|
| | | |
| |
|
| Backpack | 29.98 Miles |
929 AEG |
| | Backpack | 29.98 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 929 ft AEG | | 35 LBS Pack | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | My apologies to anyone who tries to read this long-winded rambling triplog. I am still exhausted and sleep deprived from my trip. I should likely wait a couple of days until I catch up on sleep to type this... But I am posting it now while its still fresh in my memory.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had a nice 5 day weekend and no plans, so I grabbed a permit for the lost coast and booked myself a shuttle.
Left from Portland on Monday afternoon and made the drive out to Eureka, CA and got a hotel room for the night. The next morning I made a leisurely drive out to catch my shuttle at Shelter Cove, taking the Avenue of the Giants tour along 101 and pausing to admire the redwoods along the way.
I arrived at the trailhead around 1200 to catch my 1230 shuttle. I made some last minute adjustments to my pack and changed into my hiking clothes while waiting for the shuttle to arrive. There were 4 of us booked on the shuttle for the afternoon- a man named Phill and his wife who were from Truckee, and a girl named Emily from New York. The shuttle soon arrived and we set off on the 2 hour drive to the northern Lost Coast trailhead at Mattole Beach.
We were dropped off at Mattole Beach around 1500 and everyone started hiking south. In my excitement to hike the coast I made a straight shot out to the sandy beach and started hiking in the sand while the others stuck to the more compact trail that meandered through the grasslands and made for easier walking. After about 30 minutes of snapping countless pictures of the coastline and picking up and examining every polished rock, seashell, and piece of driftwood I could find I realized that I should probably head out to follow the others and actually get moving.
There are 3 impassible sections of beach along the Lost Coast where you need to time your hike to coincide with low tide. Our first small stretch was encountered just a couple of miles in. My tide chart showed a Low tide of 2.54 feet at 16:43 and we all passed through with no issues (if I didn't have the map I wouldn't even know it was a problem section).
When I arrived at the Punta Gora Lighthouse I decided to set my gear down and take a break. After examining the map and pondering my tide chart, I decided to hang out at the Lighthouse for the rest of the evening. I figured I could take a nap, get some evening shots of the full moon over the lighthouse, then break camp sometime around 2am and make the hike through the next impassable zone during the -.78 tide the next morning at 05:57.
I laid down at the base of the lighthouse, but was unable to fall asleep. The sounds of the elephant seals, howling wind, and crashing waves kept me up. Fortunately I was able to distract myself by walking the beach and talking with a couple of the other groups that passed by. As the sun set I snapped a couple of shots of the lighthouse with the setting sun, then waited until it got dark enough to photograph the moon before crawling into my sleeping bag.
I always have a tough time falling asleep and staying asleep, so I only managed to get in about 2 hours of sleep before I decided to break camp around 0200. I set off down the coast by headlamp, pausing to filter water at the first small stream I encountered. The trail follows the sandy beach for a short distance south of the lighthouse before it curves up into the grasslands and contours along the low hills that line the beach. With the moonlight illuminating the coastline and my headlamp lighting the path directly in front of me, the drop off to my right appeared deceptively steep. I passed a couple of other people camped out by Sea Lion Gulch before dropping back down to the beach at the next impassible section.
The 2nd impassible section is about 4 miles long and I was a bit nervous not knowing exactly what to expect. Fortunately it's not as bad as expected and with a super low tide I had more than enough shoreline to hike safely. An added bonus of being awake so early meant that I was leaving the only tracks behind on the freshly exposed shoreline. I paused frequently to turn off my headlamp and admire the moonlit landscape.
When I arrived at the end of the impassible zone at Randall Creek I dropped my pack to have breakfast and take a break. I explored the surrounding area and found a nice campsite on the hill above the creek, so I relocated to higher ground and laid down for a nap while a deer grazed on the grassy slopes nearby. About an hour later I broke camp and headed back down to the creek, pausing briefly to chat with a group of 4 girls that I had met the day before at the lighthouse.
My plan for the day was to make my way to Big Flat and camp before the 3rd and final impassible zone. I tried not to rush myself, knowing that I had more than enough time, I tried to just enjoy myself without rushing. I met a couple of other groups of hikers and passed camps of people just starting to wake up for the day and chatted with a couple of hikers I met along the way.
Arriving at Big Flat around 1400 I was completely exhausted. I had just hiked 13 miles along sandy/rocky coastline while running on only 2 hours of sleep. Part of me wanted to try to push through the later afternoon low tide window, but deep down I knew that wasn't a very safe option, so I dropped my gear and set up camp at the far end of the flat close to the impassible zone. There is a pool that forms in the creek just before it dumps into the ocean, so after a quick lunch I walked back and went for a swim.
I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to nap and wandering through the area exploring the side trails and scoping out the impassible section. As the sun set that evening a light layer of clouds rolled in that turned gorgeous colors of pink. I sat on a driftwood log bench next to my campsite for about an hour just watching the waves pound the shore before retreating to bed.
Again, I was up by about 2:30am and on trail around 1500. Hiking through the final impassible zone I found the shore was easy enough to walk on that I turned off my headlamp and just walked in the moonlight. Far in the distance I could see headlamps of a group of northbound hikers I would meet a couple of hours later as it began to get lighter.
The last couple of miles back to Black Sands Beach were excruciatingly slow. I could see my destination in the distance, but it felt like it just wasn't getting closer. I now had about 4-5 hours of sleep over the last 3 days and was running on fumes, stopping frequently to drop my pack and take a breaks.
I arrived back at my truck just before 0830. I changed clothes and put my gear away. Then after consulting the map I drove through town and headed off to visit the redwoods and take a much needed nap. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
