The Lost Coast Day One

Somewhere somehow I learned about the lost coast hike. It is a hike in Northern California. California has highway 1 that was built to run parallel to the beach. It is a beautiful highway and a popular road to drive. In Northern California there is a 25 mile section that was too rugged to build the highway on the coast. They had to take the highway inland. This left 25 miles of untouched beach. This is the lost coast and the place I got to backpack over Fall Break. It does require permits. They are cheap to come by, easier in the Fall than the summer.

I had a hard time figuring out who would come with me initially but we ended up with a great group. Aaron, Jacklyn, Brady Robertson, Kelsey Robertson and me. Kelsey and I flew to Sacramento on Wednesday night late. Brady picked us up late and drove us to Shelter Cove. This is where the hike ends. It was a 5 hour drive and we didn't get in until after 4am. It was crazy but I was grateful to have Brady to drive. Ia m too old to drive that late.

Thursday morning we met our shuttle at Black Sands Beach in Shelter Cove and headed to the start of the hike. The hike starts in Mattole California. We were equipped with bear canisters and lots of gear. We also had maps and tide charts to help us navigate the trail. There are three impassable zones, area where you can't hike during high tide. These zones make it so you have to be careful on your timing while hiking. We had all read a lot about the hike but really just hiking it taught us more than we could ever understand from other peoples experience.

Our shuttle driver took our picture before we started. We were so clean!!!!

We didn't start hiking until around noon. The day started off dreary looking. There was lots and lots of sand. It felt so good to finally be moving after so mmuch time in the car.

 Stopping to most likely ponder why I thought backpacking was a good idea:) It is always a shock to carry a heavy pack.

Then the sun came out and we were blessed with the most beautiful day!!! The temperature was perfect.

 A little over 2.5 miles in to the hike we could spot the lighthouse that we had heard about.

The Punta Gorda Lighthouse was 3.75 miles from the trail head where we started. We were making great time. The weather was amazing. We made it through the first impassable zone with no issues. We decided to take a break and enjoy the beauty all around us.

 It is always a treat to ditch the packs for a little bit! It was windy and the lighthouse protected us from the wind while we enjoyed lunch. All of our meals were sponsored bu Jetboil!!!! Love these things.

Group shot in front of the lighthouse.

 Of course we climbed to the top. The stairs were a little sketchy!

 Down on the beach in front of the lighthouse there were a bunch of seals and elephant seals hanging out. We went down and checked them out.

 I am glad we spent sometime here on the beach because this was the nicest day we had on our trip. It was also the only day we saw blue skies and the sun.

We hung out for over an hour and then decided it was time to start hiking again. It had been a great break. The next section of our hike had an upper trail which we took and so we were able to hike really fast.

 It felt so great to be off of the beach while hiking.

 I had Kelsey snap a picture of the three of us. So fun to be on an adventure together!

 We hiked a couple miles on the bluffs above the ocean and then we ended back down on the sand in the impassable zone. The tide was starting to come in and so we knew we were going to stop at the first campground in the zone.

 You can see the water already reaching the bluff that we need to go around up ahead. Definitely an interesting and a little scary thing having to be so careful about the tide.

 I was grateful Kelsey did a lot of research as well. Together I feel like we kind of had an idea on how to do things.

 We found the most amazing campground to sleep in. I think it is maybe the top camping spot I have ever had. We were on the most amazing bluff above the ocean. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed watching the sun set in the distance.

Taking a breather before we set up camp.

 Watching the sun go down . . . . . pure magic

All the panoramic shots are very similar but I couldn't choose just one. The night evening was amazing.

 We enjoyed a lovely dinner watching the sunset.

Then Brady, our awesome fire builder, worked his magic and we stayed warm by the fire.

 That was the perfect ending to an awesome day. We all went to bed early because we were waking up at 4:45 am the next day because we were sleeping in an impassable zone and wanted to get out early so we could hike further on day 2.