High tides, rogue waves, bears, avalanches, rattlesnakes, poison ivy and ticks. All part of the dangers of the Lost Coast Trail and this year\u2019s father\/daughter trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Lost Coast Trail is 27 miles of one of the most remote and inaccessible parts of the California coast. The trail travels along sheer cliffs, through tide pools, along black sand beaches and rocks and boulders. One of the most intensive parts about the hike was the planning. You had to time starts and stops each day to accommodate the high tides, otherwise you\u2019ll be swept out to sea for a free trip to Hawaii or Japan depending on the currents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I flew to San Francisco, then Quinn and I drove five hours north to Shelter Cove. The last hour or so was on the narrow, single lane, winding roads. At Black Sands Beach Trailhead, we grabbed a shuttle and drive another two hours on even narrower, winding and sometimes roads to Mattole Beach Trailhead. The territory was very much like Appalachia, except they grow weed, not brew moonshine. There was a mysterious truck in a tree noticed on the way. It was a long tiring approach to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We arrived at the trail head around 230 and headed down the beach, wanting to get at least 2 to 4 miles under our belts for the first day. Within the 1st mile we ran into our first narrow strip of beach which is impassable at high tide. We made it through OK and went on to Punta Gorda lighthouse, which served the coast from 1910-1951. It was the site of an old frontier settlement that never had electricity. Nearby we saw a large herd of seals basking in the sand and some very large elephant sea lions roaring and fighting with each other. It was a pretty cool sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n