The Week I Camped On California’s Lost Coast

Tidbits

Pretty sure I found one of the world’s largest trees
Almost swept away by the ocean
Hiking 6 miles in the dark through redwoods
Camping in the most remote portion of the California coast
Hiking and sunset in a famous glacial valley

September 2022

Su	M	T	W	Th	F	S
28	29	30	31	9/1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	10/1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8

Where In The World Was I?

Redwood National and State Parks
Eureka, CA
The Lost Coast
Sacramento, CA
Yosemite National Park

📍Redwood National and State Parks

After entering into California, my first stop was the Redwoods. There’s no one “Redwood National Park” that you enter into. It’s more of a collection of parks with various names all in the same general area.

I stopped in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (northern part) for two hikes among the giants. It’s so hard to explain in words the feeling of hiking here… The lushness, the texture, the colors… It certainly made me feel small, but in some ways, cozy.

Three of the world’s largest trees are here. This certainly had to be one of them 🤯

And I got my photo taken with “Big Tree” 😄

I then headed south to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, the southern part of the park(s).

This is where I embarked on one of my longest and most challenging hikes yet!

One of the more popular hikes here is called Fern Canyon, an 11 mile hike through incredible redwoods out to the coast culminating in a hike through the stream (bring sandals!) in a canyon filled with ferns.

The redwoods:

Fern Canyon:

Since I started midday (rather than in the morning), when I got out to the beach, it was about sunset time. I chilled on the sand, ate some snacks, and watched the sun go down. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

I still CANNOT BELIEVE I actually captured what happened next…

After a little meditation session (beach meditations are absolutely top tier 👌) I set my stuff down to do some stretching at the crest of the beach. I positioned my phone on my backpack and hit record to capture a video of me stretching.

And then…

The timing of this still blows my mind. That was the raw video, I didn’t trim the beginning at all.

The waves were incredibly powerful, but I didn’t think they’d reach that far up the beach 😅. Don’t mess with Mother Nature!

Because I chose to watch sunset on the beach (an amazing experience) it meant that I ~~had to~~ got to hike all the way back in the dark. It was honestly quite an incredible hiking through massive redwood trees as the light faded in the sky.

But alas, we made it 👌

📍Eureka, CA

I stopped for a quick pit stop in Eureka before heading to the place I was most excited about next.

📍The Lost Coast

Okay, this place is simply incredible.

If you’ve ever been browsing Google Maps and looking at the Pacific Coast Highway, you might have curiously noticed there’s a section of the route that doesn’t track along the coast… Quite odd, you might think 🤔

This stretch of the Pacific Coast is called the “Lost Coast.”

It was named the “Lost Coast” after the area experienced depopulation in the 1930s.^[1] In addition, the steepness and related geotechnical challenges of the coastal mountains made this stretch of coastline too costly for state highway or county road builders to establish routes through the area, leaving it the most undeveloped and remote portion of the California coast.^[2] Without any major highways, communities in the Lost Coast region such as Petrolia, Shelter Cove, and Whitethorn are isolated from the rest of California.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Coast

I was dying to check this place out. There are a handful of communities of around 500 people in this area with a (very poorly maintained 😅) paved county road connecting them. The road pops you out right on the coast.

For 2 days I camped in a secluded pullout right along the beach. It was absolutely incredible.

I caught up on some little tasks around the van, gave myself a hair cut, read, meditated, walked along the beach, and most importantly, watched an incredible sunset.

I had pretty much the entire beach to myself. No houses to go around, people to navigate through, or constant sound of cars wizzing by (people passed by every 10 minutes or so).

It was just pure nature out there.

📍Sacramento, CA

After a couple days on the coast I headed inland, taking another pit stop in Sacramento to fill up on groceries, gas, and boba before the next destination.

📍Yosemite National Park

This place is magical.

I visited in April 2020 when I was living in San Francisco and was absolutely blown away. That was definitely one of the trips that sparked a fire in me to travel and see more of the U.S.

Video of that experience 👇

This time I actually did something! 🤪

I embarked on another somewhat challenging hike up to the top of Vernal and then Nevada Falls. The views of the Half Dome and the falls were spectacular.

I made some BANGIN’ guac when I got back.

After fueling back up, I walked over to a little sandy beach that runs along the river to just chill and recuperate. The water was very chilly, but I did jump in 🤪 I see these plunges as challenges to build mental toughness. It actually felt quite refreshing after the initial shock!