In the morning we had to summit Cape Lookout by road because the trail to the summit was wiped out by landslides. I was hell-bent on getting a ride to the top, but not a single car passed us. Good thing we weren’t sitting at the bottom waiting on a hitch. We luckily had a trail to descend, and the views of the cape were amazing once we got back to a beach.

I loved hiking past Camp Merriweather, where Elliott once spent time. The beach was quiet and gorgeous. (Until we reached where the OHVs were allowed. Then it was loud.)

As afternoon approached, we had a tough decision. We had to either ford the Sand Lake outlet or walk 6 miles on roads around it. We had heard mixed reports on fording, but we were not hitting it at low tide and did not feel safe taking the chance. We began the roadwalk, and it was so hot, with very little shoulder and quite a lot of traffic – big rigs and wide vehicles.

A mirage turned into an oasis in the desert as a small store flickered into existence. There we met Taylor, who so kindly offered us a ride to get back to the trail south of the Sand Lake outlet. A true trail angel. She lifted our spirits and helped our feet.

On the beach again we could see Cape Kiwanda in the distance!

We had to climb that!

It was so hard climbing up the sand but it was also really fun.

From the top we descended to a Webb County campground. It was fabulous. There were bunnies!

Almost heaven?