This week, I hiked the nothern section of the Lost Coast Trail with 3 friends. It’s 24.6 miles from Black Sands Beach to Mattole Beach. We started at the southern end and hiked north.

Twenty-four miles in 3 days doesn’t sound that difficult, but it was actually pretty tough. Almost all of the trail is on sand. Hiking a long distance on sand—especially with the slope of the beach into the ocean—is really though on your feet, ankles, knees, etc. We were all pretty sore by the end. It was super beautiful though. I would absolutely do it again!

If you’re curious, here’s my gear list for this trip.

Day One

The first day was great. We were excited to get started and really enjoyed the views on the beach. We stopped for some food by this driftwood an hour or so after starting.

We stopped at Big Flat to camp. It was a fantastic spot with a beautiful sunset.

Day Two

Several a few sections on the trail were impassable at high tide. We realized on the second day that we brought the tide tables for 2018 instead of 2019. As a result, we did most of the impassable sections at high tide instead of low tide. Oops. I only got wet a few times.

We spent a lot of time dodging waves on the second day. I had my camera in a dry bag in my pack for a lot of the day since I was only a little worried about falling in the ocean.

The stars in the wilderness are always amazing. Just incredible.

Day Three

The last day was a fairly short distance compared to the rest. We camped just south of the Punta Gorda Lighthouse. Even though it wasn’t very tall, there were still some incredible views.

On the way back to San Francisco from Mattole Beach, we drove through the giant redwoods. Always beautiful.

What a trip.