We continued the journey up the California coast over the Golden Gate Bridge and followed the very scenic Highway 1.  The coast had a great county park system with a lot of trails and we found an 8 mile loop on top of a bluff right next to the ocean.  We also did a driving tour through Mendocino which is unbelievably cute even though it is a bit yuppie.  Camping was a bit expensive but luckily a local filled us in on some free camping next to a river and reservoir.  We found a great spot right next to the river surrounded by huge redwood trees.  It rained a little bit overnight and the next day we got to figure out exactly how deep puddles can be and still be able to drive through them.  We took a scenic logging road tour and found ourselves in Fort Bragg at the North Coast Brewing Company for some onion ring and nacho carbo loading before the big backpacking trip.  While we were there, we got in touch with our friends Shayne and Greg who were also doing a tour of the California coast but heading south.  We all decided to meet in Shelter Cove for a night of camping, wine, and smores!  The really crazy part of this meeting was that we also saw these guys in the Florida Keys around Christmas time.  We think that they are stalking us...

  

Once in Shelter Cove, we located our trail head and packed up for the big hike along the Lost Coast.  We planned four days and three nights to do an out and back hike of 52 miles.  Ron did research for his undergrad senior thesis in this area looking at Holocene marine terraces.  This is the longest section of undeveloped California coast due to very steep terrain and landslides.  The majority of the hike is along the beach with loose sand, boulder hopping, and two sections that can only be accessed during low tide.  The remainder of the trail was on top of the terraces.  Luckily our timing was perfect and we discovered fields of poppies and wild iris.  Our first day was a long 14 miles and we were pretty tired by the time we found our camp.  I never thought I would be hungry enough to eat macaroni and cheese with tuna wrapped in a tortilla.  Absolutely delicious.  The next morning we sat by the creek that ran right next to our tent.  An otter came swimming out of an ocean wave, walked along the beach toward us, and then proceeded to swim up the creek.  Who knew they could do that?!  Ron also discovered bear and coyote prints on the beach.  The next day we set out for Sea Lion Cove.  The huge rocks exposed in the ocean were literally covered with sea lions, all of which were howling very loudly.  We found a sweet camping spot on top of a bluff and Ron, using all of his Grand Canyon experience, tied our tent down so that it would have taken a 50-60 mph wind to remove it from the bluff.  From here we continued north to view a lighthouse and check out the north end of the trail.  The scenery was outstanding!  Steep green rolling hills and sand dunes next to the ocean.  As the wind proceeded to pick up, we decided to head back to our camp. 

   

  

A few brief rain showers made their way through as we cooked breakfast and had coffee but then the weather cleared.  Shayne had told us that the whales were migrating along the coast this time of year so we kept our eyes peeled.  With the sun out, we spotted a whole pod slowly making their way up the coast.  After breakfast we headed south once again.  The tide was still a bit high and made some of the hike pretty exciting.  There were a few places where we had to time the waves in order to get around a corner.  The ocean was definitely nipping at our toes.  We made it to a campsite along a creek south of where we had camped the first night and left only about 6.5 miles to get out the next day.  Distance was really hard to judge along the coast.  We could see Shelter Cover and it looked really close but it still took as about three hours to finish the hike.