Andra and I were looking for a hike at a low elevation for June. The heavy snow pack this year is still covering the upper elevations. After considering our options, we decided a trip to the coast would fit the bill. This year I thought it would be nice to take each of my nephews on a backpacking trip. For this trip, we took Brian with us. The weather forecasters were predicting 106 in Sacramento over the weekend, so our timing was impeccable.

The Lost Coast is a seldom-used State Park that is purposely under promoted. In fact, there are no road signs showing how to get there. The final road in is dirt and one lane. The information I had states that this section of road alone will take forty-five minutes to drive. I forgot to take a picture of the road, but basically, passing a car coming the other way in most areas was totally impossible. More information about the Lost Coast can be found at this link; however, the trail notes cover only the trails going north and not the southern trail we explored.

In order to beat the heat and traffic Friday morning, we got up at 5:30am and left my house at 6:08am. I estimated six hours of driving with two hours for breakfast and lunch stops (eight hours total). After arriving at the visitor’s center, we found out they charge per person per night to backpack in the area. This was somewhat of a surprise, but after being ripped off for $27 so I can walk on public land my tax dollars already fund, we headed for the trailhead.

The map below shows our path starting from Orchard Camp. The heavy forest canopy caused the GPS to repeatedly lose contact with the satellites. This left many gaps in the track data. We planned to make our base camp in the old company town of Wheeler. All that remains of Wheeler are cement foundations and the sawmill constructed in 1950.