Lost Coast Trail – Final Countdown

I leave for the trail tomorrow morning.  I have crossed every T and dotted every i, and by that, I mean I waited until the last minute, had a couple beers, and tried to stuff everything into a backpack.

I am using my ULA Circuit backpack that I used on my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail last year.  Yes, it has holes in it, and the frame is broken, but no big deal.  I figure, this is a 60 mile hike, what is the worst that can happen?  The plan is to drive to San Diego tomorrow morning, arriving as early as possible to allow myself amazing beach access, and day drinking.  I am staying the night at a friends house downtown at the Gaslamp district (uh oh).  The next morning I will be heading to San Fransisco where yet another friend has offered to host myself, for a little more drinking and sightseeing.  The next morning I head out at 9 am to Usal Beach, In the Sinkyone wilderness, which happens to be the southern terminus of the Lost Coast Trail.  I have never heard of this place, so I googled it, and this has some great information about the place I know nothing about.

Usal Beach

I will hopefully find this place, and I am meeting 4 other thru-hikers and some friends at the campground.  Gandalf, Kamikaze, GOAT, and Roc Doc are all partaking.  As well as Gandalfs friends Bob and Jeff.  Bob had made some appearances on my blog when I hiked the Appalachian Trail.  He had provided us with great trail magic, and the best trail ending party EVER.  So I am pretty excited to have them all come around.

By far the most informative information I found on the Lost Coast Trail was written by a previous Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker the Badger, who has an amazing blog about hiking etc.  Appalachian Trials Lost Coast Trail

One more addition to this hike that I had not encountered before was locating a bear canister.  A bear canister is necessary to hike the Lost Coast Trail, and without one you can get a huge fine.  I bought the bear vault from REI and it is BULKY.  So now I have an ultralight backpack (ULA) crammed together with my gear and a bear canister.  I do not have much room for fun in there!

Looks cool huh?  Try putting it in your backpack.  I also went grocery shopping here in AZ because groceries in California are outrageous.  I am back on “the diet”.

Now that IS fun!  A whole weeks worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner right there.

SO, once arriving at the campground, finding my long lost friends, and drinking, we will be shuttled the next morning to the trail 4 hours north, and hike back to our cars.  I am PRETTY sure we used this one.  http://www.lostcoastshuttle.com/

But Gandalf did all the leg work on this one, so I get to sit back and just pay it.  The shuttle will drop us off up North, ALSO resupply us when we get halfway done, and something about picking us up at the end.  This will all cost $500, which ends up being about $75 a person.  Doable.

I am VERY excited, and am excited to share this experience with you.

Lost Coast Trail – July 18 2015

The Lost Coast It’s a new summer and time for a new adventure!  The plan is to hike the entire Lost Coast Trail in northern California.  This section includes both the beautiful Mendocino and Humboldt counties.  From my understanding, the Pacific Coast Highway (US 1) travels the entire length of the West Coast.  However, when developers encountered the King Range they decided the land far too unstable to develop a highway.  This resulted in 80 or so miles of untouched and almost inaccessible coastline in Northern California.  The nearest highway (101) is about 35 miles from the coast.  The result, one of the most remote wilderness areas in the state, and I am going to hike it!

Hiking, relaxing, going to bed, and waking up on the beach every day for about a week!  I’m so excited.  If you guys have followed any blogs of 2014 Appalachian Thru Hikers, there are a couple coming with me.  Gandalf, Goat, Roc Doc, and Kamikaze are all fellow thru hikers last year, and are coming with me on this journey.

Once again, I invite you to join me on this adventure.  I will create a daily blog, and publish once I have service.  (There is almost no service in the area).  There will be TONS of pictures, and I will have one more blog up about preparation before I go.  Preparation includes getting a map of the area, bear canister, shuttle info, etc.  This will be helpful if any of you are planning a hike of the Lost Coast Trail in the future!

Departure date is set for July 18.  I will be driving to San Diego, and up the Cali Coast, hitting LA and SF on the way, and camping with Gandalf, Goat, Roc Doc, and Kamikaze on the 17th, the shuttle taking us to our remote location on the 18th.

Afterwards, the plan is to go up to the Del Norte Redwoods, and take our time driving the entire Pacific Coast Highway on the way back to San Diego.  I look forward to the trip, and sharing it with you!

-Stretch