Recently in California Coast Category

There is a reason that Highway 1 heads inland at Fort Bragg to join 101. The coast north of this point was simply too rough and rugged for a highway to be built, and this stretch is known as the Lost Coast. Difficulty in trail access, unpredictable weather, and roads that make people nauseous just by looking at them on the map are just a few of the reasons that make the Lost Coast a wild and secluded destination.

This year's trip fell on Memorial Day weekend, and I was surprised by the numbers of people who made it out to the Lost Coast other than our group. While it is typical to see only a few other hikers out there, I would say we easily ran across 50 other backpackers over the course of four days (outside of our own group, that is). Paige had organized a great trip for fifteen (sixteen? I lost count) of us, with half the group heading southbound from Mattole to Black Sands, and the other half heading northbound from Black Sands to Mattole, both groups hiking the ~25 mile stretch over four days. We met on the middle night and camped together, also exchanging car keys to make the shuttling situation less painful. We would all meet again on the last day for lunch in Garberville, where cars, keys, and gear would be switched back to the proper owners.

Hiking the Lost Coast is completely different than Sierra backpacking. For starters, it's damp. The sea air gets in everything and gear doesn't dry out as quickly as it does in the dry mountains. You also have to pay careful attention to tides - if you don't plan your schedule around the tides you can find yourself waiting for hours to get around certain points. The other big difference is the beach walking. It contorts your muscles in ways you are not used to (really seemed to bother my hamstrings and hips, more than anything else), it slows your pace, and fills your shoes with sand. So, four days for 25 miles was a great pace - not too many miles to cover (we made it to camp around noon every day), but it gave us flexibility to deal with tides, vary our pace on the slow beach stretches, and dry our gear out during the sunny afternoons.

It was a great trip, and my pictures are uploaded here: Lost Coast

It has been four years since the Northern California Hikers formed and met for the first time. Dave and I had been backpacking in California for a few years but hadn't connected with any other people who enjoyed it like we did, and I was looking for other people who shared our interest. A post on the backpacker forums about forming a hiking group for people in Northern California caught my attention, and I joined up with the group right at the beginning.

Our first meeting was for a dayhike in Henry Coe, and a short time later we did an overnight backpack in the same park to Los Cruzeros. I knew right away that we had connected with a great group of people, and the rest, as they say, is history. The initial small core of people has grown over the past four years and we've gotten to meet many incredible people. We've made great friends, shared amazing adventures, and created hundreds of fantastic memories. Thanks, guys!

This weekend Paige managed to pull off a dayhike plan that would get eighteen of us together in one place - a near impossibility. Maria, Theresa, and Heidi were camping at Coast Camp, so Paige asked if anyone wanted to do a nice long dayhike loop through the park to visit them in camp on Saturday. There ended up being fifteen dayhikers and it was great to see several people that I haven't seen in a while - it was kind of like a high school reunion.

While it rained and was ugly inland, the sun was shining in Point Reyes and we had perfect hiking weather. The rain started to fall only at mile 12.6 of a 12.7 mile hike - within sight of the cars. Pictures of the hike are here: Point Reyes Dayhike Paige's Photos Theresa's Photos Karen's Photos Maria's Photos Frank's Photos

Dave and I spent the morning visiting the molting elephant seals over at Ano Nuevo. I was taking some short videos on my camera and this little guy was kind enough to startle me with a sneeze. If you've ever thought to yourself that your life wouldn't be complete until you heard a seal sneeze, I'm happy to provide the following video.

There is a stretch of coast in Northern California where Highway 1 cuts inland because the terrain was too rugged to build a road along the water. This area, called the Lost Coast, is difficult to get to and some of the most scenic and wild terrain in California. This weekend I headed up there with a bunch of friends to backpack along this coast.

The group was planning on a 25 mile trek from the Mattole Beach access point to Shelter Cove (Black Sands Beach). I was only able to join for Friday and Saturday night, so I met some of the group in Shelter Cove on Friday afternoon. We car camped and the rest of the group arrived on Saturday morning and we shuttled up to Mattole. Although Mattole Beach is only 25 miles up the coast it is about a two hour drive to get there, including a long and steep stretch on Kings Peak Road, a beautiful 4WD road through the Kings Range. After the shuttle we had lunch at the trailhead and then started the hike south to Punta Gorda Lighthouse, where we spent the night in a rather fancy driftwood wind shelter.

On Sunday morning the group prepared to continue their southbound hike and I turned around and headed back to the trailhead. I made it around Punta Gorda with plenty of time to spare before high tide and was back at the car a little after 10 am. The drive out along Mattole Road to 101 was incredible - amazing scenery, structures, and eventually through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. I stopped to hike a while in the redwoods and was even able to watch a bear forage for lunch about 100 ft from me.

As always with the Northern California hikers, it was a fun weekend in amazing terrain with great company. Thanks for the fun! The full photo album is here: Lost Coast.

Oh, the trail tacos were a success! The meat and beans rehydrated perfectly and they hit the spot with some cheddar and tortillas. I'm looking forward to trying out some new dehydrator recipes soon.

A few weeks ago David and I joined on a group geocaching 'Deathmarch'. The plan was to tackle Palo Corona Peak in Garrapata State Park, about 10 miles south of Monterey. The hike was not easy but the amazing views and great company made it seem so. Photos are here: Garrapata State Park.

Photos are trip reports are here! Click on the day in the list below for the trip report and a link for the photos from that day.

• Day 1: Joshua Tree National Park - Boy Scout Trail and Samuelson's Rock
  
• Day 2: Joshua Tree National Park - Carey's Castle and the Oasis of Mara
  
• Day 3: Joshua Tree National Park - John's Camp, Wall Street Mill, and Hidden Valley
  
• Day 4: Joshua Tree National Park - Eagle Cliff Mine, Geology Tour Road
  
• Day 5: Palm Springs Tram and San Jacinto
  
• Day 6: Living Desert Wildlife and Botanical Park
  
• Days 7-9: Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
  

Our final destination of the week was Santa Cruz Island, of the Channel Islands National Park, with the Northern California Hikers. We met Paige, Karen, Candace, and Lisa at the Island Packers harbor early on Friday morning. It was cool and foggy as we loaded our gear on the boat and rode across the waves to the island. After about an hour a dock appeared out of the fog and we were at Scorpion Anchorage, with only a short 1/4 mile walk to the Scorpion campground.

We easily found our three campsites together and set up. The rest of the weekend was sunny, warm, and leisurely. We took a hike over to Smuggler's Cove (what, no pirates?) and sat around enjoying the luxury of coolers and picnic tables. We spent some time lounging around on the beach and tidepooling, and also had our share of wildlife sightings, including a Santa Cruz Island gopher snake that befriended David, some endangered Island Foxes, and we can't forget Henry the Seagull. All in all, a really tough weekend (ha!)

My photo album from the three days on the island can be seen by clicking on the photo to the upper left or here: Channel Islands.

Paige's awesome photos are here.

Once again we headed to Wildcat camp in Pt Reyes in December. It was sunny and warm during the day, but a bit chilly at night! Pictures are here: Wildcat Camp.

Last Sunday we did a nice hike with Steve and Elida from Tennessee Valley to Muir Beach, followed by a tasty lunch at the Pelican Inn. Pictures are here.

A week or so ago we headed up to Tiburon to meet up with Steve and Elida for an afternoon visit to Angel Island. This is the first time we've visited it and we had a great time!
Pictures are here.