Lost Coast King Range
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I recently went to the Lost Coast and did the Northern portion of the of the Lost Coast trail. I paid to get shuttled from Shelter Cove, where I parked my car, to the mouth of the Mattole river.(This was well worth the money)The phone number for the shuttle is 707-986-9909.Very nice lady.
So I went solo but one hour into the hike I met two awesome people who I hiked the rest of the way with. They just happened to be from Santa Cruz, where I am from.
What a small world. We hit it off and had quite a little adventure. Marriah's dad lives in Shelter Cove.
The first night we stayed at Randle creek. What a nice place to sleep.
The next day we hiked to Big Flat, a famous surf spot. This was the most beautiful day of the hike with fields of wild flowers and whales in the Ocean. We had perfect weather and perfect tides with negative tides at midday.
When we got to Big Flat there were all these cool drift wood shelters. Check out this cool one with my new gatewood cape and serenity bug net.
The next morning we headed out a little after high tide started heading out and followed some fresh bear tracks for awhile.This section of the hike was all beach hiking. The soft sand is hard to walk in and therefor any trails on the hills near the beach were utilized to there fullest potential. This was now our third day of hiking and we got back to shelter cove about 2:00pm. We got burgers and beer at a local deli by the landing strip. This is where we met one of Marriah's friends.
Just another random experience common to this trip. Marriah's friend, Misha, wanted a ride to the top of the cliff where he was going to paraglide back to the landing strip. I got to tell you that it was pretty cool watching this dude jump off the cliff.
That night we drove to the southern section of the lost coast trail, the Sinkyone wilderness and camped at Jones beach camp. A heard of Roosevelt elk checked us out but it was night and none of my photos came out. The southern section is much more lush and since I only hiked a little around a can't say much about this portion of the lost coast trail.
What an awesome trip. Thanks for reading.
JoshYes it seems that photo was missed. Lets try again.
Josh
I really like six moon designs products.nice report josh.
glad the trip went so well.
we'll have to go and do the southern section – sinkyone.
heres a few shots i took in '04.
Cool trip, thanks for sharing your pictures and trip details. I did not know there was a shuttle, and it was also cool to see photos to know what the northern part of the trail would be like when putting together my gear.
I did the sinkyone section two weeks ago, and the trail was clear and easy to navigate. Some downed trees, but only one was challenging to get over. Very lush with frequent and robust water supplies.
Last weekend I did the kings range section. Trails were in decent shape for early season. Water supplies were about 1.5 miles apart, and running strong. The springs at elevation were running well too. Cooskie Cr trail was clear southeast of cooskie creek. I missed the trail connection at the beach, but rather enjoyed wading upstream to find the trail. Spanish ridge was overgrown, but I was able to run down the hill at 9.8MPH cross country sans trail. Rattlesnake ridge was littered with downed trees near the beach, but BLM says they have cleared that since I filed my trail report. Bucks creek and Kings Crest were in good condition for early spring. Kings Peak road is not passable via passenger car at this time, but is clear through to Saddle MTN road.
There was a mountain lion hanging out near the tree line at big flat in the kings range section of the trail, please be aware that there may be a large cat stalking a very popular campground full of kids, pets, and people.
Some pictures:
the far southern end at Usal Beach
flowers along the coast
the tide comes in
sunset walking back to big flat after getting squeezed off the trail at high tide
sunset at black sand beachThe first time I did the Lost Coast, King Range section, in 1992 I saw a lion on the beach between Shipman Creek and Buck Creek. It was nosing around the tide pools at low tide.
I'll be doing Mattole to Shelter Cove, solo, starting June 2. Hope all I have to deal with are bears at Big Flat. Last year I did the Coast twice. Once in June and again in September. No bears in camp but I did see a pod of about 6 whales.
Whale on the Lost Coast
Bear Tracks on the Lost CoastI always use Sherrie Luallin's shuttle service: 707-986-7437 or cell: 707-223-1547.
This section of the hike was all beach hiking. The soft sand is hard to walk in and therefor any trails on the hills near the beach were utilized to there fullest potential. This was now our third day of hiking and we got back to shelter cove about 2:00pm. We got burgers and beer at a local deli by the landing strip. This is where we met one of Marriah's friends.
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