Ozark Highlands Trail

NW Arkansas in the Ozark National Forest

Sections 7 & 8 plus the Buffalo River Trail

Resources – Ozark Highlands Trail Guide by Tim Ernst, Cloudland.net publishers

This is perhaps the best trail guide we have ever used. The maps were so complete that we did not buy a separate map. This is the only trip for which this is true. The map has distances between significant land marks.

Web - http://www.hikearkansas.com/oht_map.html

We flew into Springfield MO airport and drove south past Branson MO and through Harrison AR.

Shuttle was prearranged with

Buffalo River Outfitters.

Route 1, Box 56

St. Joe, Arkansas 72675

Phone:870-439-2244, 1-800-582-2244

http://www.buffaloriveroutfitters.com/

Shuttle And Half Day Hike – 31 March 2006 – Breakfast at the stone bakery in Harrison. Wonderful cinnamon/pecan rolls with eggs. (Colton’s - Good steak house last night with peanut shells on the floor, etc.) Arrived at Buffalo River Outfitters about 8:45. Our shuttle driver was late so we played fetch with the dog. They had us put the car inside a fence to be safe. The shuttle driver was born and raised in the area. Her family owned property “down in that holler”. She dropped us off at Fairview Campground on Highway 7.

We were walking by noon. It rained lightly. We found the actual OHT after a few minutes of reviewing the book/map. This is a walk in the woods. We stopped on a fallen log for lunch and found our first ticks. Took a break next to a stream. Found more ticks. We saw a snake, a few squirrels but few birds today. We had done 5.5 miles by 4:30. We first stopped next to a small creek but Jerry walked on and found a nicer spot near a larger stream in Greenhaw Hollow.

We heard a 2 cycle motor vehicle, dogs and a shot was fired. Don’t know more than that but that was enough to fuel a few imagined scenarios. We ate a very good teriyaki steak with rice dinner. Jerry made a fire and we solved three 5 Minute Mysteries and answered 50 trivia questions. We wanted to sleep under the stars but we could feel the dew forming. We put our sleeping bags under or in plastic. Condensation formed and we had damp sleeping bags by morning.

To Falling Water Creek – 1 April 2006 – Cool when we awoke so not in much of a hurry to get going. Walking by 8:40. Today we saw wild turkey, squirrels and a family in a golf cart with three dogs. We crossed several two tracks and three roads. The afternoon was more rugged, less traveled and less well marked. The hike up from Richland Creek is steep and long. We could have trained a bit harder to get ready. We explored around the old CCC camp. There are still remains of some buildings. We saw a three foot black snake which got our attention. We then heard a strange squeak and followed it to find a frog being eaten by another snake. Survival of the fittest… The book uses the abbreviation SSS meaning Special Scenic Spot. We had our first SSS at the end of the day, a deep ravine with huge boulders. It was interesting to cross.

We ended at a river near a bridge where roads 1219 and 1205 cross Falling Water Creek. We found a nice level rock shelf jutting into the river. We made 9 miles today. Ate stroganoff for dinner but we could have eaten a bit more tonight. It rained twice during the night. Jerry joined Norm in the tent during the first rain. When it stopped he went back out. When it started again, he just put his sleeping bag and himself into a construction sized plastic bag. He had his rain jacket on already. The plastic bag on his pack blew off, so much of his stuff was damp. Having the tent on the rock turned out to be a poor idea since the water pooled around and under the tent.

Richland Creek Campground – 2 April 2006 - The sky cleared about 11am. The trail included several SSS. It was cloudy and misty so we didn’t get any good pictures. We reached the National Forest Campground by noon.

It had tables, a water pump and an outhouse. We planned to use the afternoon to visit the Twin Falls and/or Richland Falls. There is no trail and so we were constantly looking for the easiest walking. We crossed the creek one too many times and ended up stranded on the wrong side (the east side). We walked back to camp and cleaned up and napped. There was no other party within ear shot but we had seen a car-camping party in another part of the campground during our walk. We were visited by a skunk twice during the night. Norm shined it away with his flashlight. Slept under the stars. Got down to 50 degrees. It seemed colder.

Beyond Stack Rock Trailhead – 3 April 2006 – On the trail by 8:00. Cooler walking compared to yesterday. Got confused once by missing a turn off a jeep road. Recovered in about 10 minutes with only 100 yards of back tracking. This is the prettiest section so far. More boulders and little water falls. Took a climb up through the large boulders surrounding a stream. This morning we met Ed and his friend. They were doing trail maintenance. Ed had a chain saw over his shoulder looking for dead fall across the trail and his friend was nailing up metal “blazes”. Ed informed us we were entering the section where the “problem” bears are released. Great. Just what we wanted to hear. Ed’s friend said he had never seen an Arkansas bear that did anything but run away. That was more in line with what we wanted to hear.

We had been expecting dogwoods in bloom. Saw our first today. Also saw thousands of trillium just about to open up. Saw lots of May Apples. We got confused once in the afternoon. On a jeep road we got to a place where the road goes left and right. Fortunately we guessed which way to go correctly and double luckily the trail crossed our road. I believe we should have left the road onto a trail sooner. Originally we intended to stop at Stack Rock but there is no water, so we went on about a mile and found the best spot of the trip. Water down the hill to the right and the foundation and chimney to an old cabin to the left. We were done for the day at about 4:30. We could see smoke rising through the trees in the direction we would be going the next day. Not what we wanted to see. We had beef stew for dinner. It was pretty good. We solved all three of the mysteries we tried. It got down to about 40 degrees. Jerry slept out by the fire.

To the Buffalo River – 4 April 2006 – Cold. On the trail by 8:40. Unremarkable morning. Saw deer after lunch. We took a break by a creek. It was green on one side and burned on the other side. Our trail went right through the burned part. We proceeded with caution and wondered if we would be turned back at some point. We saw some smoldering logs so deduced the fire had been there within a day or two. A single tree was still burning and fell after we passed it. It got smoky and the smoke got thicker and thicker. Eventually we could see the edge of the burn up ahead. Fortunately, the fire was really only burning the dead leaves and so we just crossed the line of small flames and proceeded up the trail. The trail lead away from the active burn but we saw burned patches throughout the rest of the day.

We reached the last source of water for this stretch of trail much too early to stop so we decided to press on to the Buffalo River. This required five more miles of walking. It was on a jeep road, so the walking was relatively easy and level. Portions were even shady. There was a huge pasture on one side. It was a pretty pleasant walk.We made decent time but Norm ran out of water. The final event of the day was to cross Richland Creek. We reached it where it intersects with the Buffalo River, so the creek was backed up and looked deep. Perhaps we could have walked upstream a half mile but it would have been bushwhacking so we just walked straight across. Norm took a trial walk. It was about chest deep but the bottom was reasonably firm and smooth. There was little current at that point. We just carried our packs above our heads and walked across. The water temperature was refreshing but not too cold. We definitely wanted to do this in the heat of the day rather than tomorrow morning, so we camped on the far side. The shore was very soft dirt but not quite mud. It wasn’t the greatest site but it was OK. Shaved and cleaned up. Spaghetti for dinner. The Mystery stumped us tonight.

Buffalo River Trail – 5 April 2006 – When we crossed Richland Creek yesterday, we technically left the Ozark Highlands Trail. Continuing on the OHT would require crossing the Buffalo River somehow which would definitely require a boat. The Buffalo River Trail took us directly back towards our car at the canoe livery.

We heard thunder soon after we awoke. We hustled to get all our stuff packed so it would stay dry. The rain started before Norm could get his long johns off. Fortunately, at least, he had slept in his rain pants. We put our slickers on and covered our packs with plastic bags and ate breakfast standing in the rain. The rain stopped for about 20 minutes, just long enough to take a nature call and then we headed up the trail. I do mean up. The trail immediately heads up the side of the bluff on some wooden steps and hugs the side of the bluff for miles. It started raining again. We stopped only briefly and we didn’t even snack or take pictures. When it’s raining, the only thing left to do is just walk. There were some nice views back down to the Buffalo River. We could see large parties of canoers who were camped on the far side of the river. It rained until about noon. Some of the trail is quite beat up by horse traffic and there is quite a bit of hiking on normal roads. There is some color coding on these trail markings. We followed yellow or if both marks were in evidence we followed white. We referenced the book frequently. At one point the book and the marks clearly disagreed. We followed the marks. They lead to a small cemetery. It had stopped raining at that point, so we took our packs off and hung them on the cemetery fence and had lunch. Everything was wet so we didn’t even sit down. After lunch we found out that following the marks had given us a bit of a shortcut and then we were back in agreement with the book again. Rained again in the afternoon for about an hour. We had expected to find water in a creek at about 6 miles but that creek was dry. The next creek bed had small pools of rain water. We anticipated a dry camp so we filled all of our bottles. It stopped raining at about 3:30 and since we had not taken many breaks, we had enough miles in, but we just couldn’t find a decent camping spot. At 11+ miles we found a marginal flat spot off a side road. We were just north of Calf Creek. There was a pond nearby but the water didn’t look clean enough for us to wash up. The sun came out so we hung everything out to dry.

After dinner we tried the 5 Minute Mysteries again. First one stumped us but we got the second one. Norm got so cold he just wanted to get into his sleeping bag. Strangely, it seemed to get warmed through the night and we both took off layers of clothes. We heard owls and coyotes.

Back to the Car – 6 April 2006 – Due to the long day yesterday, we were not very far from the car. We were awakened by thunder. Again we hustled to get all of our stuff packed to keep it dry. This time it did not rain. The trail markers took us into some big hay fields. Then there was a fork in the trail and no marker. We backtracked but couldn’t find a marker right away. When we did find one it took us back to the road we had been on yesterday. We never figured out why any markers took us into the hay fields. After following the road for just a little ways we found the trail into Tyler Bend Recreation Area. There is a nice sign at that point. We were very early so we took some trails in the Recreation Area and visited the visitor center. At an overlook we could clearly see down into the hay fields. We laughed the the locals had put the confusing markings on the trails just so they could watch hapless out-of-state hikers wander around in those hay fields. Even though the road would have been shorter we took the trails all the way to the bridge and then walked up the highway the 1.2 miles of hill to the outfitter and our car.

Under the category of “nothing is ever easy” we found a sign on the door. “Went to St. Joe” with a phone number. No one was there and our car was locked inside the fence. We had no cell phone so Jerry walked back down the hill a hundred yards to another outfitter/store and called the number from the sign. No answer. The fellow at the store figured out what Jerry was trying to do, knew where our guy was and suggested a different phone number. Jerry got through on this number and our guy was back by the time Jerry walked back. We had lunch at Colton’s in Harrison, and got a room at Big Cedar Lodge (a Bass Pro Shop fishing theme park), about the only place to lodge between Harriosn AR and Branson, MO.

What is "Playing Trivia?"

Most of these trip logs mention "playing Trivia". Perhaps some explanation is in order. We have two books filled with questions and answers from a wide range of fields. We have torn these books into smaller sections. We take one section of each book on each trip. After dinner and before go to sleep we frequently attempt to answer some of these questions. We ration the questions so we have enough to last the whole trip. We mark the year we use each section so we don't use the same section two years in a row. Even though we have used some sections two or even three times, I don't believe we get better at the answers.

The original book required us to completely supply the answers from memory. It was published in 1991. We have to be careful now. There are cases in which the best answer today was not the best answer in 1991. Originally, we allowed ourselves to go to sleep only after we had gotten 6 out of 6 correct. We have compromised that rule over the years.

Questions

Answers on the back of each question page.

The second book we bought has multiple choice questions.

Questions



















Answers on the right margin of a following page.

Gila Wilderness

Southwest New Mexico
May 15 – 20, 2005
Norm and Jerry

Resources
Visitors Travel Guide & Map – Gila Wilderness – Gila National Forest – Prepared by United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwestern Region – Includes Average Temperatures and Precipitation but by far the most valuable aspect is the excellent map.
The Gila Wilderness a Hiking Guide by John A. Murray, University of New Mexico Press

The The Gila Wilderness a Hiking Guide describes several named trails well, but I found it impossible to put together a loop until I obtained the Visitors Travel Guide & Map. The map makes it easy to see all the potential loops, variations and options. The map includes trail numbers on all trails. The narrative below will note these trail numbers although the trail numbers are not noted on any signage along the trails. Rather the signage refers to land marks. The signage was helpful and very adequate. This trip is a loop that starts and ends near the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. It starts out south of the West Fork of the Gila, and runs west roughly parallel to the river. At about the midpoint, we crossed the West Fork and headed back East staying well north of the river, and finally again crossing the West Fork at the very end of the trip. There are endless options for loops in this region.

May 13, Friday Getting to New Mexico – We had a long delay in the plane. Other planes were taking off and then, when there was only one plane ahead of us in line, a violent storm with plenty of lightning blew in. We had to wait another 25 minutes. We arrived in Denver 5 minutes after our connector to Albuquerque left. All hope was lost. But wait! United had already booked us onto a Frontier flight! Wow. We arrived in Albuquerque at 10:30 (12:30 our time). The packs didn’t make the plane though. The Frontier luggage office was closed but wait, a perky Frontier girl helped us contact United and then she found the printout that indicated United would fly the packs down tomorrow on the first flight. Our reserved motel room was only 30 minutes down the freeway, so we just rented our car and went to the motel. The motel clerk was shaken up due to a fight that just happened in the motel lobby. She put us in a room with a single King bed, but wait, she moved us to a room with two doubles. We crashed.

Saturday Driving to Gila Wilderness – We had breakfast at about 8:00. Barb served us and everyone else and seemed to have a conversation going with each table. We got our LP gas and more trail snacks at Wal-Mart. The packs arrived on the carousel just as we arrived to pick them up. We notified Frontier and drove south. We stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. As soon as we left the freeway, the road began to wind. Jerry drove pretty slowly for Jerry so Norm didn’t get too car sick. We arrived at the visitor center at 4PM. They closed at 4:30. Ranger Dave helped us make our final route selection. He has a huge USGS map on the wall. Dave thought a 50 mile hike was pretty ambitious (for us). Norm called the details home to Bonnie so someone would know where we might be.

We found our trail head and then found a camping site with at table. The noodles turned out to be terrible but al least we didn’t have to carry them. We read and tried to solve 5-6 5 Minute Mysteries. We played a few pages of Trivia. We got all 6 correct once and we stopped. Went to bed about 9:30.

Sunday - Out Little Creek – It was about 40 degrees when we got up at 6:10 AM. We parked the car near the trail head (Trail 160) at Woody’s Corral. We took some trail head pictures and were walking by 7:45. Up. Up. Nice Vistas as we climbed. We took a break in the Ponderosas on top of the mesa. We saw a party of three and changed our route slightly to avoid hiking immediately behind them. This was probably not necessary. We seldom keep pace with another party. We saw another party of three breaking camp. We turned West on Trail 162 and took an unnumbered connector trail South to Trail 161 where we turned West again. When we reached this junction, at Little Creek, the trail forked and there was no sign. Both options seemed equally used. The map didn’t settle the decision either. We went left which was also lower, near the creek. The trail got quite sketchy because the creek had eroded some banks away taking the trail with it. We walked in the creek and bushwhacked through the woods. We found a nice sandy and shady spot for lunch. Norm took a nap and Jerry bushwhacked around until he found the trail again. We did not fill up with water because the map indicated we would soon reach a spring. We never found the spring. The trail got so sketchy, Norm was sure we were not on the trail. He got his Garmin Forerunner runner’s GPS out. The reading indicated we were about where we wanted to be and we soon reached a marked intersection which confirmed our location. Our only concern now was water. We were concerned that the next spring might be impossible to find like the last one, but wait, there is water in the creek again. Even though we expected the creek to keep running all the way to our camp site, we tanked up as soon as we saw water again. We were about where we thought we’d stop for the night at about 3PM, so we kept going, even with more frequent rests. We found an excellent camp site at 4:30. We shaved and had beef stew for dinner. Jerry built a fire. We hung the food. We set up the tent but slept outside under the stars.

Monday - Granite Peak Side Trip - We slept in and didn’t get started until 9:05, one of our latest starts in 14 years. We walked about a mile to the cutoff toward Granite Peak (Trail 155 Southeast & then Trail 150 up the peak) where we dropped our packs, taking only water, lunch and a few snacks. Ranger Dave said the peak is not actually granite but the view is worth the walk. The spur trail is 100% up. We made good time with 1.5 hours for 3 uphill miles. Some of the trail is sketchy due to erosion. Norm asked if this trip and the California trip were spoiling us with good trails. The worst parts of these trails became irritating but the bad sections are about equal to typical trails in the Grand Canyon. Granite Peak is over 8,700 feet above sea level and Little Creek is about 7,000 feet so the hike gains 1,700 feet. There are some trees at the top so the view is interrupted but nice. We had lunch on top. It seemed like there were billions of lady bugs on top but we didn’t see any others anywhere else on the trip. Interesting. We got back down to the packs in 1:15 hours. Napping was impossible due to the flies. We were walking (West on Trail 155) again by 3:45, intending to stop at about 5PM. At 4:45 the trail got very narrow and hugged the side of the mountain for about an hour and 45 minutes. No place to camp along there. A strap on Norm’s pack let loose but Jerry quickly found a way to just tie one end on so it did not really impact the hike very much. We got up onto a broad saddle which was sheltered by trees. According to the map we were at about 8,000 feet. We couldn’t get the rope over the limb to hang the food. It took about 15 tries. We slept in the tent. Norm wore just about everything he brought to start with. The tent was pretty warm so he stripped off some of the clothes as the night went on.

Tuesday - To White Creek Flat – Woke at 6:15 and were walking by 7:45 – Going downhill first is very nice. We got water from McKenna Spring which was running strong and clear. We followed the creek to where it comes out of the hillside. There is a large, deep hole with a nice gravel bottom. No bubbling though. We also followed it downstream until it disappeared again into a gravel stream bed. This is a beautiful spot. From the spring the trail goes up to McKenna Park then mostly flat for a few miles. It’s about 7,000 feet high with plenty of grass. This could have been a great “high summer pasture” in the old days. The trail got sketchy twice. We really lost it at a turn and once in a wash. We had lunch at another spring near Raw Meat Creek where we left Trail 155 and went West on Trail 153 and then North on Trail 302. On the map this leg looked pretty easy with gradual ups and downs and then camp in another park. It started out easy but then went down into a deep ravine. The trail on the other side seemed to just hang on the side of the mountain. Again the GPS confirmed we were where we intended to be, so we continued. When we reached the area we intended to camp, we found it had been burned by a forest fire, so we had to keep going. Norm fell down today. He just lost his balance and fell on a burned log and cut his knee. Neosporin can help anything heal. We camped just beyond the burn and just before the trail got narrow and headed down into another ravine. Not too cold. Norm slept in the tent. Jerry slept under the stars.

Wednesday - To Lilley Park Spring – Up at 6:30. Part of the stove got caught in the gas bottle when Jerry tried to take it apart and pack it. All the gas had to escape from the bottle before he could get the piece out. The gas bottle got very cold as the gas escaped so quickly. When the gas bottle was empty Jerry managed to wiggle the piece loose. Now we were potentially going to be short on LP Gas. We are pretty dependant on hot water for oat meal and freeze dried food.

We forked off onto Trail 152 and went down to White Creek. It was running quite strongly and there were no rocks on which to step across. We each found a stick to steady ourselves and then we changed from boots into rubber sandals. Being there at the water, we took the opportunity to shave and clean up. Meanwhile two deer came by for a drink of water. After the creek crossing we soon took Trail 151 going East down to the West Fork of the Gila. The trail is wide but hangs on the side of a wash. There is no signage indicating that the trail is crossing the Gila and we had to bushwhack around a little to find Trail 30 North to Lilley Park. We didn’t want to mistakenly end up on the West Fork Trail with all the required river crossings which are a bother or mean wet feet. Crossing the West Fork of the Gila was not much different from crossing White Creek as far as flow at this point. We had lunch at the crossing at about 11:15. We took on some water from the Gila.

Trail 30 gains noticeable altitude quickly as it leaves the West Fork. Norm claimed to be the Energizer Bunny. Jerry said he could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. He agreed he needed some strength on that climb. We stopped in a nice level shady spot near the top at about 7,800 feet where we enjoyed nice views. It was up only a little more and then level for a couple of miles. We found the sign for the trail we would take tomorrow (Trail 164) but we kept going on Trail 30 to Lilley Spring.

The spring is just two little trickles but they are steady. There are some pools near the actual spring. Norm did laundry and cleaned up again. Jerry filled water bottles. Norm tried to use the map to estimate the GPS locations for the water tanks (ponds) we would depend on for the final days. They are the only water available since the trail stays at this high elevation. Jerry successfully attached the flaky stove to the second (and final) LP gas bottle. He planned to just leave the stove attached to the gas bottle. Jerry made another fire.

Thursday - To Grave Canyon – Woke at 6AM. Stove worked very slowly. We were all packed before the water finally boiled. In about 15 minutes, going south on Trail 30, we reached Trail 164 where we headed East. There was an initial climb but the trail was basically level for several miles. There was intermittent shade in the Ponderosa pines. We saw 6 fellows who had 2 dogs. The dogs had packs too. The fellows all had new, modern space age equipment. We made excellent time through lunch. We thought there would be a great view of Hell’s Hole but it didn’t turn out that way. We saw two other fellows twice. They had a GPS but their map seemed to be lacking. We saw them twice because they had to backtrack.

Our midday water source was the big tank (pond) at Woodland Park. We left our packs and headed up Trail 12. The trail is sketchy but we found the tank. To be sure we would have enough water to get to the car on Friday; we filled every bottle we had which was more water than we had carried to that point on the trip. We backtracked to Trail 164. The sun was directly overhead and we walked into a patch of low scrubby Pinion Pines which gave no shade while we were walking. It was about 95 degrees. We met a man and woman riding horses and pulling a pack horse. We walked until we couldn’t walk, and then rested until we couldn’t rest (due to the flies). Repeat for 2-3 hours. Even though we had enough water, we were looking for the other tank on the map. It seemed to be about half way to the car from Lilley Spring so it was a good objective for the day. We found it approximately where Norm had calculated it would be in GPS terms. It’s off the trail and down a hill to the left. We didn’t bother to top off the bottles.

We walked another 30 minutes and back into the nice shady Ponderosa Pines at Grave Canyon. We couldn’t wait to stop. This day had been like the Tonto Trail in the Grand Canyon, flat, exposed to the sun and generally debilitating. Norm put the tent up without the fly. An hour with no flies (the 6 legged variety) was priceless. Played Mystery and Trivia after dinner. Never even got 5 out of 6 but went to bed anyway. It was a little warmer than the other nights so we didn’t need to wear gloves. Even Norm slept under the stars.

Friday – Cliff Dwellings and the Car – Awoke at 6AM. Stove was slow again. This is the last trip for this stove no doubt. We were walking by 7:30. We made good time on the level trail. We had moments of doubt at a trial junction. One option seemed to be blocked by a log but not definitely. There was no sign. We took the most traveled trail and it seemed to work out. At the intersection with Trail 28 we took it south towards the National Monument. We stopped to check out the views as the trail went near the edge of the canyon. There were great views of the West Fork of the Gila River. We took several pictures here. About 15 minutes down the trail Norm realized he had left his canteen hanging on a limb at the scenic spot. He dropped his pack and made the round trip in 15 minutes. We went down into the canyon of the West Fork. We met a group of three fellows who were the only people we saw until we got to the National Monument. The trail near the river is rocky and loose, more like a Grand Canyon trail. We finally got to the river, crossed and found a shady place to clean up. We had two crossings. We changed into sandals. The current is quite noticeable. Norm could use up the final battery on the GPS so he had it in the “find home” mode which kept giving distance to the starting point.

The trail ended right at the entrance to the Cliff Dwellings, so we dropped our packs and climbed up the path and stairs to the dwellings. It is very interesting. There are many, many rooms and much of it very well preserved. There was a knowledgeable guide to answer questions and take our picture.

Jerry walked down to Woody’s corral to get the car. We headed for cool refreshment at a colorful gift store just outside the park. They had a little of everything; books, gifts, food, gasoline, pop and ice cream. We drove on to Silver City and had our traditional Steak dinner with fresh salad at the Red Barn. We got a room at the Comfort Inn.

Saturday – Cat Walk and back to Albuquerque – A ranger at the National Monument had recommended that we visit the Cat Walk We enjoyed the side trip on the way back to Albuquerque. There is a stream rushing through a narrow canyon and you basically walk above it.

At http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southwest/Catron/TheCatwalk.html you will see that “The Catwalk, a National Recreation trail along the canyon of Whitewater Creek, is a unique feature of southwestern New Mexico. Located five miles east of Glenwood (take Hwy. 180 to 174), it presents an always vibrant journey along a path reflecting the region's mining history. The canyon was used as a hideout by both Geronimo and Butch Cassidy.”.

Bruce Trail

Ontario, Canada
September 3 – 6, 2007
Bonnie and Norm Kern

Resources
The Bruce Trail Reference Trail Guides and Maps – The Bruce Trail Association
The Bruce Trail by Rich & Sue Freeman – Footprint Press – Describes a hike of
the complete Bruce Trail.
Website for the Bruce Trail Conservancy - http://brucetrail.org/places
Shuttle - http://www.thorncrestoutfitters.com/

The Bruce Trail meanders for approximately 465 miles along the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara Falls to Tobermory, Ontario. Various parts of the trail are within a few hours of Toronto, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, or a half day drive from Detroit, Michigan. For our four day hike we chose some of the northern most miles on the Bruce Peninsula which extends into Lake Huron. This hike is described on maps 39 and 40 from the above noted Reference Trail Guides and Maps. Our hike started at Kilometer 136.6 and ended at Kilometer 168.4. This stretch is reputed to be the most demanding of the whole Bruce Trail.

Camping is limited to established campgrounds. For Back Country and Group sites within the National Park call (519) 596-2263. For Cyprus Lake Campground booking information and fees call 1-877-737-3783 from 7 am to 7 pm or by internet at www.pccamping.ca (24 hour service).


Side trips before the hike - We drove to Tobermory from Detroit on Friday, August 31. Tobermory is a very nice little town at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula which extends out into Lake Huron. It is a summer tourist town and since this was Labor Day weekend in the US, Tobermory was very busy. We stayed at the Blue Bay Motel which overlooks Little Tub Harbor, all the shops, pubs and restaurants. We enjoyed sitting on the balcony outside our room. Everything is within walking distance in Tobermory. We can recommend breakfast at the Princess Hotel, dinner at the Leeside and Mermaid, and deli sandwiches from the grocery store. On Saturday we walked to the National Park Headquarters. We watched the movie, and stopped to climb the observation tower which affords wonderful views of the nearby islands and the Niagara Escarpment to the east. The Burnt Point Trail gives a taste of what the Bruce Trail will be like and gives nice views of Lake Huron. On Sunday, we took a Zodiac boat out to Flower Pot Island. We were the only people on our boat and there was only one Zodiac ahead of us so we expected to have the Island pretty much to ourselves. As we landed we saw the camp sites of people who had kayaked out from Tobermory. That would be a nice adventure. Unfortunately, a large glass bottomed tour boat had stopped off shore and was transporting people to the island so we shared “our” island with several dozen other folks. We walked north towards the light house which is a very nice walk. The Flower Pots are quite amazing limestone formations from when the lake level was higher. The light house keeper’s house was interesting and included many historic pictures. We had a nice lunch and snooze at the water’s edge. The squirrels were very used to humans and were fearless in their quest for food from our backpack when we left it on the ground for a moment.

To High Dump – The Thorncrest shuttle met us at 9 AM above Little Cove, as arranged, and drove us to our starting point, at the end of Crane Lake Road. The trail seemed to be a logging road and now perhaps a snowmobile trail. The exposed rocks had many scratches or gouges that seemed to be caused by metal. This stretch of trail is a nice shaded walk in the woods. We met a party for each car that was parked at the end of the road. Once we accounted for all of the cars we expected to be alone. The first person we met was a fellow who was running with a pack on his pack and a smaller pack on his chest. He had run from High Dump, our destination. (Dump, in Canadian logging country, is a place where logs were slid down the cliff into Lake Huron, where they were gathered into rafts and transported. Dump does not mean a place for trash as it does in the US.) This stretch of trail is gently rolling but more down than up. The final pitch down to the camp site was quite steep. A rope had been installed to make the climbs down and up a bit easier. We started walking at 9:45 AM and were at camp by 2:30. 8 Kilometers.

At the bottom of the pitch there was a sign but no map of the campground. We just wandered around until we found site number 8 for which we had the reservation. All the sites have large wooden platforms. This is good, because there is little smooth, level ground. The limestone is exposed everywhere. We had the whole campground to ourselves. We enjoyed the “beach” which has NO sand. It is made up of limestone rocks from 3 inches to 30 feet in diameter. We waded and rinsed and then read our books in the sun, enjoying the sound of the waves in the background. Norm went back to the tent to get a snack and found squirrels attacking our packs. We kept the food with us down on the beach. We filtered water out of Lake Huron.

We enjoyed Backpacker’s Panty (blue pouch) Hawaiian Chicken, which has no freeze dried taste. After dinner we hung the food on a bear pole which was provided by the park. It has a nice pulley system. This avoids the hassle of finding that perfect tree with the limb that is low enough, yet high enough, and long enough to keep the food safe from the bears or other varmints. We fell asleep about 9PM but then woke up later and took a walk down to the beach to see the stars. It was very clear so the star viewing was excellent, with the Milky Way, a satellite but no falling stars. We then went to the outhouse by flashlight. We hadn’t memorized the route so finding it in the dark was a humorous challenge.

On to Storm Haven – We enjoyed a pretty sun rise but then nothing but cloudy skies. We were walking by 8:30. The Bruce Trail from High Dump all the way to Little Cove is very rugged. The lime stone is exposed everywhere and is rough. It demands a great deal of attention to choose your footing. There are endless short descents and ascents, many of which are steep. This trail is more rugged than any hikes Norm had done outside of the Grand Canyon, including trails in Georgia, Arkansas, New Mexico and along the Pacific in California. Bonnie first cracked her hiking stick and then broke it at the worst possible instant (of course). Fortunately, she didn’t injure herself when it broke, but it was supporting much of her weight at the time. We learned that once a stick is weakened it should be replaced immediately. We found another stick right away. We saw only 2 backpackers but we saw several day hikers from Cyprus Lake Campground. There are many overlooks where you can see the limestone cliffs both to the east and west. We always like the pictures which show “We came all this way.” We wondered at the trees which grow out of seemingly solid rock and at many strange angles with bends for seemingly no reasons. A sign at Halfway Dump indicated only 2 km to go. We thought it meant 2 km to Storm Haven, but now I believe it was 2 km to the trail head. It was actually over 4 km to Storm Haven. The misunderstanding that we were “almost there” made it seem even further. With about 2 real km left, it started to rain. We put on our slickers and put plastic bags on our packs and then, of course, it stopped. In total this day was 11.4 Km or about 7 miles.

The pitch down to Storm Haven is made easier by some nice wooden stairs. The bear lines and the out house are at the top of the stairs. All the rocks at Storm Haven are flat. Everything is horizontal. At High Dump everything was basically round. One wonders what forces cause these differences. We found our reserved platform and set the tent up immediately. It then started to rain again so we tossed the packs into the tent and climbed in behind them. It felt good to be done for the day and to be off our feet. It stopped raining long enough for us to have Stroganoff for dinner, hang the food on a bear line, and visit the outhouse. We saw a single fellow at another site and a couple frolicking in the lake with their air mattresses. We went back to the tent and read and fell asleep. During one of Norm’s nocturnal walks, he saw some familiar items from his “snacks for today” bag, which he had forgotten to put in the bag on the bear line. Some local varmint must have enjoyed his snacks including the last of the chocolate.

Short walk to Cyprus Lake – Camping on the Bruce Trail is only allowed in official camp grounds, and we were lead to believe that penalties were heavy for infractions. There are few camp sites in this stretch of trail so we had to make a compromise. From Storm Haven to Little Cove is 17 km (over 10 miles) and we didn’t want to have any day that was quite that long. A campground at about 162 km would have been nice. The compromise we selected was to have a very short third day. We hiked only about 4 km (2.5 Mi) into Cypress Lake campground.

We awoke to continued rain complete with thunder. We rolled over and went back to sleep. Norm eventually went up the stairs to retrieve the food from the bear lines. It had stopped raining and there was some blue sky. We had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and coffee. As we reached to the top of the stairs, it started to rain one last time. We ducked into the out house and waited it out. We put the plastic on the packs again, just in case, and started walking about 10 AM. The tree roots, which are exposed on the trail, were quite slippery and even the limestone was more slippery than when dry. We had to watch our steps even more carefully than on the previous days. The trail took us down to beaches twice. It is tough walking on all the loose limestone rocks, since they tend to act like big ball bearings when they move. On the beach there are no trees, so the trail blazes are painted onto boulders or are on short posts. All of the Bruce Trail that we walked is very well marked with 2 inch by 4 inch white blazes that are otherwise on trees. There is almost always at least one blaze in sight. Even where there is not a blaze, there is little doubt about where the trail goes. There are few side trails and the forest is so dense there is little temptation to leave the trail. Again the trail includes many ups and downs. We started to ask ourselves, “Is this descent really necessary?” The day brightened and eventually we could see our shadows.

On the third beach section we were pleasantly surprised to find a sign for the Horse Lake Trail which took us to the Cyprus Lake Campground. We were even more pleasantly surprised that this trail is smooth, level and soft. What luxury. Once in the campground we found no signs or maps directing us to our reserved camp site. We had to impose on another camper, who had a map, to find our way. We were close to our site and had not walked far out of our way. We hung out all of our wet stuff including clothes and the tent. As soon as Norm hung out an empty food bag to dry there was a squirrel sniffing around it. Again we took our food with us everywhere we went. We were visited by a beautiful butterfly that hung around for several minutes and a few pictures. We split a tuna salad for lunch, and found evidence that varmints had gotten into the food that was on the bear line back at Storm Haven. (Actually there were not actual poles at Storm Haven. There was a line stretched between two trees and separate pulleys down from this line. Perhaps the varmint crawled across the horizontal line to our food? Perhaps we should not have pulled the food all the way up to the horizontal line? Good thing we brought enough food to share.) We cleaned up in the nice bathrooms and then went for a dip in Cyprus Lake which has real sand. We enjoyed freeze dried chicken breasts for dinner. How amazing are those things? At first they feel like graham crackers, but after 10 minutes in a little boiling water they become real chicken again! We tied the food up in a tree over a neighboring campsite. We found some fire wood and enjoyed a little fire. We never saw a camp ranger.

Long Walk to Little Cove – No intruders in the food this time. Walking by 8:40. Marr Lake Trail is more rugged than Horse Lake Trail. We were plagued by flies. They definitely didn’t care that we had Skin So Soft on. We had to put our long pants on and keep long sleeves rolled down. There is some private land in this stretch and we crossed a road for the first time in the trip. There were some lakes on the map so we could better judge our location and progress today. We had lunch at the halfway point. The middle of the day included a stretch where the walking was much easier. There is an especially pleasant part that runs through a limestone gap. We saw a large hole that would allow someone to climb down into a limestone grotto overlooking the lake. The climb looked pretty tricky so we just looked. Next to the hole there was a post with a number 8 on it. Attached to it was a special punch. There was a card with several punches in it. Close examination indicated that you could possibly win various things if you could get various numbers of punches, from presumably multiple locations. We laughed when we saw that second prize was 4 tons of, guess what, limestone! Anyone who has walked the Bruce Trail has seen enough limestone for a life time.

We took the side trail to the sink hole. It is about 60 feet deep and over 100 feet across. We took a short nap on the ground cloth. We only saw day hikers today. We saw three loons pretty close up near Loon Lake. We were stopped when we saw a huge poodle come bounding out of the woods. It looked out of place with its traditional hair shaping. It was followed by a party of four. We met a mother and son who hike on the Bruce Trail every year. As the day wore on Bonnie started to suggest that they need to build bridges across more of the down and up places. She even threatened to wait until a bridge was built before she would cross one such place. The closer to Little Cove we got, the happier we got. There were a few people there on the beach when we arrived. One took the traditional “We did it” picture and we walked up to the waiting car. This day was 14 Km or almost 9 miles.

We arrived back at our hotel and found a very different Tobermory. The crowds were gone and already some businesses were closed for the winter. We celebrated our hike with a wonderful whitefish dinner at the Princess Hotel. We gave each other foot massages, watched Peyton Manning play football and fell asleep.

Lost Coast - Northern Coastal California

Jerry and Norm

April 24 - May 1, 2009

Resources

The Hiker’s Guide to the Humboldt Coast, Bob Lorentzen, Bored Feet Press

The Hiker’s Guide to the Mendocino Coast, Bob Lorentzen, Bored Feet Press

Both books include maps.

Trails of the Lost Coast Map, Wilderness Press

King Range National Conservation Area Lost Coast Trail Map – BLM Arcata Field Office

Tide Tables (we used Shelter Cove) - http://gofishingforum.net/

BLM Website for Lost Coast (including shuttles) - http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/arcata/kingrange/index.html

Note – We also did this hike in 2004. We did it one week earlier this time. The weather was much cooler this time. Since we were familiar with the route and the sights, we planned to minimize some bad spots and maximize our favorite spots.

Friday April 24, 2009 – Getting There – Left home at 6:30 for a 9:00 flight. Long luggage line at NW or is it Delta? Breakfast at McD’s. Long walk to the very end of the terminal at Gate 78. Had to hustle. Oh, flight now scheduled for 9:23. Had aisle seats across. Uneventful flight. Landed at 11:40. Poor signage within the airport to find the rental cars. They are far away from the terminal at the end of the air tram. Long line at the Budget desk. Finally, driving by 1:30. We missed the exit for the REI store where we planned to by the butane/propane gas for our stove. Jerry pulled off the freeway and got directions to a sporting goods store that had gas at the next exit. We at lunch at that shopping center too. Traffic was awful for about two hours after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. The last three hours were OK. Highway 101 to Leggett and then turn left onto Highway 1. Go South to mile marker 90.88 and turn right. The road into Usal Creek is rough and rougher than 5 years ago. Took it slow. Parked the car at 8:00 PM. We set up the tent, just in case, but went to sleep in our bivy sacks, hoping to prove to ourselves we wouldn’t need the tent. We heard voices and saw lights late into the night. We were later told the park is party headquarters for kids from Fort Bragg. Norm moved into the tent at 4:00 AM to see it if was any warmer. Yes, it was.

April 25, 2009 – To The Light House And Beyond - Both of us woke up with moist sleeping bags, evidently from condensation within the bivy sacks. Between that and the forecast for 30 something degree nights all week, we decided to leave the bivy sacks and take the tent. Nuts! We packed up and moved the car as we had been directed. Jill, the shuttle driver, was on time at 7:30. She said she loved to come over to Usal, that it was her playground. She drove faster than we had, do I guess it was her playground. She warned that we might get motion sick due to the winding roads. Norm eventually moved into the front seat, took some medication, and asked Jill to slow down and even stop once. She was very cooperative and compassionate. Norm eventually fell asleep. We picked up BLM Bear Cans at the store in Petrolia and arrived at Mattole River at 11:30. Jill took our final three day’s food to the Shelter Cove General Store which is on the hill above Shelter Cove. Jill provided the excellent King Range National Conservation Area Lost Coast Trail Map. It clearly shows the areas with tide issues and gives the hiking distance between all major land marks down to the Needle Rock Visitor Center.

We were walking in just a few minutes. It was very WINDY, from the Northwest. We were very happy we had decided not to walk South to North as we had originally planned. As the next few days developed, we became happier and happier about that decision. Everyone we met mentioned the wind. We stopped at the light house for lunch and were soon joined by The Couple in Black. They were friendly and shared their names but we forgot them. They were 20 something, from Portland, and were going all the way to Usal on the same basic schedule as we were. They didn’t have a map for the lower half, so we shared ours. Later, a larger group of younger people arrived from the south. We skipped a nap we were contemplating and headed out. Soon, we met adults who were probably the chaperones of the young group. We also met a farther, son, and grandson. Nice to see them hiking together. We managed to find several stretches of trail above the beach, which we missed five years ago. We soon heard and saw dozens of sea lions sunning on some large rocks. We saw several creeks falling down the hillside. There are small creeks all along the route all the way to Shelter Cove. It is not necessary to carry very much water. We saw the first of four cabins which are very near the ocean. They made us wonder about who owned them, how long had they been there, how does one get to them, and how often are they used. We also saw the first of many driftwood shelters. They must have been made by previous backpackers for shelter from the wind. Most have some nautical ropes or floats incorporated. This one was partially roofed. It was too soon to stop so we just looked through it.

There is a tide issue in the stretch beyond the light house but the tide was going out, so all points were passable for us. We wanted to camp beyond the final tide issue, so we needed to get to Randall Creek. The guide book indicated we would see Reynolds Rock at or before we arrived at Randall Creek. We didn’t know what Reynolds Rock would look like but we guessed it would be more prominent than all the others. We never saw such a rock so we overshot Randall Creek. We became sure of that when we got to the clearly marked foot of the Spanish Ridge Trail. (Note - The guide book indicates that the Spanish Ridge Trail starts 250 feet beyond Randall Creek, and that at 10.5 miles another spur climbs Spanish Ridge. We believe that the currently mapped and marked trail corresponds to the guide book’s “another spur”, and that the Spanish Ridge Trail is no longer marked at 250 feet beyond Randall Creek.)

Jerry walked back a quarter mile to the last small creek/ravine and found two flat spots. The Couple in Black took the other one. We were somewhat out of the wind, but gusts would blow the tent away, even with a pack inside. Norm crawled in to hold it down. He got comfortable and dozed off. He basically stayed in the tent until Jerry got ready to retire for the night. We should not have even put the tent up, until we actually intended to retire. The wind gusted all night. We eventually were wearing every but if clothing we brought; 2 shirts, sweat shirts, rain jackets, rain pants, stocking hats, gloves. This was required on every evening but one.

April 26, 2009 – Crossing the Flats – Awoke at 6:00 and were walking by 7:30. We planned the trip around the notion that we wanted to arrive at the foot of the Shelter Cove hill early in the morning instead of mid afternoon as we had last time. This meant we had some discretionary time, so we dropped our packs and hiked up the Spanish Ridge Trail for about 45 minutes, until we could see back to the beach again. It is open and grassy and very pretty, with nice views down the shore. After, heading south again, we met a fellow with his dog going north. He mentioned the wind and said “Nothing to block it but Asia”. Asia wasn’t blocking much wind for him or for us. We enjoyed seeing the shore at lower tide. The kelp sparkles in the sun, as the waves move it back and forth. We stopped again at Oat Creek to shave and clean up, and basically hang out. It was sunny and we had a nice rest and stayed for lunch. The Couple in Black had not been stirring yet when we left our camp but they passed us at Oat Creek. We passed them again at Kinney Creek. We saw several snakes cross the trail today but no rattle snakes. Lizards too. We also saw the very sad sight of a dead whale being flopped about by the surf. Sad Sight. Almost the whole day was on trails above the beach. The trail goes pretty high at one point. Passed three more cabins/homes at the foot of the cliffs. Two can be accessed by road and one by plane. The first was occupied but we did not see a vehicle. The road to these cabins would demand a vehicle with plenty of ground clearance.

We camped in a big driftwood shelter just beyond the landing strip for the third house at Big Flat. The Couple in Black took a shelter down a bit further. Water was readily available from Big Creek. We were nicely out of the wind this time. We had vivid memories of this stretch from the first trip and they didn’t match up very well with the actual trail today. Funny how that works.

April 27, 2009 – Getting Close to Shelter Cove – Awoke 6 AM. Walking by 7:30. We wanted to hustle through the first 4 miles which have the tide issue. It was about low tide when we started so we were not exactly racing the waves. The road above the beach ended too quickly and we were walking on the cobbles and in the sand for most of the day. We saw into a few tide pools with star fish and saw all the kelp on the beach.

Jerry claimed he saw a sea lion but it never appeared again. Norm offered a dollar if the sea lion appeared again. Jerry kept talking about him but “Fred” did not reappear. Eventually Norm charged Jerry $3.00 for repeated references to Fred. Ironically, we saw about 30 real sea lions down the shore a little ways. We then even saw one up on the shore. He was very close to where we were walking and actually startled us as we realized that he was not just another piece of driftwood. He seemed healthy and contented. Tossed sand occasionally, maybe to keep the flies off?

It was cloudy and the wind was not as strong. We made good time over the first four miles. We took longer breaks after that. We wanted to camp at Horse Mountain Creek which is 1.9 miles from the foot of the Shelter Cove hill. We stopped one creek too soon, but walked further down shore without our packs. We found the sign for the Horse Mountain Creek trail and once again knew we had stopped at the wrong place. We went back for the packs, and dropped them at the foot of the trail. We walked up the H.M.C. trail for about 40 minutes, then back down and then carried the packs over to the actual creek. We found a small shelter there and set up camp. There was a much more deluxe shelter on the south side of the creek but when we arrived another party seemed to be camping there. They eventually left and we went over to check it out. It had a roof and multiple rooms. Jerry was convinced there was wild life (mice and snakes) living in it and that the roof would collapse, so we didn’t move in.

We played ‘tag’ with a party of 3 or would it be 4 today? The couple had their nine month old daughter with them. We couldn’t imagine it, all the extra stuff, giving the baby the attention it needed with little hesitation…

We saw the Couple in Black pass us and go on toward Shelter Cove. Norm was convinced they got a warm, dry motel room for the night and would be having bacon and eggs for breakfast. He tried not to think about it.

April 28, 2009 – Up the Hill and Out the Hidden Valley Trail – Awoke at 6:30. Jerry’s efforts to level out the area under the tent were only partially successful. Norm’s area was on a sideways slope and he had trouble staying on his mat and out of the side of the tent. We had kept water in the bucket and found a mouse floating. We shaved so as not to discourage anyone from giving us a ride up the hill.

We were walking by 8:00. The footing was not as loose as some other parts of the beach. It seemed that the beach was made up of very small gravel instead of actual sand. We reached the Shelter Cove parking area by 9:30, used the flush toilet, and headed up the hill. We walked about 2 of the 3 miles to the store before Greg picked us up. We bought him coffee at the store. The clerk didn’t seem to know much about our food being there or having the bear cans picked up, but she lead us to where the FedEx pickups are made and our food was there. She agreed to let us leave the bear cans as long as someone from the shuttle was going to pick them up. We bought some snacks and tossed the 3 days of trash we had accumulated. As we repacked with the new food, a young fellow engaged us in conversation. He lived near some part of the Lost Coast Trail and had hiked parts of it. He gladly gave us a ride for the last one plus miles to the Hidden Valley trail head. He is a local musician and says they band has steady work. They also do some fund raising for the local communities. He said this is a great place to be poor. We tipped him a few dollars for the ride. Nice fellow.

We were surprised to see the sign indicating that this part of the trail required bear cans. We had left ours at the store so there was little choice but to get through this section today. Because we had been given the two rides, it was now possible to get beyond Nick’s camp site where we had planned to stay, and get to the state park boundary. We would need to drop our packs for a few minutes and hike into Nick’s to get water. We had lunch on the park bench at the top of Chemise Mountain. Very nice panoramic view of the coastal mountains. We extend our thanks to whoever carried the pieces of that bench all the way up there. There is a huge climb at the beginning of this stretch of trail and then it’s up and down until you reach the state park boundary. This stretch has some nice views of the ocean but no views of the coast looking south. Eventually there is a view looking back north and of Shelter Cove. The hike into Nick’s (taking the second trail, not the first) to get water is about ¾ mile but seemed quick without the packs. We reminisced about our night at Nick’s on the previous trip. We saw lots of dog sized scat and lots of elk scat. Nothing that looked like bear scat.

We were done by 5 PM. We arranged some bricks and boards from the fallen down house and made a decent camp site. That house would have been the only private house with an ocean view for about 30 miles. We wondered what had kept it from being completed. The Couple in Black walked past as we got dinner ready. It got quite cold on the hill top so we walked down the trail a half mile just to get warmed up. With 6 miles of Hidden Valley, 2 Miles on the beach, 2 miles on the hill and 1.5 miles over/back to Nick’s we had an 11 plus mile day. Satisfying but not a killer.

April 29, 2009 – Needle Rock and Bear Harbor – Awoke 6:30. Things a little damp but not wet. I hate to carry a wet tent all day. Walking by 8:00. Our favorite place on the Lost Coast is Bear Harbor so we only had 5 miles to hike today. We could stop often and long and enjoy the wonderful views of the coast to the south. Dogs greeted us at the “house on the left”. One didn’t even seem to be tied up. Wound down to Whale Gulch where we again found the huge laminated beams, 40 feet long by 5 feet wide. We speculated on how they got there and what their purpose might have been. Jerry guessed they had been lowered from a helicopter for use in a bridge over Whale Gulch Creek. Neither seemed very likely to Norm, who thought there used to be a logging road in from the North and observed the creek is currently crossed with the help of a single 2x4. (Later, the Park manager told us that Jerry was actually correct on both counts. The local people had objected to the bridge for some reason and so the beams had never been put in place.) We soon arrived at the mown paths of the state park. The Couple in Black was camped at the first picnic table. There was a field full of pup tents, but we never saw the probable occupants. We then came upon a very industrious team of young people from the California Conservation Corps who were making trail improvements. We thanked them for their hard work. The next picnic table was near a creek so we stopped for a snack, and Jerry cleaned up. About 45 feet away an elk was lying in the grass chewing its cud. There is an elk herd in the park and they must be very used to people. There was a wonderful ocean view but we didn’t see any whales swim by.

We moved on to the visitor center, registered, paid for two nights and watched the ocean from the front steps for a while. We headed down the road toward Bear Harbor. Our memory of the road was that is was straight, level and exposed to the sun. This is one short segment like that just before it ends but the rest is rolling, winding, and partially shaded. Memory is a funny thing.

No one was at Bear Harbor when we arrived so we took ‘our’ north most camp site. We set up camp and went down to the beach. There were three kayakers who had been out diving for abalone. We spent the afternoon amongst the big rocks watching the tide come in and talking about spiritual things. It was sunny but still cool.

Norm went off to get water for dinner/breakfast and saw the Woman in Black near the creek. He asked if she was getting water but she said she was picking nettles. Norm asked if that was a good thing. She laughed and said you can eat them if you cook them first. The Couple in Black were camped on the far side of the big creek. We prepared to have our normal freeze dried dinner except that this package of chicken and dumplings had a far more complex “recipe” than normal. It required simmering the basic chicken, peas and gravy and then 12-15 minutes of simmering after the dumpling mix was put on top. We don’t carry enough gas for that duration of cooking and our narrow Jet Boil stove wouldn’t have worked very well for this dumpling simmering anyway. We just put the dumpling mix away, and made up the chicken and gravy with the normal “dump boiling water in the pouch, stir, and wait 10 minutes” recipe. It turned out OK and we supplemented it with snacks. Better make it a point to read each freeze dried meal package next year. An elk walked right past our camp, and down the trial into the forest. We gathered some fallen wood and made a fire. Played Trivia by flash light.

April 30, 2009 – Tide Pools, Redwood Trees and the Ghost Town – We intended to hang around for low tide which would ‘peak’ at 10:40 so we slept in a little. We arrived at the beach at 8:15. There was not much to see, until we started to look more closely. Something that just looked like sand on the rocks turned out to be hundreds of individual little animals that cling to the rocks, get covered with sand, and close up when the tide is out. We could see the ones that were still under water and thus open, then we could see them everywhere. As we hung around, and the tide went out, we could get further out amongst the rocks and we found tide pools with sea anemones, star fish, crabs and a 7 inch red chiton. Norm even thought he glimpsed a sea otter, but the photo is inconclusive. Great fun for boys from the Midwest.

We were walking by 9:40. The CCC team was ahead of us trimming weeds and pulling a huge stump. We thanked them again. Based on the volume of droppings we were following a couple of elk up the trail. Saw our first big Redwood trees. Wow. There is a big climb at first, then a rolling section, and a big descent into Wheeler. There are two amazing redwoods with side limbs that are bigger than most normal trees, as you reach the valley floor. This seems to be School Marm Grove. We had lunch at the first creek crossing and the poked around at the second creek crossing. There is a large metal frame attached to the ground at the creek and a foundation to the west of that. There are several open “home sites” but no physical evidence of the 30 plus homes that made up Wheeler. We tried to imagine the school house, the community and life there. What was it like to be so isolated and with the same 30 families for 10 years? Would there be any privacy? We stopped again at the beach. Saw a crab pot in the river. Took a short nap on the driftwood logs.

Walking again by 2:40 with four plus miles to go. We didn’t expect to finish until about 6:30. There is a huge climb as you leave the beach. A few more foundations are there. There is a rolling stretch and then another big climb before the long, steep descent into Little Jack Ass Creek. We actually got in before 6:00 PM.

The prime camping site on the beach was occupied, but it was starting to rain and we hadn’t seen the other two sites that the guide mentions so we took a secondary site on the beach. It was around the corner of the cliff from the primary site. We were out of sight and we never saw the other fellow. Perhaps he did not even know we were there. The Couple in Black made a site in the grass between the main trail and the beach. Our site was on an elevated place right next to the cliff. We were somewhat concerned about being dry at high tide at 3:40 AM. Checking the tide tables indicated that it had been an even higher tide a few days ago, which would have eroded our little hill away, so we thought we would stay dry. We put the tent up immediately due to the threatening rain and threw most of what we wanted to keep dry into it. We put on our rain gear and made dinner in a drizzle. As the rain picked up at 7:15, we went into the tent and played Trivia. When the rain stopped, we moved our food away from the tent. There was no place to hang it on the beach, so we put it under a big rock and surrounded it with smaller rocks. The surf is very loud there because of the cove shape. It sounds like a big gun shot every now and then. Norm happened to be up at 1:30 AM and saw that the tide was quite a distance from the tent and surmised we would have no problems in our location even at high tide. He slept a little better. In the morning we saw that the waves had come within about 40 feet of our tent but not nearly as high in true elevation.

May 1, 2009 – On to Usal and the Car – In the backs of our minds all day was the need to arrive in time for our “red eye” flight from San Francisco. Norm forgot the flight paperwork but we thought the flight left at 11:00 PM and planned backwards from that time. We thought we’d have time to clean up in Usal Creek or shower at the airport, and have a nice meal on the way south. We set the alarm for 6 AM, and awoke as planned. We packed and went up to the out house. Norm filled Mr. Bucket as he crossed the creek. The prime camp site was already vacant. We filtered water and had breakfast. Jerry found several ticks on his pants and jacket. As we were zipping our packs for the “last” time, Norm noticed he did not have his sandals. He immediately remembered where they were back on the beach, so he went to get them – 20 unplanned minutes. Then we headed south. We soon reached the other two camp sites. They are large, flat, well sheltered and even have fire rings. In the valley the trail goes through many tall weeds which were very wet, so we kept our rain pants on until we got to a more open section of the trail. Immediately, the trail headed up. The elk droppings continued but they were noticeably fresh. Soon we caught up with a female and two males. As we closed up on them, the female ran uphill off the trail. Excellent, just what we had hoped for. As we closed on the rear male, he just looked at us and chewed. He’d move a few yards, stop to bite off something new and then chew for a while, and repeat. His progress was not going to get us to our flight. We tried standing sideways to look bigger with our packs. Jerry had a stick. The elk didn’t seem impressed. When we edged even closer, the elk seemed to feel threatened and we thought he might become aggressive. Our tones became very conciliatory and we backed down the trail. Norm picked up some rocks to throw either at them or off to the side to get them off the trail, but we didn’t want them to become aggressive, so we never tossed the rocks. Jerry said he was running out of ideas and was ready to try anything including a whistle. Norm had a whistle that was quite handy, so we tried it. Three short bursts and both male elk ran up the trail. Jerry suggested that Norm just keep blowing the whistle in hopes it would drive them off the trail. It worked. We warily moved up the trail and peaked around every corner, but after about five minutes we became confident that we were finally past them. During the elk episode we covered about 50 yards in about 20 minutes. We were now 40 minutes “behind schedule”.

There were three more major climbs and descents. We snacked once and had lunch. Jerry found a tick that had “connected”. In the middle of the second of the three climbs the trail affords a nice overlook of the ocean. Jerry spotted whales. We saw only the spouting and brief glimpses of their backs but we saw them for several minutes so there was no doubt about this sighting. Seeing whales made the trip complete! As we completed the final major climb it started to rain steadily. We put on our rain jackets but our pants were already pretty wet from last night’s rain on the weeds along the trail. The last section of the trail is out in the open and winds through tall weeds, so by the time we reached the car our pants were soaked and we were ready to be done, and get into dry clothes. We both have water proof boots so we were surprised that our feet were becoming wet. Jerry suggested that perhaps the water had actually run down our legs into our boots.

We changed into our dry clothes in the warm car and headed up the dirt road out of the Usal Creek area. Norm found the flight paperwork. Not only were we 40 minutes “behind schedule” due to the sandals and the elk, the plane was supposed to leave at 10 PM not 11 PM. So much for a nice meal on the way. We had burgers from a drive thru. The signage to the rental car area in San Francisco was confusing and then the signage to turn in the Budget car in the Avis area was confusing so we arrived at our airport gate only 40 minutes before flight time. No time for that shower at the airport. Sorry about that fellow travelers.

Conclusion – We were very happy we had taken the local advice and walked North to South. We took one extra day to do this hike this time. We spent that time enjoying the wilderness on side hikes and longer rests. The extra day made the trip much more enjoyable. Climbing the Shelter Cove Hill in the morning was an excellent idea. Somehow our weather was warmer last time. Just lucky?

4 Day Grand Canyon Rim to Rim

Basic plan – Drive to South Rim. Park Car. Take Shuttle to North Rim. Hike to Cottonwood, then Bright Angel, then to Indian Garden Campgrounds, and then back to the car. Reservations are required at all campgrounds and for the shuttle.

To the North Rim, Sunday September 3 2006
We happened to park next to a Transcanyon Shuttle and ate our lunch on a nearby picnic table. As we were eating, Chris, the driver, arrived. He invited us to put our packs on the van and then invited us to ride up to Bright Angel Lodge with him. Chris looks like Santa Claus. Summer job perhaps? At the BA Lodge we were joined by 9 other people plus another van full. In our van there were 3 people who had just finished their hike and were going back to their car. The rest of us were going to start our hikes the next day. Some people had reservations for beds at Phantom Ranch so they were going to travel very light and intended to get to the Ranch in one day. The rest were only going to Cottonwood on the first day. Some people had meal reservations at Phantom to compliment their Bright Angel Campground reservations. This took many calls to pick up spots from cancellations. We arrived at the North Rim at 5:30 and checked into our rustic cabin. We enjoyed the sun setting until our dinner reservation at the lodge. Lights out at 9. Norm too cold. Bonnie too hot.

Down to Cottonwood, Monday September 4
Arose at 5, prepared and ate oatmeal in our cabin. Caught the 6:15 shuttle to the trail head along with 7 others. The three fellows with day packs were going all the way to Phantom Ranch. The other party was a mother with her adult daughter, son and daughter in law. We saw them several times throughout the day. It was about 60 degrees at the top. We were first to start down and saw two deer almost immediately. Just before lunch another hiker drew our attention to a small rattle snake right next to the trail. We saw many lizards that would scurry away and then stop and do a few pushups. We enjoyed all the colors in the rock as well as the effects of the desert varnish. We saw a wrangler bring down an empty mule and then bring a (presumably injured) hiker back up. We met a strung out party from NY and California; all ages and sizes. We met a volunteer from Tennessee with a ranger shirt. Her job was to assist hikers and keep them from doing anything dumb, like hiking down further than they could hike back up. We passed her later as she assisted a hiker. She gave us advice about the Roaring Springs side trail: “Don’t bother, there really isn’t a good view.” She also told us where we could access the creek if we needed it. She told us a little about Maverick, the gentlemen who is 79 years old and is crossing the canyon 79 times this year. We stopped for lemonade at the pump house and added water to our bottles there. The mother and daughter-in-law caught up with us there. The mother was packless. Evidently her son was carrying his and her packs down. She had been stressed by the heat. The daughter-in-law waited with her for a while and then went back up the trail to assist her husband. By the time they got to camp at 6pm, Mom had her own pack again and everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

We made good time to the Coconino lookout and to the tunnel and then slowed somewhere in the Redwall. We rested in the shade several times. We stopped for lunch way down in the Bright Angel Shale at about 11:30. We arrived at Cottonwood at about 2:30. We walked past several sites but dropped our packs at No. 6 due to the excellent shade. Bonnie was very ready to be done for the day. We took a very refreshing dip in the Bright Angel Creek with many others who were camping at Cottonwood. We rinsed our clothes. We took a nice nap on the picnic table at our campsite. We were pretty happy with our new Camelbacks. Bonnie had the beginning of trouble with a few of her toes which eventually turned black. We had the amazing freeze dried chicken breasts for dinner. They start out like graham crackers and then turn back into real chicken.

Down to Bright Angel CG, Tuesday
Up at 5am with the alarm. On the trail by 6:45. Saw two more mule deer just out of camp. First stop, Ribbon Falls. We left our packs near the main trail. We had the falls to ourselves for about 20 minutes. It’s really a beautiful and unique place. Guys from Texas and NY joined us, and we took their pictures in the little cave in the travertine. We sent via e-mail. After hiking each hour we rested for 15 minutes. We had lunch under a rock overhang which gave us needed shade. Bonnie enjoyed the complex make up of the rock with schist, granite, mica, etc. As the temperature increased, the day got long. Norm kept looking for the bridges and Phantom Creek. We ran out of water just past where Phantom Creek joins Bright Angel. We found a shady spot and were happy to have the excuse to get wet in the creek. Norm filtered about 2 liters and drank as much as he could stand. People told us we were just about to camp but we were happy to take the break.

We were equally happy to have a lemonade and a cool tea once we reached Phantom Ranch. What a busy place with hikers, mule riders, and river rafters coming and going. Took Bonnie’s picture under the thermometer near the campground bridge. It read 120 degrees. We took site No.3 on the creek side of the trail and spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in the creek. We had Pad Tai freeze dry dinner. We will try not to buy that again. Too many competing tastes and too spicy. After dinner we walked down to the boat beach and put our toes in the Colorado River. It was running quite brown and so there was no temptation to jump in. We then went a ranger talk about bats. It was humorous and interesting. Of the 38 species of bats in North America, 36 eat bugs. Great. The other two each fruit. None drink blood. We had seen 3 dead or dying bats on the trail. We went to bed about 8:30 but slept poorly due to the heat. Neither zipper on the tent would go past half way so we were completely vulnerable to bugs, but had fortunately no problems. Time for a new tent.

Up to Indian Garden, Wednesday
Arose at 5am and were on the trail by 6:40. First two miles are up and down and sandy. The trail gives up all the elevation you gain. We were passed by the “Bat” ranger from last night’s talk. We passed him as he stopped to help some other hikers. We took a refreshing break in the shade next to Pipe Creek. Bonnie soaked her bandana. We were in 100% shade until 8:45 and then in and out of the shade all the way up to IG. Again we stopped for 15 minutes after hiking each hour. The middle third of the trail is swithch backing through the schist and granite. Seeps in the schist supported pools with tadpoles. As we broke into the Tapeats Sandstone, we rejoined Pipe Creek and enjoyed the resulting plants, trees and birds. We took a 45 minute break, and might have even napped a bit. Flies make a decent nap difficult.

We met the “Bat” ranger. He was coming down but he had never passed us on the trail. He got a chuckle from our quizzical looks and explained that he had come up an old trail along the old pipeline over by Plateau Point. He says some climbing is required.

We were into IG by 11:20am. Few sites were occupied at that point. We had lunch at our shady campsite. Bonnie washed her hair. Norm walked out to Plateau Point. With no pack and on level ground, it seemed like quite a short hike. It got cold and windy and rained big drops for just a few minutes. Nice pictures of the morning’s climb as well as Horn Creek Rapid where Norm’s raft flipped in 1994. Definitely worth the walk. Bonnie was alarmed by the weather change and pulled some of the gear back under the shelter.

Didn’t see very many people on the trail today. The first couple seemed to have a day on the beach in mind since they were carrying a patio umbrella. We passed three women who were soaking in Pipe Creek. They asked if hysterical laughter was a sign of heat stroke. Caught up with a young woman who clearly had a “bad” knee. Her friend was carrying both packs. We still couldn’t keep up with them. The three hysterical women arrived in camp at about 4:30. Two of them had some of the third woman’s gear. They were still having a good time. They all collapsed and fell asleep by 6pm but then woke up about midnight and made dinner.

We had Chicken Teriyaki with Wild Rice but Norm wasn’t Wild about it. Bonnie shared an orange to improve the meal. Nothing is as good as an orange in the desert. We shared Norm’s melted Toblerone Chocolate for dessert while we played Trivia. We took a walk around the campground, and enjoyed the cooler temperature. Due to the rain we hung the packs inside the shelter instead of on the varmit-proof hanger. Norm spotted a mouse in the roof beams but in the morning there was no sign that the mouse had bothered the packs. All of the food and garbage was in the ammo boxes provided by the NPS. All three campgrounds provided ammo boxes.

On to the South Rim, Thursday
We awoke to overcast skies. We hoped for the overcast to stick around but not yield any rain. We started playing “tag” with a younger couple from Austin TX. We took each other’s pictures. We saw many day hikers with a great array of clothing, water and food supplies or lack thereof. We met a young couple who were dressing in black and who had no food or water. They were already beyond Mile-and-a Half House. They assumed there would be a store at Indian Gardens. We encouraged them to turn around soon and Bonnie gave them her plastic bottle with some water.

Norm had just mentioned jokingly, “When we meet the Grandmother from India carrying a baby, we are almost at the top”, when we met a middle aged couple from India. They had hiked all the way beyond Three-Mile House, in street shoes and long pants but they did not have a baby. We rested just beyond Mile-and-a-Half House. Norm looked down the side of the slope and saw two, unopened one pound cans of Spam. He imitated a girl saying “I just can’t carry them any farther.” Bonnie pointed out that no girl would be carrying Spam, so they must have been abandoned by a guy. We had a good laugh. We passed a group who was doing trail maintenance. We thanked them. We met another volunteer in a ranger shirt, who was hiking the trail to assist and to keep people from trying to do more than they could actually do. We suggested he look for the couple in black. They eventually caught up with us and passed us going up. They had wisely turned around soon after we met them the first time. Near the top we heard, “Why is the trail muddy. It hasn’t rained.” Thank the mules for that. We met a total of five mule trains, all at spots where it was easy for us to get out of the way. We spotted the petroglyphs, up on the left before the second tunnel. We reached the trailhead sign which is a mandatory photograph, but there was no one there to take out picture. Bonnie heard voices above and she asked a person to come down and take our picture. We got our picture, but it started to rain right at that moment. We hustled up to Bright Angel Lodge before we got too wet. We looked for Rim-to-Rim T shirts but couldn’t find them in our sizes.

We ran into the Austin couple at the showers near the Mather Campground. Norm gave Bonnie 4 quarters for the shower. Too bad the price had gone up to 6 quarters. We had lunch in Tusayan and were on the highway by 3 and down to Phoenix by 6:30.

California - Lost Coast

California Coast - Lost Coast Trail

Jerry and Norm

May 1 – 6, 2004

Resources

The Hiker’s Guide to the Humboldt Coast, Bob Lorentzen, Bored Feet Press

The Hiker’s Guide to the Mendocino Coast, Bob Lorentzen, Bored Feet Press

Both books include maps.

High & Low Tides, Lost Coast Trail Transport Service, Roxanne@saber.net or http://gofishingforum.net/tide.pl?location=Shelter%20Cove%2c%20California&state=CA&lat=40.0333&lon=124.0667– Note, there are points where passage is much more difficult or impossible at high tide, so tides must be included in your planning.

Trails of the Lost Coast (map), Winderness Press

Other Lost Coast information including information on bear cans, shuttles, permits, trails, camping, etc. at http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/arcata/kingrange/index.html

We arranged to be picked up by the shuttle at the Usal Creek in the Sinkyone State Park. We flew to San Francisco, rented a car, and drove north about four hours to Leggett where we left 101 and went towards the coast on Highway 1. We enjoyed the giant redwoods including the Chandelier Tree which is so large that a car can drive through it.

Day 1 Shuttle, Mattole River to Randall Creek – Roxanne picked us up at the Usal Creek as scheduled at 7am. We put the car in a shady spot at the foot of the trail. Roxanne drove the winding roads up to the Mattole River. She stopped at the DNR where we got our permit and borrowed our Bear Cans to protect half of the food. She agreed to drop off the other half of our food and pick up the Bear Cans in a few days at the store above Shelter Cove. What service! Roxanne told us about life in Shelter Cove with her three sons and life as a shuttle driver. Driving in the coastal mountains on the winding roads requires new brake pads and shoes every 3,000 miles. This cuts into the shuttle profits. Due to the mountains and the curving roads, the trip was over four hours.

We were walking by 11:45. We took a slight sort cut and so we did not head directly for the beach. When we got to the beach we saw signs of sea life immediately in the form of a sting ray on the beach. We had lunch before we reached the light house and enjoyed the first of many sea lions frolicking in the surf.

We walked in black sand all day. Along the way we saw mammoth stumps which we assume must be redwoods based on the size. We stopped at 6:30. We walked beyond the tide issues at Sea Lion Gulch and actually further than we had planned. The camp sites at Cooksie creek, where we intended to stop, were occupied so we kept going to Randall Creek which made it a 8.7 mile day. The good site at Randall Creek was also taken but we found a workable site back up the creek a little way. After we set up our tent we found out there would have been nice spots up on the bluff, where we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. In hindsight, I’m not sure why we didn’t just find a spot on the beach.

Day 2 – to Big Flat and Shipman Creek -Soon after leaving Randall Creek the trail left the beach and went up. This well packed soil was easier walking than the sand. In the morning there was picturesque fog floating above the ocean. The meadows we crossed were filled with bright yellow California Poppies which were beautiful. Later we saw hundreds of white morning glories. There are huge piles of driftwood including many large logs and stumps. People have used the driftwood to make camping shelters right above the beach. The trail comes pretty close to the shoreline and you can see the waves crashing onto this drift wood. Beautiful. We crossed several creeks either by stepping stones, climbing over dead trees or just wading. The most surprising things of the day occurred at Big Flats, where the trail leads up to an actual landing strip. We know it is actual because we had to get off the strip when we saw a plane coming down right at us! As we left the Big Flats area we passed a couple of nude sun bathers. Bottoms Up! There were several other people there, properly clad, and there is a large house at Big Flats.

We found a nice campsite among the old logs at Shipman Creek, making the day about 10 miles. We made a small fire from driftwood and saw whales swimming by. Again we were between tide issues as planned.

Day 3 – On to Shelter Cove and UP to the Hidden Valley Trail - We awoke to a cool and wet world due to heavy fog. We walked all the way to Shelter Cove on the black sand beach. We saw hundreds of seals floating in the water, star fish on the shore and whales passing by. We took pause (or would it be paws) when we saw clear bear tracks in the sand. They seemed to be about six inches across and about eighteen inches apart. I guess the bear cans were worth the trouble. There were a few more creek crossings. The final stretch is open to vehicle traffic so there were tire tracks. We saw only one vehicle. We also saw a dedicated young surfer who was carrying a surfboard and a back pack evidently bound for Big Flats which is reputed to have some good waves. That’s about a 10 mile walk.

We reached the first Shelter Cove parking area at lunch time so we ate and napped on the beach before starting the climb through civilization. We then walked up the road, and at the first intersection we hitched a ride “to the store”. To our horror, the truck took us downhill not uphill. He took us to the only store he knew of. When we asked about our food at the store, all we got was very blank stares. Wrong Store! We started walking back uphill again. There wasn’t much conversation. Luckily we hitched another ride in another pickup and this time we made sure we would get dropped off at the right store. This store had the door on the left as described by Roxanne and our food was waiting for us. We left the bear cans so Roxanne could return them for us. What service! We had some cool snacks and drinks and started uphill again. That is one long hill especially in the heat of the afternoon, exposed to the sun. We failed to hitch a ride on this leg. The road is quite steep so it discourages drivers from stopping. We were relieved to get to the shade of Chemise Mountain Road which led us to the Hidden Valley Trailhead which is clearly marked. After another few miles we settled on a campsite on the saddle of a ridge. It turned out to be windy as the evening unfolded. We didn’t find the site until 7:30. That is one long day; probably 13+ miles.

Day 4 – To Bear Harbor - Being away from the shore, we awoke to a dry tent which was nicer and lighter. We were on the trail by 8:30. We began the pattern of giving up and then working to regain elevation; down, down, down. There are breathtaking views from the high elevations of the shoreline going south. We passed a home site that had only been started, with steel beams, a roof and floor but no walls. Things like that always cause us to ponder the story of the place and the people. About lunch time we approached Whale Gulch and passed a huge beam. It made us wonder about the story of the beam and how it could have been transported to that location. It didn’t seem possible to get there with any sort of vehicle. We met a Boy Scout troop going north. We lunched in the shade near the creek in Whale Gulch. We walked through our first big redwood grove. A short walk brought us to the Needle Rock overlook and Park where we napped on a picnic table, and then walked down a gravel road to the visitor center. There we were welcomed by the resident volunteers who gave us iced tea, advice on ticks and information on abalone. One can volunteer to live at the visitor center for a week or two. It is a quaint cabin on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. What a spot!

We walked on down the road to Bear Harbor Campground which can also be reached by car. We set up camp and walked down to the harbor. There are huge (Cluster Cone) rocks where the waves explode. We climbed on the rocks for a couple of hours enchanted by the sights and sounds. We learned that the next day would be very special due to an extremely low tide that would allow easier access to the abalone which live below the water line on these rocks.

Back at camp we saw elk hanging around the out house. There were beautiful calla lilies growing in the stream. We made another driftwood camp fire.

Day 5 – Wheeler and the Jack Ass Creeks - We hung around to see the abalone harvest and hundreds of starfish, which were exposed by the low tide. We couldn’t see either of these sights in Michigan or in the Grand Canyon.

On the trail by 8:30. The plants along the trail were very wet and so were our pants within moments. Don’t you hate that? The trail stays away from the shore and deep in the woods where we saw many very large redwoods including those in Schoolmarm Grove just as we reached Jackass Creek and Wheeler. Wheeler looks like a town which could happen but in fact it is a town that already happened. It is abandoned. You can see where the streets and individual home sites were. We had lunch by the creek and napped on a picnic table. The rest of the Lost Coast Trail has the pattern of a steep and long climb, some relatively level travel, and steep a descent to a point where you can access the ocean followed by another steep and long climb, then repeat. Our final descent was steep and down to Little Jackass Creek which we reached at about 3:30. 9 plus miles for the day.

We occupied a nice site on the beach with some benches and an outhouse near by. We saw whales jumping and breaching. Eventually two fellows set up a camp on the black sand beach (our beach). We chatted with them. One fellow seemed to have a superiority complex somehow related to his knowledge of the ocean from sailing and from being a California resident. I talked about the tides and the tide schedule. Even with all his knowledge he didn’t have a tide table or seem to know why he might need one on this hike. Score one for the bumpkins from Michigan. We found our first ticks tonight.

Day 6 – Back to the Car - As we left camp we saw a deer near the outhouse. Not sure where they came from but two fellows took our camp site before we were even over the first hill. We saw many slugs but even from the high points we saw no more whales. The trail is up and down including descents into Northport, Anderson and Dark Gulch. We started to say we “must be about an hour from the car” much too early. That really makes the day long. At Dark Gulch we wanted to take a break but did not find any trail to the beach or any camp sites. After Dark Gulch we had a rest stop on a high point and were joined by Kevin who was hiking North by himself. He had been on hikes for some months now. His only food was porridge so he was happy to take some of our extra food off our hands including steak bites, M&Ms and Gorp. He was marginally equipped. He had been to college and was married but seemed to be out trying to “find himself”. This part of the trail has its own wild flowers. We saw Foxglove plants taller than we were. Eventually the trail started a winding descent to the Usal Creek area and right back to our car. We cleaned up in Usal Creek and drove to Leggit for iced tea and ice cream, and then on to Willits for a motel and our traditional steak dinner at the Purple Thistle. Due to some long days we finished a day early. On day 7 we drove back to San Francisco and visited Pier 39, had fresh sourdough bread and rode the cable car to China Town. We have done four total hikes outside the Grand Canyon and this is our favorite of the four.