Sinkyone Wilderness- your favorite approach?

Are you wanting to do an in and out. Or are you looking to do a car shuttle?

Planning on bringing a board this time?

How much time do you have?

I have not been yet.

I have five days for the hike, and will park, go in and come out the same way.
If there is some swell I will bring a board if not just go explore. I've heard a lot about Bear Harbor and plan to check it out.

Everyone says the Sinkyone is beautiful- so I'm planning on not hiking everyday- more slowing down and finding spots I'll enjoy camping out in. Thanks so much for any info.

I remember reading somewhere that the coast just south of Shelter Cove was really dangerous and impassable. But maybe the trail goes around the beaches.

http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Sinkyone/Sinkyone.html

Tons of info here. Maps and all.

Justin I have surfed the first several spots South of there and yes they are only passable on lower tides. Ken thanks for the info I will check it out.

Darn, Ken that is a link that I have already been using.
This is where I'm stuck, hike from an inland direction (Needle Rock?) or making my way down from Shelter Cove. I can pick one but was hoping to hear from those that had tried one or the other just to get a little feedback. If no feedback is out there, I'll report my route and experiences when I get back.

Ken, I'll take some more time looking at that map more closely. Thanks again.

Call the ranger office and pick their brains.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

No worries, Ken. Probably going this route-
http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Sinkyone/Wheeler.html
Will write a summary after the hike.

Here is a pic from The Lost Coast last November, that my buddy Guy took. Weather would change like 15 times in a day on that trip.

Sinkyone is tough, lots of up and down.

From the far southern end, it's a long hike before the beach access is easy.

Not sure from the northern end.

"Sinkyone is tough, lots of up and down."

+1

Though one of the best solo nights/mornings I've ever had was getting Bear Harbor to myself.

Nice Craig, which trail did you go on?

I started at the Hidden Valley Trailhead, just south of Shelter Cove and went to Bear harbor and back. Then from Shelter Cove (Black Sand Beach) I went north up the beach and back.
http://sweepingthegarden.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/the-lost-coast/

Don't underestimate the hills in Sinkyone. For the most part, it is all either up or down.

The surf was FLAT when I was there but I've wanted to go back with a board ever since.

Rad post Craig and useful- thanks!

Ken Thompson was a huge help to me for planning up there…

I brought my boy scout troop three years ago to Sinkyone. We parked at Orchard Camp and hiked down to Wheeler the first day. I took most of the rest of the boys down to Little Jackass Creek the following day. We spent the next night at Wheeler then went home.

We ran into another youth group who started from the north. They were meeting friends heading north in the middle, then continuing south to Usal. They swapped keys at the midpoint which sounds like the best way to see Sinkyone.

The place is remote and feels like Jurassic Park. Really steep-I understand why the highway engineers went inland instead of trying to run Highway 1 through the area.

Have a good time.

Thanks Joe.

PDF link to the "Sinkyone Winderness State Park Final General Plan & Environmental Impact Report". There is a lot of information here and very useful maps throughout.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/21299/files/sinkyone%20sp%20final%20gp%2011-06%20through%20ch%203.pdf

The trip was pretty a m a z i n g!
I have a lot of work to do before I can sift through some imagery from the hike- but briefly if you are through hiking on the Lost Coast Trail through the Sinkyone like Craig mentioned "There is lots of ups and downs"!

PACK LIGHT!

It is an overgrown (jungle like with poison oak and stinging nettles) trail easy to get a broad pack snagged often, and with all the climbs (I set up a base camp and did day hikes north and south) even without a pack I was tired out at the end of everyday. In Summary it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever explored- I've been kind of depressed ever since I got back to the city. More soon- I have some work to catch up on first.

Here is a 4 minute video from the adventure.
http://bit.ly/YXi3to

So again we had an amazing time!
Since my buddy brought a friend that we had not hiked with before- I figured the best approach would be the easiest, and give us a chance to get a feel for what this area holds.
So we started in the middle, we drove the one lane dirt road down to the Needle Rock Visitor Center, and hiked south for about 4 miles, which kinda put us in the middle of the Sinkyone.
We set up camp in an incredibly beautiful spot and each day we would embark on a day hike north or south both along the Lost Coast Trail or hugging the coast (we are good water people) so we would swim around smaller impassable points (small swell action). So we got a great feel for the place and next time I will aim to do a thru hike from the Hidden Valley trail head above Shelter Cove to Usal Beach. For such a hike PACK LIGHT and slim (big packs get snagged a lot on the trail). Be prepared to go on lots of swims in the ocean to cleanse off all the poison oak you have to walk through, which are also good opportunities for tick checks. They are prevalent in the area.