Lost Coast Trail

Man, what an adventure. Some of Shin and my plans for the Presidents’ Day long weekend were foiled early, so at the beginning of the week the idea of doing Lost Coast Trail (LCT) hatched. The weather was going to be great, rare for the winter. The trail would be relatively empty, compared to the peak summer months. And there is no quota! After a week full of planning and reaching out to people, Shin, Jimmy, Dennis and I were ready to go Friday night.

We left SF around 1900 Friday night. We drove up the 101, eventually winding west through small, windy roads into the Western end of Humboldt county. We reached the Black Sands Trailhead parking lot around 1200. We slept relatively uncomfortably in the car for the evening. At 0600, we met our shuttle driver and made the two-hour journey to Mattole Beach. The drive wound through wooded hills and valleys, before following Mattole River down to the beach. We hopped out of the car, filled out a permit, and were off!

Day 1

There were a couple of groups at the trailhead that set off around the same time we did, 0900. The hike begins on a wide beach, gentle hills to the East. This gave us our first introduction to hiking on black sand. The surf was strong and unreal-looking. We hiked along the beach for a while before encountering the first of many streams emptying from the hills into the Pacific. Many of these require fording, which actually provides a fun change of pace. Eventually, we rose up onto some bluffs and reached Sea Lion Gulch (?), where the “impassable high tide” zone began. Originally, we had planned on calling it quits there for our first day. However, we went for it. We scrambled across large rocks before I recognized the detour landmark and we headed inland. We rose up on the cliffs for a bit before descending once more upon the beach. The scrambling this time was a bit more hectic, as the tide was now higher, dangerously approaching peak high tide. We ran around rocky corners when the tide receded. The final time we ran around such a corner, we were greeted with the site of a river, trees, and a group of three previously-encountered hikers around their fire. They offered us a cup of coffee and we enjoyed each other’s company for a while. We hiked across grassy plains; soon, sunset approached, and we settled down in a wooden “fort” campsite. We got a fire going, filled out bellies with food, and enjoyed the beautiful view.

Day 2

We got a pretty late start, after enjoying breakfast and a fire. We trekked inland for a while, descended onto a beach, rose up on a bluff once again, and then found Big Flat, which is aptly named. The area was full of people: surfers, campers, jetski-ers. We took a break and headed onwards, despite the impending high tide. After following a dangerously steep trail that led nowhere, we retraced our steps and descended on the beach. We rushed once again, in a race against the tide tables. The land here curved; we could see what we thought to be Shelter Cove at the end of the curve. Eventually, we discovered a safe valley and settled. We chose a campspot a bit up the river in the woods. Later, some surfers claimed the site on the beach. We were treated to a beautiful sunset that night and slept well in our wet, green home.

Day 3

We got going a bit earlier this third day, eager to finish the hike. This Southern part of the hike was nearly exclusively on sand, not very fast-going. We saw many groups of hikers. The morning fog was beautiful, kissing the hills, glowing radiantly from the sun. We were free of impassable zones, so we went at our own pace. We passed by a pool of water, which several hikers were taking dips in, and two large boulders on the beach, hundreds of paths of footsteps winding in between. The beach was expansive, both long and wide, making for dramatic scenes of small figures on the vast landscape. Eventually, we reached Telegraph Creek, our final crossing. We forded and said hello to an old couple, heading North for a day stroll. We sat down and dipped our feet in the creek. We had made it.

Recap

This was my first multi-day backpacking trip, and boy it was awesome. We were continually spoiled by the coastline views. The terrain was varied, going from black sand to rocky beach to grassy cliffs. The high tides provided an element of adventure; racing against time, darting around rocky outcroppings was thrilling. The trail was mostly empty, so we could find solitude at times.

The hike was not too strenuous, easily completed in three days by someone in reasonable fitness. One should definitely do some research beforehand regarding tides. Some places require careful footing. Otherwise, the trail is relatively safe. Given that Shin, Dennis, and Jimmy have never really been backpacking before, I would even recommend LCT as a decent beginner trail, bound to captivate. I am sure I will be back sometime, to where land meets sea in a collision of beauty and adventure.