Lost Coast Trail 2015

[wilderness medic]

Went out on new years day for a mild 25 mile thru hike with new friends.First time backpacking with other people.I'm used to waking up hiking until sundown and sleeping. These guys liked to sleep till noon hike for a few hours, sometimes at night at relax. 6 people 2 dogs. Kind of felt like a bum as i'm usually used to packing UL food for myself while they all brought fresh gourmet food to share. Terrain sucked on and off sand and cobble stones but still felt like a mild hike that wasn't too difficult.


Plan was 5 days for 25 miles which is not ideal for me but….



Got to the trail head 1/1 at about 22:00. Crossed a stream or two. I'm a fan of keeping my feet dry and happy so I decided I would be taking my boots of for crossings I couldn't hop. Hiked in a mile or two and set up camp.

Day 2. Mild creek crossings. Cool make shift shelters along the beach. Hung out around the fire.

Day 3. Got to destination and had a layover day (wtf is that??) Went day hiking by myself and took a hippy bath in the nude (Edited for PG). Found a huge slab of pitch. Got bored and climbed around a creek to explore up a bit. Had some wild edibles growing nearby.

Day 4. Impassable.Thought I could hike out early and get passed. Nope. Tried to take the high route. Found myself on a big chunk of earth with a crack around about to slide down and then a sheer cliff with no way around the tide and headed back. Passed a good looking naked hippy girl bathing under a water fall. (GoPro off, rude…) Waited a bit. Stalked some deer for pictures then dodged around the impassable then continued.

We were supposed to camp out at some point but I felt silly camping less than 2 miles from the end with it in sight. Went on to hitch a ride back to the car north. One of the guys accidentally missed the camp, so we decided to call it a day early, which was good news for me, 25 miles seemed a bit crazy to take 5 days for. We showed up to the southern parking lot and while waiting for the last of the crew 3 local girls showed up blasting psytrance on the full moon and playing drums and accordion . We took this opportunity like true Californian hippies to dance and spin glowy things for an awesome climactic end to a great adventure.

[Winter]

25 miles in 5 days is about my speed. I had no idea there was 25 miles of coastline in CA without a road. I'm glad there is.

Weird fun soundtrack on that.

[wilderness medic]

25 miles in 5 days is just way too slow for me. I hate to say I get bored in nature because I don't…. MAybe it's the military mindset but….Sun up..pack up and hike…sun down…set up camp and sleep. It felt very weird to take it so easy sleep in and only hike a couple hours a day. Even at 2 MPH that's only like 3 or 4 hours a day of hiking. Odd to me to relax and enjoy, but fun!

[wilderness medic]

And Rick, Crash, 1stimestar, hunter, Ken, (and for Christs sake I can't even remember your user name after so many dive trips and visits) Jesse , plus the rest… I thank you... So much, dealing through my angry posts…As so horribly cheesy as it sounds having never met most of you... I thought of you guys at the end of the trail, and how your kind thoughts and messages were there to guide me through tough times. Can't even really explain…But I don't think i'd even be here to have these experiences if it wasn't for support, even from people i've never had the pleasure to meet…...

[crashdive123]

Looks like a fantastic trip. Sometimes its nice to be able to slow down and smell the roses - glad you were able to do that.

[Rick]

When I hike I really like to take my time stopping often just to look around. My boys are more like you. They like to move. It results in them backtracking to find out if I died because I don't bother keeping up with them. Flowers, insects, birds, animals, geology, even clouds are unique to that moment and location and if you don't take a moment to enjoy them you'll pass right by. Of course, that results in a 5 day 25 mile hike. Spending the extra night just 2 miles from the trailhead is cool if you want to spend the extra night relaxing under the stars. The great thing is it's your choice to make. You can do as you like.

If anything I said helped then I'm very glad. However, you are the one that got through it. So you should feel good about that. We all experience difficult times on the trail. We're all along to help each other make another mile.

That was a great vid with some beautiful scenery. The shelter at the start was really cool. Man! Didn't you see that crack in the cliff at 8:38? And you still went out on it? Scared the beejesus out of me. I would have detoured way around that. Brrrrrrrrr.

[wilderness medic]

That was a great vid with some beautiful scenery. The shelter at the start was really cool. Man! Didn't you see that crack in the cliff at 8:38? And you still went out on it? Scared the beejesus out of me. I would have detoured way around that. Brrrrrrrrr.

I sure did, but a little late! As I stepped over it I noticed the fracture running the whole way around me! Just made sure I got off that section quickly. It was pretty nerve-racking when I noticed I had just stepped onto a section that could give way any time.

[hunter63]

Glad the trip went well, and you had a chance to relax a bit.....
Haven't watch the whole vid yet as I'm on the road and the modern is slow.

Most of my outdoors stuff has ben hunting trips....and it always took me a day of two to "come down from the "get er done" work schedule and slow down.

Thanks for posting.

[tundrabadger]

I need to be there now.

[Rick]

Uh, yeah, me too. It's 5 F with a wind chill of -15F. Brrrrr.....

[1stimestar]

Awesome trip. Gorgeous scenery. Yes I understand about the speed. My "Go" just automatically turns on when hiking too. I CAN make myself slow down and just hang out, but it takes a conscious effort to do so.

[crashdive123]

Uh, yeah, me too. It's 5 F with a wind chill of -15F. Brrrrr.....

I had to mow the back yard today.......grass was getting too long for chipping and putting.

[kyratshooter]

Crash I would head down there for some of that warm weather but the last time I made a trip to FL in January the temps went down to below freezing in Tampa 5 nights in a row!

I decided I would prefer not to drive 900 miles one way just to keep freezing.

[Batch]

I am not much for hiking trails for the miles. I wander off the trail all the time and that is when we find the greatest stuff.

When I first started serious hiking, my dad would plan out the trip. It was all about the ground we covered. I don't like that. I have a hard time staying on blazed or well worn trails. I am always going off trail and I can spend hours just looking at the plants, tracks and details of a spot. I still spend entire days just exploring a hammock that I have been exploring for years and I always find something new.

What was the temp there? Kinda odd to see the wool caps and then a guy with no shirt the same day. That is like South Florida. LOL

Glad you got out and thanks for sharing. Also, glad you are in better spirits these days.

[hunter63]

..............

What was the temp there? Kinda odd to see the wool caps and then a guy with no shirt the same day. That is like South Florida. LOL

Glad you got out and thanks for sharing. Also, glad you are in better spirits these days.

That can be any day in Wisconsin....I've done A/C and heating service calls, 2 hours apart.......

SIL and DD keep telling us that it in the 70's and sun shining all winter...been 30-40 and raining .....LOL
But it is below zero at home.

[wilderness medic]

It was low 40's at night high 50's in the day. Felt colder with the wind chill out there. Very windy. But still warmer than my house. Was 20F here. Once we got back to my house to rest for a day they joked about going back to the trail where it's warmer haha…


I love to see stop and check things out, but when i'm in hike mode, I hike quick with little breaks. Might still be stuck in the military mindset for rucking. To me hiking is hiking, and camping is camping. Going to have to try to lighten up and relax. I did enjoy the layover day, although I still wouldn't have personally done it if it was just me.