Lost Coast Info? Buck and others

“Would like some info on the Lost Coast, specifically what time of year is best to go as far as weather is concerned? I understand that the weather can be iffy no matter what time of year I go, but if there's a month or two that are calmer than others....
Also are Dogs allowed?”

“Hola, Paige! I've been to the Lost Coast every month of the year and my personal favorite time is in winter. I especially love January and February, but it can get brutal. But it can also be in the 70's in winter too. You never know. But for sheer beauty and nice weather, I would say March-May is best. The grasses are lush green and the flowers are blooming and the temperatures are typically sweet. You can usually have driftwood fires on the beach during this time too. Later in the summer they ban fires because even on the beach the wind picks up embers and deposits them up on the dry, grassy slopes and it's a fire hazard. In Spring, if you hit it right after a good rain storm there are waterfalls everywhere. Poison oak and ticks are bad though.

The northern section, which is the beach route between the Mattole River and Shelter Cove, allows dogs. I take mine all the time and they love it. My dogs hike a lot and still their feet get tender sometimes from the sand, so keep that in mind. Booties might be a good idea to bring for them. The black sand there is pretty brutal on the paws. The best way to hike the northern route is a full thru hike from Mattole River to Black Sands Beach, which is about 25 miles of beach hiking, but the shuttle is very lengthy. Otherwise you can hike from the Matthole River to Cooskie Creek and beyond and then back out the same way, or from Shelter Cove you could hike north to Shipman Creek or beyond and back out. You could also do a ridge route down Horse Mountain Creek and to the beach and back up Buck Creek or something, but I prefer the beach route and I'll hike up the ridge trails a bit just for nice views.

The southern section is the Sinkyone Wilderness, which is a State Park, which is very beautiful too, with lots of Roosevelt Elk. The trail there is much more strenuous as you hike up and down drainages mostly along the cliffs with a few beach access points. It's designated camping and no dogs allowed. I prefer the freedom of the northern section beach route. Fresh water is plentiful year round and there's nothing like sleeping on the beach.

I've got a few images of the northern section here http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=295463
last edited: 10/18/05 3:35:10 AM”

“As usual, good info, Buck - somewhere I've been meaning to check out, as well.

One of these days, Paige, I'll have to quiz you on your JMT trip this past summer. I'm considering taking BowlderSon (age 10 now) on a similar trip, although I think we'd split the trail in 2 and do it over 2 summers.”

“Paige, I would like to go if you do the Lost Coast. Been on my list for a while now.”

“Buck Thanks for the info, just what I needed, guess I'll wait for spring then if I love it immensly I will return in winter to enjoy its season also.

Bowlderman Perfect age for kids and backpacking, that's the age my daughter really started to enjoy the longer trips. I'd be happy to answer any questions. My daughter has some good food tips! ;)
feel free to e-mail me any time
paigefalk at sbcglobal dot net

Songbyrd I already had you in mind :) I did a search on Lost Coast and saw that you were interested in a previous trip. How's spring sound? I was thinking it would be good to hire a shuttle so we don't spend a whole day shuttling. Also was thinking of taking 3 days to hike it, perhaps 4.”

“I'd like to me on the 'maybe' list, too. I did the northern beach route back in the late '70s. It is beautiful.”

“Thanks Paige - I'll organize my thoughts and email you one of these days....”

“"Buck Creek" ?? Are you naming stuff after yourself again? : P

The Lost Coast sounds so cool.”

“Hopefully somebody will find it so it can be enjoyed....”

“Huh? I'm lost. : p”

“I have some maps of the trail posted on Webshots.

The first in the series is here..
http://community.webshots.com/photo/18786349/33279332CioSzQ”

“wannabp I'll keep you posted, we'd probably do the Northern Route, seems the best bet. March would probably be the month, I'll pick a date in a month or so and get back to you. I will probably post it over on NCH.
Buck Forgot to mention that I have already seen your photos from Lost Coast, actually I've seen all your photos on Photo.net, I get tons of inspiration from your shots.
Steve Thanks for the link, so you've hiked the trail?”

“Sounds good. Except that I don't think I'm a part of NCH. Please not the 2nd or 3rd Thursday of the month, if possible. Those are near-non-negotiable work days.”

“Hey Paige..

Yea, we did several of our 10 day trips with the kids there. Bucks comments were spot on. The North end is a great, leisurely hike. We would time it so the schools were in...didnt want the boys to have to deal with all the bikinis ;-) There is a definite increase in hikers when schools out. Watch out for the poison oak, it looks like ground cover. We always did the beach route.

I loved the Sinkyone's, really beautiful. Kinda reminded me of Jurassic Park. It is a bit of a beater with all the up and down hiking.

I do miss the area, beach's have their own magic....I may have to get out there again soon.
last edited: 10/18/05 8:07:34 PM”

“Wannabp I'll e-mail you when I get a firm date and I'll probably go for a Sat-Monday. I thought you were a member of Nor Cal Hiking, you should sign up we have a lot of trips that you might be interested in.
Steve We'll try to go when school's in and avoid the poison oak, that means the dogs stay home :( I'll post a note when I have it all firmed up, perhaps you can join us.”

“March sounds great. Let me know what you want me to do in helping to plan. Saturday- Monday is OK w/ me as long as I get it on the work calander in advance.”

“Hi everyone, I would love to go with you guys in the spring.

I have a friend here now at my place and he is going there next week. He called the Bureau of Land Management & they gave him a number for a shuttle. They told him it would be $185. Do you know anywhere else he can get it cheaper?”

“hikerchickster, that's what it costs and I don't think there's many options. It's a bear of a shuttle. If I were your friend and I was going solo, I would just go in and out instead of the full thru-hike. Or if I had the time and wanted to thru-hike, I would start at the Mattole River and take 3 days to hike the 25 miles to Shelter Cove, then turn around and crank out the return trip in a little over a day. I've seen some people day hike the entire trip but they just had light day packs. It's not a good place to try and hitchhike because the auto traffic is light and the trailheads are out of the way.”

“Couldn't we leave a vehicle at each end? I guess it depends on how many of us are going though.”

“I thought I had saved Nor Cal Hiking, but I can't find it. A search only turns up Nor Cal Canine Hikers...........

Yahoo maps says 5 hours from my town to Petrolia, the town nearest the northern TH.”

“Hikerchic, I'd love to hike with you again.”

“Songbyrd Yeah we could leave a car at each end, but it is very time consuming so unless we wanted to take another day off I don't think it's the best bet. I'd rather pay a bit then take another day off work, chances are we'll be able to split the costs between all that go. It is one thing I will look into when I have firmed up a date.
WannabpHere's the link to NorCalHiking http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthCA_Hiking/?yguid=208406629
you already missed a trip to Ten Lakes this month ;) and we have trips coming up to Pt. Reyes and Penner Lake, also check out the Sierra Trail Crew Marijauna Clean-up in Big Basin.
Hikerchic5 Send me your e-mail and I'll keep you in the loop. paigefalk at sbcglobal dot net
last edited: 10/20/05 5:22:34 PM”

“Thanks, Paige. It turns out I did have it saved, but it comes up with Yahoo first and I was looking for NorthernCA. Anyway, I registered and am awaiting approval.

Where's Ten Lakes? Marijuana clean-up? I'm not asking.......”

“Glad you registered!

Ten Lakes is off Tioga Road in Yosemite, we went for the last weekend you could park your car overnight on the road for the season.
Marijauna Clean-up is in Big Basin(near Santa Cruz, go figure), the link is in the post titled so at NCH, basically it's a volunteer clean-up of the area where pot was grown, the authorities have cleaned out the weed and we're going in to clean up the mess that the growers left behind. I signed up, figure it's about time I give something back to nature.”

“hey buckster, thanks for the info. He's going to do pretty much what you said. That was one of his options, anyway.Thanks again!

Hi wannabp! I miss everyone! My ankle is still not totally healed. Geez, it takes so long. I hate it!

paige thank you for getting this started. My email is hikerchic5@yahoo.com”