5/31/16: Background of the Trip

About 10 days ago, I was within a few days of completing a 30-day road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.  One night, I was gambling and socializing at a blackjack table at a casino in Coos Bay, Oregon.  During a conversation, the blackjack dealer mentioned that she grew up in Gold Beach, Oregon, a small town about an hour’s drive south of Coos Bay. I then asked her whether there were any attractions, hikes, or other activities she would recommend during my drive south through Oregon. She enthusiastically recommended that I go on a jet boat tour of the Rogue River, which I ultimately signed up for and completed a few days later.  The journal post from that trip can be accessed by clicking here.

During the jet boat tour and previous day’s hiking on the Rogue River, I enjoyed the natural scenery and solitude along the river, especially on the Overgrowth Trail and the Myrtle Tree Trail. During the jet boat tour, the pilot, Darin, repeatedly directed our attention to the Rogue River Trail, a 41 mile trail which roughly follows the path of the river  from the Grave Creek Boat Ramp until Foster Bar.

History of the Rogue River Region (Southwestern Oregon)

The first inhabitants in the area of the Rogue River were the Native Americans, who inhabited the area as early as 8,500 years ago.  At the time, the Native Americans lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.  Around 1,500 years ago, the Native American created villages along the banks of the Rogue River.  During the early 1800s, the Native American population throughout the entire area of Southern Oregon is estimated to have been around 5,000.

The first encounters between white people and Native Americans occurred in the late 1700s, when British explorers docked near the area of the Rogue River.  During the 1800s, the relationship between the whites and Native Americans included several violent clashes interspersed between years of tense peace.  During the 1850s, the encounters became much more deadly.  Shortly thereafter, the Native Americans were moved to out-of-the-area reservations to protect them and halt the ongoing conflict.

About the Rogue River:

Interesting facts:

• The river starts at Boundary Springs in Crater Lake National Park
• From there, the river flows 215 miles until its headwaters at Gold Beach
• The river starts at an elevation of 5,320 feet and eventually flows into the sea
• The watershed (area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas) of the Rogue River is 5,156 square miles and includes areas in Southern Oregon and Northern California.
• The river was named “Rogue,” due to white people’s description of the Native Americans as “Rogue” people.
  • http://www.dictionary.com/browse/rogue?s=t

Lost Coast Trail

When I began researching and planning to hike the Rogue River Trail, it was difficult to justify the effort and hassle that the planning and execution of the trip would require, just to be able to hike 41 miles (equal to about 2-3 days) on the Rogue River Trail.  In addition to the Rogue River Trail, I was hoping to find another remote, scenic, 30-50 mile backpacking trail, which could be combined with the Rogue River Trail to create a two-part backpacking trip.  After a couple of Google searches, I became increasingly set on adding the Lost Coast Trail to the trip.

The Lost Coast Trail is generally used to refer to two separate, yet nearby coastal trails on a remote coastline in Northern California.  The “Lost Coast” obtained its name as it has been “lost” from development, infrastructure, and significant populations due to its unwelcoming, often extreme terrain and geology.  Throughout California, Highway 1 runs alongside the entire California Coastline, except the coastline of the Lost Coast. During the construction of Highway 1 in the 1980s, Caltrans had no choice but to modify the route of Highway 1 to run about 20-30 miles inland to avoid the Lost Coast area and its earthquake-prone, mountainous terrain.

Since the 1980s, the Lost Coast has been preserved in its natural, undeveloped state with the formation of Kings Range National Conservation Area and Sinkyone Wilderness State Park.   While conducting research, I actually discovered that there are two separate trails, each separately and altogether known as the “Lost Coast Trail.”  Both trails run parallel to the coastline and are about 25 miles each.  The northern Lost Coast Trail passes through Kings Range National Conservation Area and is referred to by many as the “coastal” section of the trail because the trail mostly follows the the sandy beaches and coastline.  The southern Lost Coast Trail passes through Sinkyone Wilderness State Park and is referred to by many as the “ridge” section of the trail because the trail primarily runs atop steep ridges and offers hikers a bird’s-eye-view of the coastline and beaches, often hundreds of feet below the ridge.  The northern and southern trails are connected by an approximately 4 mile paved road. The nearly 100 miles of trail hiking during this trip should be more than enough to challenge me physically and mentally.

 

Trip Plan / Preliminary schedule (as of 5/31/16):

• Thursday, June 16th
  • Board a flight from Los Angeles to Medford, OR
  • Bus ride from Medford to Grants Pass
    • Bus Schedule: http://www.co.josephine.or.us/Files/RVCL.pdf
      • 7:45, 8:45, 12:15, 4:25, 5:25
  • Find a way to get from Grants Pass to Grave Creek Trailhead (27 miles) either by hitchhiking, walking, ubering, or using one of the shuttle services that transport hikers/rafters along the river (probably the best option.)
• Friday June 17th- Monday June 20th
  • Hike the Rogue River Trail averaging 10 miles per day (40 miles total)
  • After the hike, find a way to Gold Beach, OR (combination of hitchhiking, walking, or using one of the shuttle services that transport hikers/rafters along the river (probably the best option.)
• Tuesday June 21st – Wednesday June 22nd
  • Public transportation from Gold Beach to Eureka
    • http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Gold-Beach-OR-USA/Eureka
      • Gold Beach to Brookings
        • 10AM, 1:55PM, 5:25PM (not on Weekends)
      • Brooking to Crescent City
        • Everyday at 8AM
      • Crescent City to Eureka
        • Every 30 minutes
  • Find a way to get from Eureka to the Mattole River Trailhead (Note:  The only way to Mattole Beach is via the road the heads southbound from the city of Ferndale.)
• Thursday June 23rd – Friday June 24th
  • Hike the portion of the  Lost Coast Trail through the Kings Range National Conservation Area (24.6 miles total) ending at Black Sands Beach
    • http://www.everytrail.com/guide/the-lost-coast
• Saturday June 25th
  • Hike the Lost Coast Connector Trail (9.5 miles) from Black Sands Beach to Hidden Valley. Hidden Valley is the trailhead of the southern Lost Coast Trail, a trail that passes through state-administered land.
• Sunday June 26th- Monday June 27th
  • Hike the Southern portion of the Lost Coast Trail until the Usal Beach Trailhead (25 miles).
• Tuesday June 28th
  • Take the greyhound bus back from either Eureka or Willits (preferably Willits) to Los Angeles
    • https://www.greyhound.com/en/ecommerce/schedule
      • Routine times of departure are 9:45AM from Eureka or 1:05PM from Willits
• Wednesday June 29th
  • Arrive in LA Wednesday Morning

Goals for the Trip

• Experience traveling without a car/transportation
  • In most cases, having a car while traveling provides convenience and flexibility. Nothing to do in this town?  Just drive an hour or two and arrive in a city with more activities and attractions.  Have a couple hours to spare? Drive across town and check out a nice pedestrian area or drive outside the city for a short hike. When you don’t have access to a car, your options are limited.  You can either choose to make the most of your immediate surroundings, or you can take a relatively slow, short-distance walk or public transportation to another area.  Nowadays, with the inescapable technology available at our fingertips, I want to experience living slowly and intently without being able to escape into technology.
• Test my physical/mental limits (increase my self-imposed fitness/adventure limits)
  • Backpacking 90 miles isn’t easy.  Especially while carrying 30 pounds, sleeping overnight in a tent, eating bland nutrient dense foods, disconnecting from technology, and not showering for days at a time.  However, the feeling of accomplishment that comes from a successful thru-hike or adventure is worth it.  The experience is priceless and will likely change my perspective and challenge my self-imposed limitations.  Suddenly, a 1-month backpacking trip through Europe doesn’t sound too intimidating, a 12 mile trip up to Mt Baldy seems like an afternoon walk, and hiking the John Muir Trail seems like a very doable adventure.
• Enjoy the solitude/scenery/inspiration
  • Few experiences can offer the same feeling of solitude/scenery/inspiration of backpacking in nature.  Nothing speaks more clearly and truthfully than being surrounded by nature, the environment, biology, and geology.  Nothing is inexplainable, yet everything is incredible/unbelieveable.  Both the Lost Coast Trail and Rogue River Trail have very minimal (if any) road access, contain vast,  landscpaes, and are lightly traveled.  There’s really no way to prepare yourself for what you’ll encounter, just brace yourself and prepare to be excited at the beauty you’ll encounter along every step of the way
• Increase endurance/fitness
  • Hiking is an endurance sport.  The first time I tried backpacking 50 miles, I quit after 25 miles.  The first time I tried backpacking 165 miles, I quit after 30 miles. My lack of abilities were likely a combination of mental and physical unpreparedness.  However, since these failures, I’ve gradually built up my endurance and completed both of these aforementioned backpacking trails.  Through backpacking the Rogue River Trail and Lost Coast Trail, I hope to further increase my physical and mental endurance
• Learn more about myself/what I want/what gives me pleasure
  • Numerous studies have shown that people are about 60% more creative while walking and shortly thereafter
    • https://news.stanford.edu/2014/04/24/walking-vs-sitting-042414/
    • http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/want-to-be-more-creative-take-a-walk/?_r=0
  • Being in an environment of solitude (away from the media, other people/ideas/perspectives/assumptions) allows you to think more independently, to challenge why things in my life are the way they are, whether I want to implement any new habits (perhaps tasks/activities I’ve been subconsciously doing while traveling), or to eliminate any habits (things that I’ve been avoiding while on the road which I think may be improving my well-being)
• Meet interesting people along the trail
  • Travelers (especially backpackers) are some of the most friendly, welcoming, non-judgmental I meet.  They are open to new perspectives, understand the value of relationships, are flexible, and are passionate about nature.  Almost every encounter is an experience filled with growth, amazement, and lessons.

What are some challenges?

• Logistics
  • Transportation to, from, and between trailheads
    • There’s a chance that I could end up not finding a ride to and from the trailheads for hours or even days
  • High tide vs low tide
    • A large portion of The (Northern) Lost Coast Trail is on the wet sand near the beach.  Some of this portion is impassable during high tide. Overcoming this obstacle, will require planning and/or patience
• Weather
  • The area encompassing the Lost Coast Trail receives over a hundred inches of rain annually.  The weather in this area is notoriously rainy and foggy, with some (unforunate) hikers not being able to see more than a feet ahead of them during their trips. These accounts of extreme fogginess and rain are usually from hikers during winter, fall, and early spring.  Hiking the trail during the summer should reduce this risk significantly
• Loneliness
  • Spending days at a time hiking in the wilderness may lead to feelings of loneliness.  This likely won’t be a problem.  I can journal, read,  and listen to audiobooks/podcasts.
• Keeping up to date with Work
  • I’ve planned the trip to be about 11 days (Thursday – Tuesday).  Therefore, six of the days will be Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.  This will hopefully reduce the likelihood that I’ll miss important phone calls or emails

Overview Maps of the Three Trails

Resources:

Link to Kings Range National Conservation Area (Northern Portion of Lost Coast Trail)

Link to the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park Guide (Lower Portion of Lost Coast Trail)

Link to access the Lower Rogue River Trail Guide

Link to Access Upper Rogue River Trail Guide (Not planned for this trip)

Supplies

• Sawyer Premium Odorless Permethrin Insect Repellent Trigger Spray, 24-Ounce
• BearVault BV500 Bear Proof Container Bear Vault
  • Required for both the Rogue River Trail and the Lost Coast Trail
  • http://amzn.com/B0019LSGQE
• Sunscreen/Sun Protection
  • This is especially important for the Northern portion of the Lost Coast Trail, which has little-to-no shade
• High tide and low tide map / Thorough Lost Coast Trail Guide
  • Many online voices have suggested stopping by the BLM office to pick up the tide map and a much better trail guide than what’s available online