Moments in Dirt and Ink

Shasta-Trinity National Forest ( map link ) I got back from the Lost Coast and found out the Bigfoot Trail Alliance would have a three day trail work outing in a few days. (Ah, Facebook, always such a "great" way to find out about things. For better results, sign up for the mailing list at BFTA .) There's also three other trips lasting a week plus coming up in July and August. Wednesday, 17 May We were camped out at Ripstein Campground and met up for work at the Trinity Alps's only paved trailhead, about a mile further up the road. Two trails leave from there. Canyon Creek might be the most popular trail in these Alps. I'm going to guess that all the waterfalls marked on the map might be part of the attraction. We were going up Bear Creek, which the Bigfoot Trail follows, aiming at the high crest. At 6400 feet, we were expecting to be stopped by snow first. After waivers signed and safety discussed and tools dispersed, we headed up the trail. We found...

King Range National Conservation Area, Arcata BLM (brown line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6  |  DAY 7 With just a short way to go and since it takes a long time for the sun to get over the hills, I took a while to get started. Powerhouse and fuel tank in the morning light and a bit of processing to see what's happening in the shadows. In fact, the first hikers of the day came by just after I finished packing and wandered over to the sign about elephant seals. Listening to their strange clacking noises and thinking how I'd now seen them in very different seasons (October before), I wondered when you don't get to see them. The sign promptly answered. August. You don't get to see elephant seals in August. And you might miss them at the end of March. At this time, there should be molting females. I'd seen a few clearly molting and hadn't managed to spot a male. I should have ...

King Range National Conservation Area, Arcata BLM (purple line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6  |  DAY 7 I looked around at how soaked everything was from the dew and decided I had enough water to cook breakfast right there (well, on a rock under the Douglas fir) while waiting for everything to dry out a little. My windbreak trees became morning shade trees, but they were still blocking some strong gusts most excellently, so I wouldn't want to trade them. Good soggy morning! So I headed out on the faint old road to join a much better road until getting pointed off to the left at a gate. Trail gets really faint there, but it's all much easier to follow on the second pass than it was on the first. A bit sunnier, but most spots aren't much drier than they were. After the short road section, follow near the fence on the faint track. If truly desperate for water and it ...

King Range National Conservation Area, Arcata BLM (blue line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6  |  DAY 7 Even high in Bear Hollow Camp, the morning was soggy with dew. I found, again, that if I'm too lazy to extend my poles, I can't have enough room under the tarp for the morning sit-ups. It wasn't cloudy when I got up, but the rising marine layer arrived about the time I left. I had a little over 3L of water in the bag in case it got hot now that I had left the cooling ocean below. The inland areas were set to warm over the next few days, but these peaks weren't looking at quite so much. Still, it can get hot if there's sun reflecting off marine layer. My legs were already tired of crawling and raising at the end by the time I got to the main trail from camp. I proceeded upward with a philosophy that if you don't expect it to get better, you won't be disappointed. I guess there i...

King Range National Conservation Area, Arcata BLM (green line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6  |  DAY 7 No rain, but my tarp was soggy with dew for the morning. A big fat moon sat above the ocean and I realized that except for a brief blurry light in the sky the morning before, I'd seen no sign of the moon at all so far. I breakfasted and packed not intending to head up Horse Mountain Creek Trail after all. I also didn't really care to go up Buck Creek Trail. I figured I'd camp at Randall Creek. I just needed to be reasonably early traveling the impassible zone on the way back to Miller Flat. A delightful tease of sunlight played on a piece of the waves, let in by the window of the canyon of Horse Mountain Creek. Otherwise, I was consumed by the shadow of the cliffs. The short way to Shelter Cove under the morning moonlight. Shadow and sun across the hills ahead as mists p...

King Range National Conservation Area, Arcata BLM (yellow line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6  |  DAY 7 So, my tarping didn't perform so well for the storm. I'd let the one stake go without dropping a rock on it, so I had to get up in the middle of the night and resecure it. There was a rock all of 2 feet away to drop on top of it. That left the foot of my quilt wet on the surface. The wind kept changing direction, but it didn't do so laden with rain until early in the morning. I'd figured I'd just use my poncho for protection if it did that, but hadn't decided how that would work, so it took a while to sort and wasn't very effective when done. I simply pulled it across, hopefully wet side out in the dark. Anyway, things only got moist and it's not down nor particularly cold. The rain seemed to encourage the broadleaved stonecrop flowers to pop open. Big Creek after a ni...

King Range National Conservation Area, Arcata BLM (orange line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6  |  DAY 7 Waves of rain passed in the night and it was dry but windy when I started the day. I needed to make it early because some parts of the trail can only be done at a low tide (below 3 feet, generally, but a couple spots are getting reported as below 2.7 feet now) and the first 4 mile section of this (referred to as the impassible zone) was coming up in 2.4 miles. The low tide was early and one of those especially tight spots is the north side of Randall Creek, the very end of this impassible zone. Yes, the tide would be coming in rather than receding as recommended, but it was a rather flat ocean and I have been here before. I had a pretty hard deadline of noon for the first 6.4 miles, which is tight but really shouldn't be hard to make. However, that rain overnight wasn't the r...

King Range National Conservation Area, Arcata BLM (red line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6  |  DAY 7 Well, an air fryer was obtained and even though this one doesn't have a "dehydrate" button, it turns out beans dehydrate well at 180°F, taking only about 3 hours for a pound. In 3 days, I had 3 pounds of various varieties and it was suddenly much easier to think about going out backpacking. I could try out the Lost Coast Trail the way everyone tells me it should be experienced, then wander back my own way because that shuttle is way too expensive and there's more to see than the beach. The tides would be super low in a couple days and the only weather a brief storm zipping past mostly in the night. Clouds (and storms) make things more interesting. Yeah, that's how it works, right? I decided on doing the biggest loop, so after pounding along the beach from north to south (as the ...