Where is the Lost Coast? and Our Lost Coast Journey

The southern end of the Lost Coast is about 45 miles north of Mendocino as shown in the map on the left. It's the largest stretch of roadless coastline in the continental United States. When you see the ruggedness of the mountains there, you understand why Highway 1 turns inland - it was impossible to build a road along the coastline.

The map on the right shows the route we took. We backpacked the entire 52 miles of the Lost Coast Trail, starting at Mattole Beach in the north and walking south to Usal Campground. From Mattole to Shelter Cove, you are near the ocean the entire time. The second half from Shelter Cove to Usal Campground takes you into the mountains through some stretches of old growth forest.

Walking Along the Beach

The first half of our trip was in the King Range BLM Wilderness and we spent much of our time walking along the beach or on grassy flats above the cliffs along the ocean. The sand was almost black in color.

Narrow Passage

We carefully planned our trip around the timing of the low tides as some parts of the trail, such as this narrow point, are impassable unless it's low tide. Much of the coastline is bordered by high, near vertical cliffs, leaving no escape route if the tide or a rogue wave comes in.

Roiling Sea

We began our trip on the tail end of a strong spring storm (remember the impressive electrical storm in April? that was our first night camping on the beach). Although the skies were clearing, the ocean was still turbulent from the storm. It was impressive and intimidating to walk along the beach next to the huge breaking waves.

Double Rainbow

Although the storm had mostly cleared, we still got a little rain on our first day. Luckily it happened after we had set up our tents and we were even treated to a double rainbow, which, of course, reminded my backpacking companions of the viral youtube video, Double Rainbow (warning: it's an acquired taste).

Beach Trash

Inspired by my artist friends, Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang, who collect beach trash and make art of it, I decided to photograph every piece of beach trash we encountered. There was surprisingly little on the Lost Coast. Sorry Judith and Richard - I didn't haul this trash out - I practiced the wilderness mantra of" take only pictures, leave only footprints."

Dead Sea Creatures

More than trash washes up on the beach such as these unusual dead sea creatures: a fish head without a body (a grouper?) and an octopus body without a head.

Spanish Flat

We walked for miles through a lovely meadow on a blluff above the beach named Spanish Flat on our second day. We tried to time our trip to see the wildflowers in bloom and were rewarded with this field of poppies with a few lupines and vast clusters of irises.

Native Calypso Orchid

We were lucky to see California's native orchid in bloom during the second half of our trip as we hiked through the forested mountains of Sinkyone Wilderness State Park.

Roosevelt Elk

Our shuttle driver, Sheri, told us we might see Roosevelt Elk in the southern part of the Lost Coast and we were lucky to see this herd of females with their young - there must have been at least 30. Roosevelt Elk are the largest elk in North America (males up to 1,100 pounds, females up to 640 pounds) and were nearly hunted to extinction. Due to conservation efforts, they now thrive in the various parks on Humboldt County.

Climbing around a Fallen Tree

The trail has numerous hazards and annoyances such as ticks, poison oak, washed out trails and fallen trees. The poison oak was just starting to leaf out and it seemed to be everywhere during some stretches of the trail. We were regularly picking ticks off of each other and nightly tick checks were a must. Budget cuts have made trail maintenance a low priority so we often had to scramble around large trees that had fallen across the already eroded and steep trail. This was one of the more challenging hikes we all had been on in a long time.

Bear Harbor View

We had a lovely campsite in the grass along a stream in Bear Harbor and it was an easy walk out to the ocean where these sculptural rocks were pounded by the sea. Bear Harbor was the site of a booming lumber operation at the turn of 20th century and you can still see the remnants of the railway that carried logs down the mountains onto a dock where they were loaded onto schooners.

View of Rugged Coastline

Looking back at the mountainous coastline we hiked along. It was a profound and rewarding journey.

A short 2 1/2-minute video of high tide effects, sea lions, Roosevelt elk, a rope swing and more.

(you may have to wait a few minutes for video to load)