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| Hike route for post - pics (red dots) |
START HERE - THE LOST COAST PART 1
... continued from part 7
As we left the
parking lot and hit the trail, it struck me that I had not been back to a beach
on the Pacific Ocean for over 25 years - this caused a sort of breathlessness for me.
As a kid we went to the beach quite often and it was one of those things you got used
to doing and didn’t think much about it – it was always present in my life. I reminisced, as I am prone to do, about RAT
beach from my youth. RAT stood for Right
After Torrance and it butted up against Palos Verdes (PV), CA where we lived. It had a good wave break for my red and blue
raft, cold water, nice sand and the occasional tar ball stucking to my feet (Dad would use turpentine to remove them after we got home –
this was naturally occurring tar that seeped out of the rocks around PV). I loved the beach then and I love it now – only now
I have 45lbs on my back and I am wearing hiking boots ill-suited for sand. But the smell of the ocean and hearing the powerful
surf breaking was soothing – just what I came here for. There was also lots of decomposing kelp whips and
leaves that had washed up giving the air a slightly sour fragrant smell (It was
just as I remembered). Of course they looked
like eels or giant spermatozoa that washed ashore from a horrifically large sea monster - the Gargantuas maybe. Occasionally one of us would trip or stumble
on one adding to the humor.
Whitey took the point, Flyrod was next and I followed at the back (stayed this way the entire hike - natural order of things) – I liked to dawdle along and
didn’t want to hold anyone up. Each one
of us was alone in our own space, able to connect with nature or ourselves. Our goal for the day was to reach Randall
Creek for night one. It was 8.8 miles away – easily reached before dark and before the high tide made a section
past Punta Gorda Light impassible. We felt
good and were having fun.
The first couple
miles of the trail is on the beach – in the sand and yes rather difficult to
walk on. The curious thing about this sand
is that it is round. Let me explain –
the grains of sand do not have sharp edges that lock into the grain of sand next
to them. They just roll past each other
as pressure is applied by a hiking boot.
There is no sweet spot of damp compacted sand near the shore that makes it easier to
walk - so you just plow through.
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| North - Cape Medocino |
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| Ocean Power - BOOM! |
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| Flyrod, Jagman, Whitey - no pain yet. |
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To the North,
jutting out into the Pacific is Cape Mendocino (click any photo to enlarge)– the farthest point West
in the continental US. It gives California
that distinctive curve to the North at the top of the state.
The 2273ft high Mt. Blank is the large mountain just to the right with a touch of green near the top. There is an annual 100 mile bike race from Ferndale,
CA – the Tour of the Unknown - that includes a climb up the ridge of Cape Mendocino, the next hill over from
Mt. Blank, affectionately called the Wall. It has an
18-22% grade - maybe some other time.
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| Flyrod |
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| Windy Point - 823ft |
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| Whitey - Punta Gorda -516ft |
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Thankfully there are some points of the trail that give the wobbly ankles a break as the trail moves up to compacted dunes that are much easier to walk on. There are some truly impressive hills that seemingly grow out of the ocean - Windy Point was perhaps my favorite up to this point. It rose into the deep blue sky and guarded this stretch of the beach - making me feel very small. Apparently there is a road, Windy Point Road (clever), that goes to the top of this hill. The view must be fantastic- it certainly was from below. Punta Gorda up ahead is a notorious point for shipwrecks (St Paul - steamer -1905) back before we had the reliable engines and navigation aids that mariners enjoy today. A lighthouse was built but was decommissioned in 1951. Now it makes a great stopping point for pictures and lunch.
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| Tide Pool |
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| Tide Pools and Punta Gorda Light |
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| Incoming tide and CA Brown Pelican |
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| Fourmile Creek -cross at log |
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| Punta Gorda Light - Whitey & Flyrod |
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| Angry Pacific - windy off the point -the windshear line is visible in distance |
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One the greatest things about West coast beaches are the abundance of tides pools. As a kid I just loved climbing around the pools found at Point Fermin near the Carbrillo Marine Aquarium where my mother volunteered. It seemed so magical that all these creatures would live in sequestration until the incoming tide freed some of them or flushed in new visitors (food) for the more stationary anemones and mussels. There are some exceptional tide pools around the Punta Gorda Light - so take some time to peak inside them to see what is waiting. Watch for the rogue waves!!
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| What is impassible at high tide? |
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| Artsy shot - blue was outrageous |
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| Poor lonely lighthouse keeper - me |
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After an exciting lunch - tuna package with relish, pita bread and a cliff bar - we loaded the packs back on and returned to the task at hand - 5.1 miles to go before setting up camp for the night. The temperature rose quite a bit after heading slightly Southeast from Punta Gorda. We were now on the leeward side of the point so the cooling effect of the Northerly wind was diminished significantly. This would be the pattern for the next couple days - but yeah no rain - great temps - it was perfect weather!
Inn of the Lost Coast web cam pic.
Up next - Part 9 - The Lost Coast Trail - Day 1 - Punta Gorda Light to...
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