Olympic Coast Route

The biggest gap in this briefing is the missing NWS weather data. The Olympic Coast is one of the most weather-exposed stretches of coastline in the contiguous US — surge, fog, wind, and rain can all change your day fast, and the headland crossings between Rialto Beach and the Hoh River are tide-dependent. You need a current tide table and NWS Point Forecast for 47.85N, 124.65W before you leave. Check the NOAA tide predictions for La Push (Station 9442396) and plan your headland crossings — Cape Johnson, Chilean Memorial, and the Wedding Rocks area — around low tide windows. Missing a tide window on this route isn't an inconvenience, it can be a genuine emergency.

Stream crossings are in good shape. The five gauges available all show normal to slightly below-normal flows, nothing flagged above 110% of median. The Hoh River crossing, if your route includes it, is the one to watch independently — the USGS gauge on the Hoh at Highway 101 is a better reference than any of the California gauges that appear to have been pulled into this briefing in error. Verify that gauge directly before your trip.

Snowpack data shows 61 inches depth at Long Lake (840 ft) with a falling trend — that station is anomalously low elevation to still be holding that much snow, but it's likely a Pacific maritime remnant snowpack. At Olympic Coast elevations (sea level to ~200 ft on the beach route), you won't encounter snow on trail. The 31-inch system depth figure in the summary is not relevant to your actual route terrain.

Daylight is outstanding — 15.5 hours, sunrise at 5:33 AM, sunset at 8:59 PM. You have wide flexibility on daily timing, which matters because your best tool for managing the tide-gated headlands is patience. No fires anywhere near the coast, air quality should be clean. Get that NWS forecast and tide table tonight, and you're set.