6/13/15 -6/15/15
Lost Coast Trail
A few months ago, I was having a conversation with LoveNote during which she mentioned something about “when we hike the Lost Coast Trail”. I was very confused. “Oh yeah. You, Wired and me are hiking it in June….you didn’t know?” I hadn’t known, but time to get on board! Rockin’ and her husband Dan also hopped on. Hiker reunion time!!
We all met at the southern trailhead at Usal Beach in Sinkyone State Park. I was the last to arrive around 7 pm, upon which I declared I was breaking up with Google Maps, which had directed me to a gated road. Already well out of cell service range, I ended up on the correct road by intuition, a good bit of luck, and absolutely no signage. That correct road was a 6 mile long dirt road with some deep ruts and many very steep sections. This was not something I was expecting and really not something my 2WD Pontiac Vibe does well. Wired has the same car (a Toyota Matrix), and as soon as I was done my rant, the others eagerly shoved a phone in my hands to watch a video of the gang all pushing Wired’s car out of a ditch from when she’d pulled over to let another car pass. Ha!
There are 2 sections of the trail. A northern section which is all along the beach, and a southern section which stays high because the shoreline is impassable. Most people only hike the northern half taking about 3 days, and most websites recommend allowing 7-8 days if you plan to hike the entire trail. So of course we planned this as a 3 day hike, the first morning of which we spent shuttling from the southern trailhead to the northern one. Wired always seems to know people wherever she goes and managed to find Kathleen, mother of a fellow 2013 CDT hiker, to shuttle us all from our cars to the start. This is no small favor – it’s a 4 hour drive! HUGE thanks to Kathleen!
Day 1 – 6/13/15 – 16.5 mi
We left the trailhead at 11am and got walking – we had a couple sections of beach we had to get done by 5pm because they are impassable at high tide. Overall it was a nice little walk, alternating on sandy beach, hard packed trail surrounded by poison oak, and rock hopping. We saw lots of wildlife including sea lions (or seals. I can’t tell the difference), starfish, a jackrabbit, deer, and lots of different birds, though just a handful of people until we reached our planned camping destination at Big Flat, which is apparently where everyone camps. Then came the real highlight of the day: LoveNote and I had to poop.
Normal LNT (Leave No Trace) protocol is to dig a cat hole 6-8 inches deep to bury your poop (and pack out your toilet paper) at least 200ft from water sources and trails/camp. But along the steep cliffs of the Lost Coast Trail, that’s pretty impossible. The best practice is to poop below high tide line so its washed out to sea. So just after sunset, LoveNote and I went out to the beach and hoped no one could see us us try to squat below high tide line (it was already high tide) trying not to get hit by waves.
Day 2 – 6/14/15 – 18.5 mi* (*see below for story of the great yellow blaze of 2015)
We finished up our beach walk in the morning, glad to have some dense fog keep the temperatures cool. After a short break at the Shelter Cove trailhead’s flush toilets we started our road walk to connect the 2 sections. We hadn’t really thought too much about this – after all, it was only like 4 miles of road walking….how bad could it be? Let me tell you it was the worst road walk I’ve ever been on, and I’ve hiked the CDT. The road gains 2000′ in 3.5 miles, with lots of traffic whizzing around sharp turns.
And of course the clouds burned off just in time for us to walk up this road in 80+ degree sun. Thankfully we happened upon a General Store about 2 miles into the road walk and stopped for a lunch break, instantly reverting to full hikertrash mode, sprawling out in the shade of the front porch with our shoes off, sleeping bags and tents draped about to dry in the sun. Bear in mind that at this point we’d been out on trail approximately 25 hours.
We did a lot of talking about sticking our thumbs out, which clearly made Wired squirm, purist that she is. Truth be told, LoveNote and I have never skipped a road walk on a trail either….but this wasn’t some grandiose “I’m walking from Mexico to Canada on my own two feet” kind of thing. This was a fun summer vacation hike. We collectively decided that if someone offered us a ride, we would accept. And just 1/4 mile farther up the road, a truck pulled over and asked if we wanted a ride. The driver clearly knew what we were doing and felt sorry for us. It was only about 1.5 miles of road we skipped, but boy did it help morale.
Back on trail, we climbed the steep path to 2598′ Chemise Mountain. After a ridge walk through the dry and brown forest, we finally popped out to an ocean view, confronted by a very territorial German Shepard who I was certain was going to eat me. And then we dropped all the way back down to 100′ to camp.
Day 3 – 6/15/15 – 21 miles
We had a few teaser miles of nice gently rolling trail over the bluffs along the ocean. Then the roller coaster that would be the rest of the day started, steeply rising 800′ to 1200′ only to drop right back down to the ocean again, over and over for a total of 5500’+ of gain for the day. I actually found myself looking forward to the climbs, because at least up high the trail was clear of the overgrown brush which clogged the lower portions, much of it face high thistle and poison oak.
During the last few miles, when we were all growing very weary of the Lost Coast Trail, LoveNote summed it up well; “This [mileage] is pushing it for me, but I wouldn’t want to be out here another night.”
Back at the trailhead, we all stripped to our underwear and doused ourselves with Tecnu, a lotion that removes poision oak/ivy oils, though if anyone escapes the rash, I will be shocked. Post cleanup, we aggregated whatever food and drinks we had in our cars for a celebratory feast.
I made up a map with our intended schedule on CalTopo.com and we stuck pretty much exactly to it. Note the tracks are what I drew on there, not an actual track.
Now what’s a hiking adventure without a poop story? Um, well, lacking?! I will steer well of this trail. Was really cool to see you all together.
Great photos; for some reason they didn’t show up in the email blog post.
Thanks, Warren. When I put the photos in the mosaic format like that, they don’t show up in emails. I meant to put a note at the top of the post about it, but forgot, sorry. Glad you found them!
Hey, one good thing… you can now at least say you have hiked the LCT.
You’all did some big miles each day… most folks spend four days just on the northern half… but I have to agree with LoveNote when it comes to the LCT.
True. I am glad I hiked it, and I certainly had a great time with my friends. I just don’t get why it’s such a sought after, bucket-list type of hike. To each his own!
Excellent post. Pics mashed with text. Thanks! I almost did this on the way north in February and am SO glad I didn’t.
Another good one is the coastal trail in redwood national park. Probably better maintained that southern section. Did quite a few sections as day hikes when i worked for park service up there.
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Loved your description of the groups trail experience. Quit colorful and well written.
Did anyone end up with a bad rash??
Say hello to Squatch for me and good travels