid-journey snack when the first waves chased the folks posing for photos off the wreck and back toward the base of the foredune.  It became quickly apparent that if a sneaker wave came someone could get hurt or worse.  Diane Bilderback loaned me her whistle and I played lifeguard and urged everyone to get off the beach.  Everyone left reluctantly but once we made it to the top of the bank and looked back down I think we all felt a little bit more comfortable.  It's hard to enjoy a sandwich when you have to keep one eye on that big monster the Pacific. 

It was clear that there wasn't a beach to return on, so we headed north along the spit and sand road back to the New Carissa to pick up our path back across the spit to the bay.   Thanks to my not so clear marking it was a little bit difficult to find our little detour trail, so we had to get out the GPS and use it to locate the beginning of the marked detour.  Once found we ducked and zigzagged back to the bay, removing the flagging as we went.  It was a long trip and I for one was ready to go home and take a nap after the 7.9 mile round trip.  I kind of enjoyed the adventure of this unconventional trip.  Doing a little bit of bushwhacking, racing the tide to the wreck and hiking with a really large group all made it really interesting.   I told everyone when we took the group photo above the wreck that this would be the snapshot in the paper 40 years from now when the George L. Olson gets uncovered again.  

Parting shot at the wreck of the George L. Olson