Lost Coast Trail: Yo-Yo Day 1

Lost Cost Trail Yo-Yo
Day 1, July 15th, 12.4 Miles

Summer loving, it happened so fast, summer loving... having a blast!

Well, it is summer and it is a lovely summer at that, so those lyrics remain true, but the one discrepancy here is the “so fast” part, we intend to fully flip that line on its head directly onto our slow, sitting down and taking in the view, behinds.

The Lost Coast Trail has been on the radar for a long time, and finally we puzzle-pieced it into our itinerary, so without any further ado and any further metaphors, puns, similes, or any sneaky hyperboles here it is, the Lost Coast Trail!

The morning began with breaking camp, having stayed at Mettole Campground (almost exactly at the terminus) the night before. Packing up and leaving our car at the TH, we set our sights on the Lost Coast. We would be doing a yo-yo of the trail due to it only being 50~ miles round trip as well as we would rather use our own two legs to get back and avoid a $200 shuttle.

This trail began with a blast! Soft sand walking, wonderful single track when it tucked into the cliff sides, and a much needed sighting of multiple elephant seals around the lighthouse 3 miles in. West coast beach living at its finest!

Watching the seals for more than an hour we finally had to pull ourselves away to get through the “impassible high tide” zone ahead. It was not over exaggerated. Do not attempt at high tide! As we neared Randall Creek the end of the zone we were timing waves to run around cliff bands and it was still 2hrs until peak high tide!

Sitting on Randall Beach safe from being swept out to sea we watched as the bluff we had just got around got completely engulfed in water in the next 20 minutes. Study your tide charts, know your pace, and build in extra time for slow soft sand and rock stepping, you don’t want to be caught in these tidal zones.

After a long lunch we cruised the next few miles of intermixed single track, beach walking, and a surprising two track, until we arrived at Kinsey Creek. It was only 3:30pm~ and well it was getting late, about time to call camp if you ask us!

Finding a beach front campsite, we laid in the sand, hopped in the freezing surf, read from a book we packed out, and fully integrated ourselves into the vacation lifestyle of backpacking. Vastly different than our usual “vacation” lifestyle of thru-hiking. A long chat ensued about the differences of backpacking and thru-hiking as the sun set below the horizon.

We have been burning the miles, travel, and yes believe it or not, stress of life so hard and so fast for so long now, we didn’t know how much we just needed a breath.

Today was that breath.