Hiking a Loop on the Lost Coast Trail!

We have heard only amazing things about the Lost Coast, California’s longest stretch of undeveloped coastline, and we finally got a chance to hike it during a long holiday weekend! We headed out intent on doing the 24-mile Lost Coast Trail twice (out and back), but due to rain and poor tide planning, we shortened the trip by a day and did a lollipop-style route instead that included both the coast and the mountains. It payed to stay flexible — the trip was beautiful, we saw some fun wildlife, and it was just amazing to be out!

Day 1 – Parking lot in Shelter Cove

Today we got off to a frustratingly slow start– actually–we didn’t start. Our plan was to sleep in the car last night right near the start of the trail, then to wake up early and start walking. We woke up to a downpour of rain. Rain had been in the forecast, but we were optimistically hoping the forecast would be wrong. It wasn’t. It rained and rained all day long. The forecast said it would ease up around sunset, so we waited out the storm until then. We spent the day drinking coffee at a campground/cafe, driving back and forth impatiently, and even took a nap. We tested and refined the water ratio in one of our recipes during lunch. Sure enough, as sunset approached the rain slowed to a trickle and then stopped. We packed up our backpacks and hit the trail shortly after dark.

Before we had made it 200 yards, we hit a raging river. It would probably only be a trickle if it weren’t for all the rain, but when we arrived it had carved out much of the beach and was about 50-100 feet across. We walked across about half way, which was frightening in the foggy darkness — we could barely see. The second half looked deeper and faster moving, and there was a big wall of sand on the other side that we’d have to climb up. We decided it was a challenge we should save for daylight. Camping in the beach that close to the trailhead is prohibited here, so we turned around, went back to our car, and we’ll hit the Lost Coast Trail tomorrow for real! For dinner we had spaghetti ramen. Yum!!

Day 2 – Camping on the beach

After coffee and breakfast in the trailhead parking lot, we hit the trail. It didn’t rain today, so the beach was beautiful as the sun rose — it has towering mountains above it, and low hanging mist made everything seem mystical. We were able to cross last night’s raging river with no trouble… in the daylight, it was more of a medium stream. With that obstacle behind us, we were free to head northbound up the coast!

We didn’t time the tides well. The Lost Coast Trail has a few sections that become impassable during medium and high tide. We were on track to get there right at the peak of the tide. So instead, we took a side trip that sent us up to an elevation of 3,000 feet, way above high tide, into the mountains above. Then our side trip spit us right into the middle of the impassable zone, but when it did the tide was low. Perfect!

We hiked along the beach as the sun set and it became dark. We saw a pair of eyes looking at us and assumed it was a deer, but as we got close we saw it was actually a big coyote! It eventually ran off. We also found a dead octopus and a whale skull on the beach. We found a place to camp that seems to be above the high-tide mark, but because of all the rain it’s impossible to know for sure… we’re pretty sure we’ll be fine, but if we don’t post a day 3, it means we were swept away. For dinner we had shepherd’s pie, homemade ramen, and apple-pear crisp for dessert. Yum!

Day 3 – The end

Renee woke us up at 2 am, high tide, to double check that we weren’t about to get washed away. The ocean was much higher than it had been when we went to bed last night, but our location was still 10+ feet above the highest crashing waves. I wouldn’t feel safe camping here during a storm, but during calm weather like we have right now it seems completely fine. Still, Renee tied her shoes and backpack onto the tent, just in case…

We woke up around 8 and enjoyed a long and lazy morning at camp. We had several coffees and  tested/finalized the water ratio for two of our cold-soak recipes (coconut chia pudding and strawberries and cream oatmeal). As we were sitting in the tent, a hiker walked by and said hello. He was camped no more than 100 yards from us but hidden in some bushes, so we didn’t even know he was there. Later two other hikers walked by who had been camped a couple of miles down the beach. Eventually we got the message that we were being slow, so we packed up and headed down the beach.

A fair amount of cloud-cover kept the views from being completely amazing, but the mountains above the beach still had their mystical appearance. As we walked we admired how the crashing waves smooth out beach rocks over time, and noticed that rocks from recent land-slides were still jagged. Sadly, the walk didn’t last forever. We made it back to the parking lot at lunch time, packed up, and hit the road for a long drive back to the Bay Area.