By: Stephanie Cooper
Walking along the shoreline, I noticed an adult, male elephant seal to my left (once back in cell service I learned he likely clocked in at somewhere around 3,500 pounds). As I did my best to give him a wide berth, we locked eyes and he belted what I can only describe as the sound Chewbacca makes in Star Wars.
I may have screamed and reacted by running (read: quickly waddled) with my 40-lb backpack further away from the seal. Turns out sleeping seals look a whole lot like giant rocks lying on the beach and I found myself running into another.
Now I felt like a ping-pong ball trapped between multiple massive creatures that move faster than they get credit for. As my friends lovingly laughed at my terror, I made it past, and got to revel in knowing they had to navigate the seal landmine course next.
This encounter was just the beginning of a four-day adventure filled with laughter, epic scenery, and what we later coined the “Sketchy Seven”: ticks, impassable tidal zones, poison oak, elephant seals and sea lions, bears, rattlesnakes, and cougars.
About four months before, I snagged a permit to hike the Lost Coast Trail (LCT) along a wild and remote section of the Northern California coast.
I didn’t personally know anyone who had hiked it, but felt capable of completing the trail having had years of professional and personal experience on multi-day backcountry trips. I invited my two wonderful friends Alex and Ashley to join me, and after exchanging many texts ensuring we had everything we needed, we set off from Salt Lake City, Utah to Shelter Cove, California.
My nature is to prepare - I research, and learn all I can to ensure I have a fun and safe experience. New to me, was needing to pay close attention to the tide charts.
There are three impassable tidal zones along the LCT that should only be traveled when the tides are low enough. The last two are both four miles along narrow, rocky beaches, so you certainly want to plan accordingly.
As we drove towards the coast I checked the tide charts, which I had been told to do since they can change within days. I saw that the high tide during the end of our trip increased from what we had originally planned for.
This combined with the information I had been given from a trusted source left me unsure how we would be able to make it through safely, and the last thing I wanted was for our group to be put in danger.
Driving into Shelter Cove, my anxiety was high. Luckily, the host at our accommodations is a seasoned veteran of the LCT, having built REI Experience’s guided LCT backpacking program. (Highly recommend checking out Lost Coast Adventure Tours as your one stop shop for guides, shuttles, and accommodations for the area.)
Blu is his name, and he was gracious enough to spend an hour reviewing our itinerary with us. He quickly, and kindly, let me know that I was over-complicating the whole process. I took a moment and decided I should trust the local with 15 years of experience in the area, who already completed 4 trips on the trail this year. (Can you tell I struggle with trust? haha).
Blu explained our ‘trusted source’ was far more conservative than was necessary which was counterproductive because it offered the opportunity for me to lean into my anxiety. Grateful to have my worries relieved, our trio now had a collective plan.
The next morning, we met with our shuttle driver, who happens to be Blu’s brother, and a group of clean, anticipatory hikers at the trailhead. We endured a windy, two-hour drive that ended at Mattole Trailhead where we set off for our adventure in the fog and rain.
It was eerie not being able to see anything out towards the ocean other than the waves crashing against the beach, but also serene and cozy. Sometimes we walked on the bluffs, dodging poison oak and brushing through tall grass where the ticks would jump onto our pants and take a free ride until we flicked them away. Spraying our gear with permethrin would have been a solid choice!
By afternoon, the fog burned off and we made it to Punta Gorda Lighthouse where we ran into our seal friends. From there we cruised on through the first four-mile impassable zone. First day hunger was real once at camp for the night. We spent the evening enjoying Heather’s Choice Smoked Sockeye Salmon Chowder.
Back in January 2020, I met Heather on a Grand Canyon River Rafting trip where she shared her Packaroons. I have since preferred taking her products on trips when I want food that is delicious, lightweight, quick to make, and has clean ingredients – everything I have tried from Heather’s Choice fits this bill.
My favorites are the Grass-Fed Bison Chili (well-rounded flavor with a kick that I enjoyed despite my general dislike of spicy food), Morning Glory Oatmeal (sweet flavors with a surprising, but cool addition of chopped carrots), and Blueberry Almond and Lemon Lavender Packaroons (a great energy boost on the trail that is sweet, but not overly).
At camp, we hung out with our fellow hikers, which ended up being one of the things I enjoyed the most. We met a young woman from L.A. hiking solo in place of drinking, a group of three from So. Cal who were there to fish from the beach, and an adventurous family of four from Colorado that always looked out for us. These folks became our people along the trail and I enjoyed spending my evening with now familiar faces, laughing and telling stories at camp.
We spent three more days hiking on the beaches and bluffs, flicking ticks off our pants, viewing the insane amounts of wildlife from birds, to bear tracks, to baby seals, and swapping stories with our trail-mates. We walked off the trail at Black Sands Beach feeling nothing short of accomplished. This was a feat for each of us, and without a doubt we will be back to experience the Lost Coast again.
Stephanie loves spending as much time outside as possible. Born and raised in Utah, she dedicated 6 years to working in recreation development for the Bureau of Land Management and the past 2 years guiding adults struggling with mental health on therapeutic backpacking trips. She believes in the healing power of time spent in nature coupled with a strong connection to a community, and has since transitioned back to academia to work on a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. When Stephanie is not at work or studying, you can find her spending time with family, (depending on the season) hiking or skiing with her adventurous pup Moki, fishing with her partner, or planning a future adventure with friends.
