This morning, I woke up at 6AM at Wheeler Camp. During the entire southern portion of the Lost Coast Trail, Wheeler Camp was the only time I was within a few feet of sea level nearby the ocean. However, even if I wanted to I wouldn’t be able to reach the ocean due to the river which formed a barricade between Wheeler Camp and the ocean.
From Wheeler, I knew I had a tough day ahead. The previous day at Needle Rock Visitor Center, I noticed a line graph posed on a bulletin board depicting the mile-to-mile elevation change from Needle Rock to Usal Camp…and it looked BRUTAL! Especially for the portion of the trail from Wheeler Campground to Usal Camp. Basically, over the upcoming 12 miles of the trail, the elevation of the trail changes as follows: 0 ft => 800 ft => 0 feet => 600 feet => 100 feet => 600 feet => 300 feet => 1,100 feet => to 0 ft.
To make matters more difficult, the trail often required walking through overgrown branches/trees, walking beneath four-foot openings under fallen trees across the trail, climbing up near-vertical portions of the trail, walking around washed out (or washing out) sections of the trail, walking through thick mud, and descending steep and low-friction downhill slopes. On a few of the steep, low-friction down hill slopes I slipped and fell down on my backside. After a few days of mostly-level hiking and well-maintained trails, the last portion of the trail was overly intrusive and abrasive, demoralizing, and sadistic, requiring a strong mental mindset to make it through with a sane mind. Sort of like the worst girlfriend you can imagine. And to top it off, after it was all over she left me stranded on a dirt road six miles from Highway 1. But she was beautiful, so the memory of her will be associated with the awe-inspiring views and beautiful photos/memories. Also, it’s these types of experiences through which I become a more determined, patient, and strong-willed person.
After completing the Lost Coast Trail, I waited at the trailhead for about 30 minutes, hoping that someone would pass by and offer a ride to Highway 1 or a nearby city. After a few rejections, I began the six-mile walk toward Highway 1. About a half-mile into the walk, a yellow Nissan Xterra was passing by, and heeded my request for a ride. The couple, Darren and Tara (and their dog Chico), were enjoying a weekend on the coast away from Napa. Their son had just enrolled in a two-week-long summer adventure program, and they decided to drive north to enjoy the weekend in Fort Bragg. This Sunday afternoon, they were about ready to head back to Napa and were kind enough to drop me off in Willits. During the one-hour drive between the trailhead and Willits, we discussed backpacking routes/ideas, my experiences hiking the Lost Coast Trail, houseboating on Shasta Lake, music festivals, and the stranded family on the side of Usal Road with a malfunctioning transmission.
The drive to Willits took much longer than I was expecting. We drove north on Highway 1 until reaching Highway 101, and then headed south on Highway 101 until Willits. On the way, we stopped off at a mini-mart and I offered to buy water and snacks for Darren and Tara. Afterwards, they made an impulsive decision to visit the drive-thru-tree park. I’ve been to the drive-thru tree before so I knew it was a lame tourist attraction, but I didn’t have the heart to break their bubble and crush their excitement so we visited the park and drove through a Redwood Tree. Once they dropped me off in Willits, I decided to stay in the Best Western Inn, which was probably one of the nicest hotels in the area. It was well worth it to enjoy a nice shower, sleep in a better bed, and have a better Internet connection, especially after four days of intense hiking. For dinner, I had a breakfast burrito (AMAZING!) from a local Mexican restaurant and had an Omelet with Potatoes from Lumberjack restaurant. After four days, my turbo metabolism made it so that I was able and willing to eat two large meals after 4PM.
