At the end of June, I loaded my 43 pounds backpack in the car and at 7am we headed with Santa Clara troop 14 from the Bay Area along highway 101 North; destination: The Lost Coast.
Our first day was pretty much a travel day: coffee break in Cottati, lunch in Willits, and snack stop in Garberville. At 4:15pm we arrived at the Mattole campground. However for some, day was far from over. After unloading our gear and setting up camp, the drivers headed South to park the cars at Shelter Cove, the end of the trail. We had arranged for one of the parents to shuttle them back to Mattole. At 8:30pm, just in time for the first sunset, was the entire Lost Coast Gang together in camp.
Over the next days, we ventured along the beautiful Lost Coast trail and camped out along the various creeks. Our first stop was Cooksie Creek. Oak creek was overly windy and we decided to push to Kinsey Creek. Our third night on the trail we stayed at Big Flat. Most of the time we set up our tent. Our final night we slept under the stars on the beach at Glitchwell Creek.
We came across incredible flora and founa: seals, sea lions, sea otters, river otters, swallows, osprey, seagulls, pelicans, frogs, bats, turkey vultures, field mice, rabbits, jack rabbits, water snakes, a hermit river creature and 2 stranded whales, which we named Arturo and Guido. Below is Guido the whale, beached only very recent.
(Fire permit required)
We were lucky with the weather and did not encounter a drop of rain. A little wind here and there. With a tide chart in hand, we didn't run into any issues with the ocean. Nobody took a dive on the boulders, or was injured along the way.
As one our gang mentioned: "Hiking the Lost Coast, is like getting an enema for your lungs". This backpacking trip was a wonderful experience. I'll share a few more tidbits in future posts. Below are also references to useful information we used.
More pictures from the trip
References
- http://socalhiker.net/the-lost-coast-trail-an-overview/
- The Lost Coast - Backpacker - http://www.backpacker.com/trips/california/best-hikes-ever-the-lost-coast-trail-ca/
- The Lost Coast Trail 24-mile/3day - http://www.everytrail.com/guide/the-lost-coast
- http://www.lostcoastranger.blogspot.com/
- https://lostcoasttrails.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/welcome-to-lost-coast-trails/
- BLM maps: http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/arcata/kingrange.Par.57340.File.dat/KingRangeGreyMap.pdf
- Permitting, terrain, and general guide: http://www.sierrasoul.com/content/hg-lostcoast.pdf
- Tide charts - noaa.gov
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