The Lost Coast Trail - Found it!

A glimpse of the Lost Coast Trail from the parking lot

The Beginning

 The Lost Coast Trail is a stretch of rugged shoreline of 25 miles starting from Mattole Beach in the north to Black Sands beach in Shelter Cove in the south. This section of the coast line is so rugged that when HWY1 was planned, the architects decided to stay away from this section and hence, the land which is part of King Range National Conservation Area has become an iconic hiking trail, only doable when the stars and planets align.

But let's start at the very beginning. Our adventure started a year ago when Aruna and I snagged permits for LCT for a weekend in August, and thought we were just very lucky, as the permits of this trail are reportedly hard to come by. We had a group of 6 all ready to go, with folks on the waitlist even, and then we realized that there's a pesky think called tide table which translates to impassable zones and no-hike days on the LCT. We had to cancel our permits for that hike, but were determined to learn as much as we could and do the hike soon.

This year, we watched videos, studied tide charts, looked up itineraries of tour companies, read blogs and fully prepared for the LCT. There are 3 sections of the trail where the beach narrows and a relatively high tide, of even 2.5ft renders the section impassable. Hiking on the beach also means hiking at a slower pace, and we had to pick days that the low tide periods were sufficiently long for us to comfortably cross the impassable zones. The Outdoor Status interactive tide chart was very helpful in providing a dumbed down version of the relevant information in a way we could consume.

Getting the permits a tense moment, and needed a minor miracle. Only 30 permits are released each day, of which 3 are held back for walk ins, and up to 15 are issued to commercial tour companies. We had to compete for 2 of 12 permits, but the minor miracle happened and we scored the permits and we were able to make it happen.

The trip started on Friday, May 2, with a 5 hour drive from Fremont to Shelter Cove. We camped for the night at a scenic and cute hipcamp site called Lost Coast Basecamp. We had a bell tent with 3 camp cots, a dream camping kitchen, a fire pit where the caretaker set up the fire for us, a friendly dog demanding to be cuddled and glorious mountain views. The fellow campers at this site were also setting off for LCT the next day, with a guide who happened to be the owner of this basecamp. We got some precious insights from him (Blue was his name), about trail conditions, what to expect etc. After yummy Maggi for dinner, and an early night, we woke up early to start our adventure.

Day 1

At the start

A 2 hour shuttle ride from Shelter Cove brought us to Mattole Beach for the start of the hike. I was so excited to be hiking along the beach! The trail started on soft sand, with a variety of small sized gravel thrown into the mix. As a safety precaution on LCT, we were to never enter the ocean, not even the toes, and we took that very seriously. Hiking along the coast was a beautiful medley of sounds, the wind whistling in the ear, the roaring of the ocean and the soft rattle of your boots crunching gravel. It was a beautiful meditative start to the hike. After about 2 miles of hiking along the coast, the trail veered towards the bluff which was a welcome relief after the sand and gravel. Honestly, walking on the sand wasn't all that hard, we were expecting our hiking pace to be significantly reduced, but we ended up hiking the first 2 miles in under an hour. There were sections which were tough (more on that later), and slowed us down considerably, but on the whole, I was prepared for a harder hike than we had. 

We soon came to Punta Gorda light house, a cute white structure against the green backdrop of the bluffs overlooking the ocean. A colony of elephant seals had called this spot home, and we enjoyed watching these wild majestic creatures who even staked claim on the trail! Who were we to question their authority, we gave them as wide a berth as we could as we hiked along. We crossed the first creek and continued hiking along the bluff until we crossed Sealion Gulch, a rock claimed by sea lions. We watched the antics and listened to their barking as we hiked along. Both Punta Gorda and Sealion Gulch have campsites, and each was cute, scenic and enticing in their own way. 

Elephant seals

The next half mile was to be our first taste of hiking over boulders. They were large and uneven and our feet were happy when this section ended. We took a well deserved break at the end of this section, and enjoyed the scenery and lunch that Aruna had packed - roti rolls with paneer jalfrezi. 

The next section was a bluff again, to avoid some pinch points along the coast, but this section was hard. The wind was strong and incessant, working hard to push us off the trail. We encountered a section of hiking through mucky clay that we had to climb through, steep climbs, steep descents and creek crossings, and were very pleased to be back on the beach. A mile more of hiking brought us to our campsite for the evening - Cooskie Creek. We had hiked 7 miles and reached our campsite just after 2, with good time to spare before the high tide made the trail impassable for the evening. The campsite was beautiful, with a creek running through, ocean just up ahead, cliffs surrounding all other sides, and wild flowers to make it even more pleasant. We had to put up a battle with the wind when setting up our tent, but when that was done, we had the rest of the evening for relaxing, journalling, sitting, soaking feet in creek, reading and chatting. The group we had met the previous night at the Basecamp were here and were pleasant company. They even helped hold our tents down as we battled with the wind to set it up. We watched sunset, had bisibelebath for dinner, and retired to the tent for some well deserved rest.

Sunset at Cooskie Creek

Day 2

The day started beautifully with the tide low and the cliffs gleaming with the sunrise glow and centuries of craftsmanship by the wind and waves. It was a 2 mile hike to Randall Creek and we had a leisurely one hour hike to get there. After breakfast at the creek, the next 5-ish miles were on a bluff, and it was an absolute delight! We hiked through a meadow of flowers, predominantly purples and oranges (reminded me of Robin Wall Kimmerer.. ), with views of ocean to one side. The density and beauty of the flowers was stunning! We even saw an otter playing at one of the creeks that we had to cross, it was unbelievable! We completed this section at about 12:30 and descended to the beach for lunch and a break. At this point, I was thinking that LCT hike is not all that hard as it's made out to be.. That's when the wind started picking up. 

At the start of the day, we were debating whether to hike up to Big Flat or push forward to Shipman Creek, which was either 10 miles or 12 miles for the day. At this point, we made a call to end the day at Big Flat, and that meant that we didn't have to worry about the tidal zones any more for the day and we could take breaks and enjoy the hike. We found starfish amongst the rocks near Big Creek, and other beautiful crustacean shells. I checked out some rock pools to look for more treasures, found rocks which looked like the part of the cliff out at sea, marveled at what forces must have been at play to create this landscape. 

That rock is a cliff wall that was claimed by the ocean

The first section from Big Creek to Big Flat, was a veritable nightmare. We had to hike over boulders of all shapes and sizes, with the wind howling and pushing us forward and trying very hard to knock us over. We needed to take a wide stance with our feet and plant the poles in the rock crevices to be able to stabilize. While we were in this immobile position, the sand and small gravel would be picked up and slammed into our face, scalp, eyes and ears. It was like being slapped and not being able to use your hands to ward off the attack. Progress was: hobble over rocks for less than a minute, as the wind picks up, prepare to get into stable position, wait for wind to pass, hobble, repeat. Luckily, Aruna found a trail on the bluff at the right time, and we gladly abandoned the rocky beach for the cliff. This was so much better, still windy but the trail surface was even and we were able to make progress. The last part of the trail to Big Flat was flat and lovely, a likely treat for us enduring the wind and those rocks. 

Big Flat was home for the night. This was a lovely site, with a wide creek which a big group of seagulls called home. The creek supposedly had mussels which were the most delicious ever, but being vegetarians, we can't verify this claim. There were deer at the site, and it was lovely. Except for the wind. Putting up the tents was like wrestling with a huge monster who wanted to rip it out of your hands and toss it far away! We tried various spots, and had to compromise to find a spot where the tent would stay put. Aruna's spot was surrounded by poison oak, and mine was tucked under a tree which would bump my head every time I visited the tent. Luckily for us, wind was expected to die down by night and we were looking forward to a respite.

We enjoyed dinner - Rajma Chawal, and another splendid sunset, and retired early to the tents. 

Sunset at Big Flat

That's my tent hiding underneath the branches.

Day 3

This is our last day, we have 8.5 miles to the end of the trail. The day was beautiful, the best one yet. It was absolutely clear, the wind had died down to what can actually described as a pleasant sea breeze and it was just perfect. This would also be our easiest day of hiking as the sections of boulders were just a few, and not long stretches. We had to cross numerous pinch points, where the cliffs met the coast with a narrow strip of beach for us to hike on. Since we were hiking on the receding tide, this was not a worry for us. We enjoyed exploring the rocks, looking at the crustaceans embedded in them, and the ever changing shoreline. The surface we were hiking on was constantly changing too, it would be packed sand for a few meters, followed by rocks, then loose gravel, loose sand. Until the last 2 miles, this change was our constant. We took breaks at Shipman Creek and at Gitchell Creek where we had lunch and I soaked my feet in the creek to say thank you for supporting me all these miles on the ever-changing surfaces. We chatted with fellow hikers, took a long rest here and then set off for the final 3 miles. The last section, was thankfully the easiest, wide beach mostly packed sand. We could see the town and the rock which marked the end of the trail. This energized me and gave me a boost to pick up my hiking pace. By 3pm, we were done, having hiked 9 miles for the day. 

Gitchell Creek

The last mile

The total hike was 27 miles, and we did it in 3 days, with 18 hours of hike and rest in total, not counting the time in camps. There were hikers with all sorts of agendas, we met a couple who were doing this hike out and back in 5.5 days, another 2 runners who started at 7:30am and were expecting to be done by evening. We met a group of friends and their dogs who were hiking from Shelter Cove to Big Flat, and were planning to enjoy 3 days there and hike back. We saw groups hike with a guide, groups who showed up at the BLM office to snag walk up permits. We saw people who were hiking this trail for the 4th or 5th times, as well as lots of newbies like ourselves. This diversity of people, all of whom had a common love of hiking and nature, was interesting and inspiring. 

 I want to enumerate the blessings that made this hike possible for me - all the advances in the field of astronomy, the work of the BLM folks in maintaining the bluff sections and the lovely campsites, the luck we had in securing permits, the low rains this year which meant creeks were easily passable, the favorable tide tables, Aruna's company which provided comfort, security and friendship, and many more. I am deeply grateful for the privilege of having been able to hike on this stretch of untamed coast. 

Click here to see all my photos.