The Lost Coast

As a kid I had so many great adventures at the beach.  Scaling rock walls, searching through tide pools for the biggest crab, and generally having a good old time.  My fondest memory of the Oregon coast is of a time when my father and I went down to our favorite beach,  a private one just next to Cannon Beach.  The  actual beach is unaccessible from the road and thus does not get much traffic.

We snuck down a hidden path that was built by the owners of the property bordering the beach, and headed for the ocean.  This beach was and is amazing!  Sea life galore, with tons of sand dollars and starfish all around you.  It is also a haven for wash up debris and driftwood.  On occasion we had built the quick lean-to shelter on the beaches of Oregon, but this time we decided to go big.

We started with three big logs as a base, making out three walls for out fort/shelter.  Then we began to gather up any piece of driftwood that we could find and stacked them, in log cabin fashion, on each side of the shelter, carefully using smaller and smaller pieces of wood and brining the walls closer and closer together, in a kind of teepee form.  Once the walls connected at the top we had a shelter, minus a few adjustments and rocks to fill in the gaps.  We built a fire and hung out in our little "cabin by the sea", enjoying life and all the thrills of being near the ocean.

Based on these great childhood memories,  I have always wanted to do a backpacking trip on the coast, but there are so few wilderness areas near the ocean that my dream did not seem to have a good possibility of coming true.  However, recently I was searching for a new location to zero in on for a backpacking trip and I stumbled upon the California BLM's website and a page highlighting the beauty of the Lost Coast.

It is located near Humbolt county and is west of Eureka CA.  The King Mountain Range butts up to the ocean here and makes the coast here a near impassible location for land developers and highway development.  It is 85 miles of coastline that is nearly completely free of vehicle access and the closest thing to a coastal wilderness area that the west coast has to offer, other than the Olympic Peninsula  in Washington State.

The section that I want to travel starts 24 miles north of Shelter Cove CA.The trail is mainly cut through the close coast line which means alot of beach treking, but im ready for it!  The wildlife is supposed to be unmatched anywhere on the west coast, with tons of seals, sea lions, crabs, shelfish, and other mammals.

Another cool aspect of the Lost Coast is its many abandoned structures.  Neat places to explore or retro-fit for a shelter.  Its so remote that the usual hikers and weekend enthusiasts should not be in evidence once you get a few miles from the trail head.

I am making it my number one next hike, or at least one that I will do in the next year when I have the time and the funds.  I have been trying to get together with my dad for such an occasion fir the past few years and I think it would be an ideal place to reconnect with my roots/childhood.  I hope to go this coming summer, 2011.

I have read that there are tons of bears, but since my experience in Yosemite,  I think I am ready for them!  I can't wait to sea scavenge and search for mussels and clams for my cook pot!  Maybe I;ll even throw in a crab or two!  Thats the one difference from hiking in the mountains,  there is always food available to find and it is generally easy to obtain.  I think I will also bring my fishing pole and see if I can't land me a wopper for dinner some evening.  Fresh fish is one of the best meals one can have on a backpacking adventure!

All in all I think that it will be a memorable trip and will bring me back to the beginning, a boy by the sea, staring at the waves from his driftwood mansion,  content with what was, what is, and what is to come.

Disappointing home stores

Recently my wife gave me my Anniversary gift.  It consisted of camping gear,  mostly consisting of items that I either already had or didn't need.  One item was great though,  a Gerber Machete with nylon case.  A bit over the top,  and really not something that I will ever need on a backpacking trip, but none-the-less awesome!

When I was a kid I lived in Tigard Oregon and my house backed up to a school which also had a large forest attached to it's property.  I used to spend hours in that forest with my friend Joseph,  building forts, fashioning spears from sticks,  and overall relishing the woods and my boyhood freedom.  Some of my best memories of that time are attached to my fathers machete.

I found it in the garage one day and asked if I could use it.  Of course, being the responsible dad, he gave it to me to mess around with, along with instructions to be careful.  I would spend hours in the woods carving paths through the underbrush,  pretending I was Indiana Jones, or Davy Crocket.

So, it goes without saying that when I got my anniversary gift,  I couldn't help but keep the Machete,  even though I will probably never use it.  All of the other gifts (one double sided fork/spoon aside) I returned to the total of 62$,  which I planned to take with me to the proverbial "outdoorsman's candy shop," REI, and purchase a few things that I have been needing, or wanting.

As stated in my previous post I have been trying to go lighter with my backpacking load and so I figured that I would start with a trial.  I was planning to get a cheap 20$ hammock that they advertised online to attempt a trip with solely a hammock as my sleeping arrangements,  just to see if I could handle it.  I of course had other ideas of things that I could purchase if in event the hammock was not in stock.  My list looked a little like this:

1. Black Diamond Head Lamp (due to my lack of a quality light source after my other headlamp kicked the bucket)
2. Hammock
3. Liquid fuel stove
4. MSR Dromedary Bag, 2 Liter
5. Vibram Fivefinger Classics
6. Vibram Fivefinger Treksports
7.  Titanium Cookware (Snow Peak or REI Ti-ware)

I proceeded through the store, searching for the hammock first.  I found after asking that they did not have it in stock.  I tried to locate a 2 liter MSR dromedary bag to no avail.  I scoured the store landscape for a liquid fuel stove or titanium cookware that would serve my needs while not being overpriced.  And lastly,  I went to the footwear department and inquired after my favorite shoes.

After about an hour and a half I gave up, threw in the towel, and purchased a cheap Black Diamond head lamp.  I had not found any of the things on my list except the most trivial item,  although it is probably the most needed for my next adventure.  I was disheartened and decided that from now on I will simply shop online, even though a picture is never as good as the real thing.

Hopefully by spring I will have all of the things on my list and I will be able to truly decrease the weight that I have been lugging around for the past few years.  It will be amazing to have my pack under thirty pounds including perishables for a 2-3 day trip,  and I can't help but think that my back and feet (due to the lack of support given by the Fivefingers)  will be better off for it.

So, in conclusion...........Buy me camping gear or give me money for birthdays, holidays, or any other reason that you can think of!!!!!!  Gear is expensive,  but in the long run worth it.