In this overnight adventure I head out with Vlad to Second Beach on the Washington coast, and it’s one of those trips where everything just hits—mist on the rocks, big waves, and that insane “Hole in the Wall” view as soon as you drop down to the sand. We did a quick stop at the Seattle REI (seriously, worth visiting—cool displays and a massive pack wall), then made the short forest hike in and started hunting for a solid camp spot near water, driftwood, and a little bit of shelter. We got the tent up in the soft sand, built a proper fire pit, and had to improvise because we forgot an axe—so I grabbed a Fiskars X7 since it was basically the only small axe I could find locally that actually had a sharp edge. Dinner was a full lineup of freeze-dried meals (thanks to AlpineAire for sending food), plus tea and hot chocolate, and then we did some tide pool exploring at night. The big takeaway: on beach camps, tide planning matters. We woke up to the water about three feet from the tent, everything frosted over, and it was cold enough that I was very happy to have a warm down bag. After breakfast, drone shots, and a little more exploring, we packed up and headed out—super thankful for a safe, beautiful trip.