Pre-Trip Planning
You are supposed to have a permit, but “if” you are a gambler (or play dumb like Big BOK) go without it. The permit is $60 per person and the fine is $180. We were lucky as when we bumped into the Ranger there had been 7 no shows so he let us off with a warning. (aside: the Rangers were hanging out at Big Creek and ‘saying hello’ to everyone passing through).
Since I was the responsible adult and organized all the logistics, packing list, shopping etc. I wanted to lay everything out and make sure we had all our i’s dotted and t’s crossed.
As we were laid everything out before we left I did start wondering how the four 14 and 15 year old girls would do. It was a lot of stuff to carry, we’d be totally off the grid for 3 days and I’d just found out one of the girls hadn’t backpacked before.
Friday - Day 0
Left Marin at 11 for a 4 hour drive to the Mattol Black Sands Parking Lot. The road trip up there was enough fun alone to call it a great weekend. Hours of screaming music at 10. I was actually wondering what I had gotten myself into.
We arrived just on time for our shuttle was scheduled to leave from the Black Sands trailhead at 4. The shuttle number is 707-962-4131. SUPER nice guy named Don. It’s his company and he moved out from Ojai to Medocino about 30 years ago. You’ll get a great education on ‘the industry” in Humboldt if you choose to.
- Cost is $85 per person
- Directions to Black Sands Beach Trailhead, 865 Beach Rd, Whitethorn, CA 95589. Apple maps will literally bring you right up to the parking lot where he picks you up (and 100 yards from where you finish your hike).
You can stay at the Mattole Campground Friday night, or do like we did and hike South about two miles. We took the 4 o’clock shuttle and it’s pretty close to a 2 hour ride. We decided we’d hike in a few miles, save our legs a little on Day 2 and get things started.
We found a solid little camping spot with a nice stack of logs to block the wind. We had a really great time star gazing, talking about the universe and (true story) exploring the possibility that bears were actually the apex mammal, and secretly lived in an underground cave network which was completely hidden from humanity.
Saturday - Day 2
I woke up early and had the chance to make a nice pot of coffee and ponder what the next few days would be like.
My hiking companions woke up around 7:30 and we got on the task around 9 AM.
One of the best things about this hike is that there is a Creek every 2-3 miles with enough water to pump from. We did our hike over Labor Day weekend, which is about as low as the water gets. Below is a shot of the girls crossing Cooskie Creek.
We decided to eat lunch 1 mile past Punta Gorda lighthouse. It was about this time that the plan was hatched: let’s hike 13 miles on Sunday so we can get a jump on day 3 and (true story #2) get back in time to do homework…(yup, you read that right).
I have to say that view from our make shift cafe's veranda did not suck.
The one and only time in 3.5 days that someone was not smiling was in this shot. I still don’t know what was wrong at the time, but I think it may have been that Sylvia did not get to tell the next joke
Great post lunch shot here. The side story which is not clear from this picture is that about 30 seconds after we took this picture a rattlesnake slithered across the boot of one of our hikers. This is certainly freaky, but more importantly it messed up our game of ‘hole in the bottom of the sea’. Until then we had one heck of a stack of crap at the bottom of the sea: "there was a piece of grass, on a rocket, on a snail, on a cricket, on a rock, on an upright bear, in a bear den, on a liger, on a tiger, on a bug, on a flea, on a rattlesnake, in a hole in the bottom of the sea". Very ominous that there was a rattlesnake in the hole and it crossed our pa
We decided to sleep at at Randall creek since Amanda’s’ Dad told me the wind is more tolerable there at night.
Not only did that turn out to be true, but there was a FABULOUS spot to clean up and get fresh water .
Also, finding a log to sit on is actually pretty critical in the water filtration process. Pumping 6-8 liters of water takes a while
I also learned that it is a best practice to take a nap on the Bocce Ball court prior to playing…both of which were done
Sunday - Day 3
We set the alarm for 6:30 and had our plan. We’d eat breakfast, break camp, do yoga (I needed to stretch my back) then hit it. It all starts off with some Yoga, and for you real Yogi’s out there please be kind on our flow.
The plan was to go about 13 miles from Randal Creek to Gitchell Creek. We figured we could get to Miller Flat by noon, take a break, eat lunch (wait for the tides to start to recede) and hit the final 4.8 miles… “seems doable” became the phrase of the day.
We hit the trail and listened to a hard rock mix and power walked in a line. The decision was to go pretty hard and take an extended snack and water break at Big Creek.
It was at this break when the ladies came up with not only the motto of the trip, but the handshake. The motto is “Happy Trails” backwards.
Best handshake of all time. I mean, I am 46 years old and have never seen a 5 person handshake. Very, very cool and it actually ended up inspiring the sticker we made for the trip!
The next several miles were one of the more challenging sections of the hike. Grapefruit size rocks for several miles followed by 3 inch deep sand.
We tried to avoid this Easter Egg for a while by taking a trail that was just above the beach… until said trail ended. In case it is not 100% obvious, It’s pretty awkward to slide down a 20 foot loose gravel embankment with 40-60 lbs on your back. That said, it was perceived by our super-troopers to be fun
With that section behind us we made it to Miller Flat. The plan we had was to have a long lunch, take a break and nail the final several miles to Gitchell Creek where we would camp… and by “break” I mean take a serious nap - like the kind a 2 year old takes after going to the park —> out cold
Now for another fun part of the story. Right at the entrance to the “impassable at high tide” zone we caught up to about 40 people waiting to scramble down a small cliff to the rocks where the waves were frankly making it a bit unsafe to enter. There were a six or seven 20-something young studs letting everyone know they had checked out the trails and the downclimb and we would all just have to wait it out. I think they said “bro” 10 tens while explaining the imminent peril one would assume by attempting this section now (yes that was my attempt at creating a little drama and suspense).
Then along came 4 teenage girls, one drops a pack, scurries down the cliffside, pops back up and gives our squad a thumbs up…
enter our second catch phrase of the trip was introduced “send it”. I love seeing ‘girl-power’ in action!
This picture does not really do the situation justice, but it was right after they passed everyone and they were pretty proud. Oh yea and I did scramble around the side to spot them just in case. One gave me a pretty solid knee to the face (btw have you ever heard your nose pop like your knuckles do? It can)
When we finally made it to Gitchell Creek it was like entering Shangri La: awesome watering hole, phat beach front tent spots and no one there!
I think sunset that last night was just about the best of my life. It was an incredibly clear night and the moon was in just the right spot
Monday - Day 3
The plan: hike an easy 3.7 miles from big Flat to Black sands beach. Reality: it wasn’t easy
Not that I have any license to issue ‘pro-tips’ to anyone, but I will just say that after ~22 miles of hard work and three days in a tent here is a keeper: deliver coffee to your hiking partners early in the morning on a make-shift platter. It makes them happy (and feels good too).
Our plan was perfect. A simple and smooth 3.8 mile hike from Gitchell to the finish line on the beautiful Black Sands beach! Yea!!!
Oh wait, in total honestly it sort of felt like walking in quicksand. On average every step would slide into the sand 3-4 inches; we earned that last day.
It felt SO good to be at the end but it was the closest anyone got to getting grumpy. I don’t think anyone said a word for the final 30 or so minutes of the journey. The feeling of pride was palpable, everyone was so happy with themselves for not only doing this but staying positive, having a blast and just being together with wonderful people.