Dates: May 19-29
People:
Tim Dixon
Josh
Kiel
James
And Andy!
Where and what:
Andy and I arrived in San Francisco Thursday morning with some time to kill waiting on the others to arrive. We picked up our rental car and drove around San Francisco looking for something to do. Along the way we saw a cruise ship dropping people off. Both Andy and I thought the ship was a building at first because it was so huge. Afterwards we noticed the section of town with the extremely steep hills and decided to explore. We drove straight up what was probably the steepest grade I have ever driven, and then came across the famous windy road where all the tourists thought it would be a good idea to stand in the middle of the intersection blocking traffic. After snapping a quick photo, we drove down the curvy road.
Curvy road with Cruise ship in background.
Afterwards we enjoyed some excellent sushi, picked up Josh and James, and did some gear shopping before heading north to the trailhead where we would meet our big bag of medical grade marij...I mean Kiel. In the morning, we packed up and walked over to see the beach...
while Josh put on his track suit and started dancing like he was in a club. I guess that's what they do in Miami. After explaining to the natives that we were part of Make a Wish Foundation and Josh wanted to hike the Lost Coast before succumbing to severe miamaclubitis, we drove down the windiest road to the south trailhead to begin our journey.
That picture above is from Black Sands Beach in Shelter Cove, the start of the trail. Look down the coast as far out as you can and you aren't even looking 1/6th of the way to our destination.
After snagging a few pictures, we were headed North. At first we walked right next to the water, quickly realizing how stupid this was when a rogue wave hit every one of us. The problem was that if you hiked too far away from the water, your foot would sink way down into the dry sand making each step a struggle, but too close and the occasional high wave would get you wet. This prompted us to come up with a signal for when any of us noticed a big wave coming in. Our code word for wave was "WOOT WOOT!" This would be heard approximately 4,532 times in the next 2 days.
Our first "boulder break" was here. (want to guess how we came up with the term "boulder break"?) Here we talked to a lady with her dog on their trip south, and Andy found his new hobby, beach sculptures:
Camp 1 ended up being only 4 miles into the hike since we started late and weren't conditioned to the beach walking yet. We set up the tent, ate some food,
enjoyed the sunset, and
just chilled for the night. Day 2 was going to be an 8 mile hike to the next camp but after stopping for a break,
we determined to stick it out for 13.5 miles so we could have a shorter hike the next day.
Halfway through the day we took a siesta away from the sun in a homemade driftwood/tarp shelter. After some much needed rest and refueling we set out again. When we got about 4 miles away from our destination, I was walking like a zombie, completely out of energy from the constant sand walking and no shade situation, but for some reason "Sister Christian" by Nightranger entered my head and gave me the energy to finish the hike. We all had a good laugh at this and for the rest of the night, and trip for that matter, we would occasionally sing the chorus. We set up in probably the worst campsite on the whole trail, which was a natural windtunnel that kept me awake all night by making the tent pole slap me in the head repeatedly all night. The next day we walked into the gale force winds along the coast for 8.5 miles. Because of the wind this section seemed much harder than the 13 mile day. I forgot to mention that we saw a whale the previous day along with a sea lion that may or may not have been dying, and a ton of washed up dead starfish. On this third day we met the rudest sea lion ever, as it just sat in the middle of the trail and wouldn't let us pass.
With the wind and the constant sand/boulder hopping terrain, this ranks up with one of the hardest hikes I have ever done, but it was definitely one of the most beautiful hikes I have been on. I would love to do it again, hiking south this time to avoid the wind problem. Words cannot describe the experience of a 3 day coastal backpacking adventure, so I encourage any of you who enjoy the outdoors to do this hike one day. Let me know when, and I will come with you.
After Arriving at the car, we decided to head to Eureka, Ca to grab some much needed showers and rest. We ate at the Lost Coast Brewery which has some very unique and delicious brews. The next day our goal was Yosemite National Park. Along the way we stopped in a redwood grove:
We camped literally right next to the road in a State Forest near Yosemite so we could get up early and snag up a hard to get campsite in Camp 4. After setting up camp and grabbing some lunch, we decided to take a leisurely stroll up to the top of Yosemite falls: 7 miles round trip and 2700 ft of elevation gain. Here are some pictures along the way:
"I think we're almost the whole way up." (walks around corner) "FUCK!"
Upper Yosemite Falls on the left, Half domeon the right.
Being on top of Yosemite Valley is so amazing. Standing on the edge of a 3000 foot cliff and looking over it gives you such a rush. My favorite thing to do is sit on the cliff with my feet dangling off the edge. I have seen many pictures of Yosemite Valley by many excellent photographers and none of these photos can give you the same feeling of standing in this landscape. Whether you like the outdoors or not, please come here and see one of the most amazing places on earth. You will thank me later.
The others headed down to camp while Andy and I spent as much time up top as we could. On our way down we learned that someone up top was injured. We never found out how they got out. Because that hike wore most of us out, we decided to take it easy the next day. Everybody did their own thing. Jamie and Andy went to Mariposa Grove, Kiel disappeared to the car, and Josh sat around camp. I filled out some postcards and explored the valley.
I returned to camp to enjoy some drinks and Josh's special brownies with Josh while we waited on the others. When they came back, we headed to the store to pick up dinner. While in the camp store the radio played "Sister Christian" by Nightranger, giving us all a good laugh before heading back to camp. Due to my previous activities with Josh, it took me a long time to stop laughing from the whole situation. This was definitely one of my favorite moments of the trip. The following day we stopped by Hetch Hetchy on our way to Santa Cruz. Hetch Hetchy is pretty much a copy of Yosemite Valley but with a reservoir in the middle of it.
In Santa Cruz, I decided to separate from the group while they played disc golf so I could do some exploring. I went to the warf to schedule a fishing trip, walked the boardwalk, and taunted the sea lions on the pier before enjoying some Andy's seafood.
The next day I went fishing for King Salmon on a yacht. I apologize for the lack of pictures but I was afraid to take my camera out on deck since the seas were very rough that day. On this journey I caught 2 king salmon (only one on the entire boat to catch any). My favorite part of the trip was not the fishing, however. A humpback whale jumped out of the water not far from the ship, and a blue whale, the biggest animal in the whole world, poked his head out right next to the boat. I knew that blue whales are huge, but I had no idea how huge until seeing one. After rejoining the group we headed to San Fran to await our travel home. Here's the only picture from the boat I was fishing from:
This definitely was an amazing trip. I would like to thank all of those who went along to make it so much fun. I can't wait to do it again.
