Slide on Hwy 101!

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Winter

  Attention: Due to extreme winter storms, most trails in the King Range Wilderness are impassable. Backpacking and hiking are discouraged at this time due to landslides, downed trees, high creek levels, and snow which are impacting the trails.


The Road Between Mattole and Black Sands Beach is closed.


Check Other Road Conditions.






Before heading out to the King Range this winter to go backpacking research the current and projected conditions.


If it's sunny or storming is only one factor to consider.


Also be aware of the marine conditions - large swells will make it extremely difficult and hazardous to hike on the beach.




FOR EXAMPLE:

Today

Sunny, with a high near 53. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with a low around 40. Calm wind.

Saturday

Sunny, with a high near 54. Calm wind.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 40. Calm wind.

Sunday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 53. Light north wind.

Meanwhile...

Beach Hazards Statement

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
415 AM PST FRI JAN 27 2017

CAZ101-103-104-109-272015-
/O.CON.KEKA.BH.S.0002.000000T0000Z-170128T0000Z/
COASTAL DEL NORTE-NORTHERN HUMBOLDT COAST-SOUTHWESTERN HUMBOLDT-
MENDOCINO COAST-
415 AM PST FRI JAN 27 2017

...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS
AFTERNOON...

* SNEAKER WAVES...THE SNEAKER WAVE THREAT WILL INCREASE FRIDAY AS
  THE LONG PERIOD SWELL LINGERS THROUGHOUT THE WATERS.

* IMPACTS...LONG LULLS WITH COMPARATIVELY SMALL WAVES ARE LIKELY
  TO DEVELOP BETWEEN SETS OF LARGER WAVES. THESE LULLS MAY LAST
  SEVERAL MINUTES...GIVING BEACHGOERS A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY
  PRIOR TO THE ARRIVAL OF LARGER WAVES THAT WASH FARTHER ONTO THE
  BEACH THAN EXPECTED. THESE WAVES CAN EASILY WASH BEACHGOERS INTO
  THE FRIGID AND TURBULENT WATERS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

BEACHGOERS ARE ADVISED TO OBSERVE THE OCEAN FROM A SAFE
DISTANCE...AND ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO THE WAVES WHEN VENTURING
CLOSE TO THE SURF ZONE.

Hazardous Weather Outlook

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
405 AM PST FRI JAN 27 2017

CAZ101-103-104-109-281215-
COASTAL DEL NORTE-NORTHERN HUMBOLDT COAST-SOUTHWESTERN HUMBOLDT-
MENDOCINO COAST-
405 AM PST FRI JAN 27 2017

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

A DIMINISHING LONG PERIOD WESTERLY SWELL OF 10 FT AT 16 SECONDS WILL
BRING A THREAT FOR SNEAKER WAVES TODAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

Any day can be potentially high risk for sneaker waves (often most dangerous on sunny days because there are more people on the beach and they are less expected).


High winds will make your trip miserable - and potentially dangerous also.


Point is: Just because it's sunny doesn't mean that it will be a good time to backpack the Lost Coast Trail during the winter. If it's not sunny, you definitely don't want to be out here. There could be calm days between storms but really know all of the conditions before you head out. This winter has been particularly wet and stormy with rough seas.


Read these blog posts for more information about general winter conditions and travel advice.


http://lostcoastranger.blogspot.com/2016/01/winter-travels-safety-first.html


http://lostcoastranger.blogspot.com/2015/11/careful-of-sneaker-waves.html


http://lostcoastranger.blogspot.com/2012/11/winter-conditions-prepare-for-worst.html


http://lostcoastranger.blogspot.com/2011/12/winter-in-king-range-what-to-expect.html


http://lostcoastranger.blogspot.com/2013/09/rescue-on-lost-coast.html


For current conditions call the King Range Project Office: 707-986-5400

NEW King Range Individual Wilderness Permit Requirement

The Bureau of Land Management will require permits for overnight use in the King Range Wilderness, part of the King Range National Conservation Area on northern California’s Lost Coast, beginning Jan. 9, 2017.   The requirement will not affect day-use visitors or campgrounds outside the wilderness area.

The permit system will limit the number of people entering the King Range Wilderness for overnight use to 60 entries per day during the peak season of May 15-Sept. 15, and 30 entries per day during the non-peak season of Sept. 16-May14.

Starting Jan. 9, 2017, King Range visitors can visit www.recreation.gov to book their overnight permits. Permits will cost $6 per group.  Visitors can also purchase permits by visiting the King Range office in Whitethorn. 

The new permitting requirement will help the BLM manage the number of visitors, preserving the wilderness experience of solitude.  Overnight use has increased by more than 150 percent since the King Range Wilderness was designated in 2006, from 3,300 overnight visitors to more than 9,500 in 2015.   Visitor days (number of visitors multiplied by the number of days they stay) have increased from 12,400 to 34,400 in the same time.

“The new permit system will help meet the intent of the Wilderness Act by reducing overcrowding,” said Molly Brown, BLM Arcata field manager. “Current use levels have negatively impacted the wilderness character of the King Range Wilderness, particularly along the Lost Coast Trail.”

The BLM decided to put the permit system in place after receiving extensive public input over more than a decade as part of the King Range National Conservation Area Resource Management Plan and the King Range Wilderness Management Plan. 

Additional information regarding the permit and management plans are available online at (insert address); by  request to the BLM-Arcata Field Office, (707) 825-2300; or request to the King Range Office, PO Drawer 189, Whitethorn, CA  95589,  (707) 986-5400;  or by sending an email request to CA338@BLM.GOV.

 

Signing Out

Greetings from Colorado. There haven’t been any new posts in several months because I moved to Grand Junction, Colorado at the end of March to continue recreation work with BLM.

 

I started working as a seasonal wilderness ranger for the King Range NCA in 2009 and became permanent in 2011. It didn’t take long to stop counting how many times I hiked the Lost Coast Trail, or how many miles I walked, but it’s enough to say that I know the King Range National Conservation Area very well.  I’ve enjoyed my time here but I decided that it was time to shake things up a bit and see some new country. Of course, not a week goes by that I don’t day dream about the Lost Coast.

 

I’ve seen it change quite a bit since my first season. This is an ever changing landscape that is being sculpted by waves, wind, rain, and seismic activity. Every spring the rivers have a new mouth, sometimes shifting hundreds of feet. Hillsides erode and crumble into the sea. Ocean creatures such as whales, octopus, anemones, and all sorts of fish are washed onto the shore where birds are always waiting at the breaking waves for their next meal to appear. Year after year I’ve observed the movement of the same ginormous logs that are thrown onto the beach during large winter swells. They stay there throughout the summer only to be gobbled up again by the ocean the following winter and moved another few hundred feet down the beach.

 

And then there’s the wildlife. There’s the time a bear came into by camp (with volunteers) and violently shook and slammed every bear canister onto the ground. Another time a bear silently circled my camp late at night, strolling within feet of my hammock. I really enjoyed when I was working up on the switchbacks of Rattlesnake Ridge Trail when I looked down at Big Flat Creek to witness a bear slowly making his way down the creek and soaking at every pool of water (or looking for fish?).

 

The river otters are always a delight to see. By far my favorite is when I observed several young otters learning how to catch fish. The family of otters scurried into the waves together and only after a few minutes the adult otter (mother?) caught a fish and pulled it up onto a rock to eat. One by one, each of the youngsters took a try at getting a bite. But the adult was determined that they each get a fish of their own and none of them had a “free meal.” Well, she finished her dinner and watched the kids try on their own. Soon she decided to get back in the water and show them, again, how it was done. It didn’t take long for her to pull another fish up onto the rock, this time she shared.

 

One of my favorite creeks on the coast has a deep pool near its mouth. It was here that I was eating lunch while waiting for the tide to recede one afternoon when I witnessed 2 snakes attempting to catch fish in the pool. They lied out on a log that crossed over the pool and intently watched the fish dart around below the surface. Then suddenly, one of the snakes would strike down into the pool and I’d see flashes of light followed by a dark streaks whiz around in the water in the grand dance of life-death. But alas, the snake slithered back onto shore and onto the log with an empty mouth and began his intense gaze back into the water, completely stiff except for his head ever so slightly moving back and forth.

 

I have dozens of stories like this but of course they don’t happen every day or even every week. But I do run into and talk with people every day. People like you who are reading this right now, planning your trip. It’s wonderful to meet people from all over the country and all over the world who come all the way out to this remote area of northern California to experience the rugged, beautiful and unforgiving Lost Coast. Visitation has continued to increase and nearly doubles every few years – the lost coast isn’t lost and it hasn’t been for a long time. That being said, you can still find solitude if you know when and where to look. What has always been difficult to escape, though, is the evidence of mankind – the trash, toilet paper, human waste, graffiti, and campsite structures. Although I have gradually found less and less junk hanging from the trees and slightly less exposed turds, I have always packed out large amounts of trash and litter year after year.   A large part of this is in the form of micro trash – bits of wrappers, twisty ties, nylon strings, tent stakes, ten foil, orange peels and all sorts of odd bits of plastic. After I go to every campsite on the coast I’d always come off the trail with at least a half-gallon worth of micro trash, minimum.

These, maybe from one individual...

Adds up to this from multiple visitors

every week it's a fresh batch of trash left behind.

My guess is that most micro trash is left unintentionally. I’ve found a good way to avoid leaving trash and other items behind is to always check my campsite and resting locations before I leave them. I also have ONE designated pocket  - a backpocket or a cargo work well – for wrappers and other small trash items. This way you’re not getting into this pocket for your camera or sunscreen while pulling out wrappers that blow away in the wind in the process. Keep in mind that most things don’t burn. A lot of what I pack out is from fire rings: Plastics, metal cans, foils, and food! Notorious fire ring trash is instant freeze dried food packaging (e.g. mountain house); these are thick plastic and foil!!!! They don’t burn.  

A used Mountain House package just left here.

Bottom line is: if it’s not straight paper - like cardboard or toilet paper - please don't burn it. Leaving anything behind is an eye sore for other visitors and reminds them of the dirty, busy, noisy city life that they probably came here to escape. Seeing wrappers at a campsite, toilet paper dangling from a bush, a pile of trash inside of a circle of rocks, and marine debris “artfully” hanging from a tree are the very things that most people come here to avoid. We can do better. We can do better picking up after ourselves and we can also pick up and pack out things that aren’t ours.

 

The torch is being passed to you. You have, and always have had, the responsibility. I was just an educator and a custodian – it’s your land (and the land of all the flora and fauna, more importantly). How do you want to leave it for the next visitor, for your next visit, and for your children?

 

This blog will still be here and will have more than enough information for you to successfully plan a trip. If you have any general questions about trip planning you can still shoot me an e-mail but anything immediate or about current conditions you should call the King Range Project Office.

 

Paul


PS: I was hiking up Big Flat Creek during early spring and came across these sights. How do you think these happened?

 

 

Major slide in Sinkyone

Apparently there has been a major slide on the trail between Needle Rock and Bear Harbor in the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park (southern half of the Lost Coast Trail).

The Lost Coast Trail south of Needle Rock in Sinkyone Wilderness State Park is OPEN. The slide is still impacting the trail and making travel very difficult and more dangerous. State Parks is advising people not to hike the trail and for those who still want to hike to proceed at their own risk.  

State Parks is still making a determination if the trail should be closed.

Meet Ben: He Helped Remove Beach Garbage From the Lost Coast

THANKS BEN!

You can also be like Ben. Remove some garbage, take a picture of it at the end of your trip, and I'll post it to the blog!

"Hat Rock" is impassable at all tide levels

There is an area of the Lost Coast Trail about 1 mile south of Sea Lion Gulch that is impassable at all tide levels. At this area you will need to travel up off the beach for about a 1/2 mile.

If traveling North to South, this is what the area will look like:

From standing at Sea Lion Gulch looking south. The pink arrow is where you will want to travel up the creek a few hundred feet and find the trail to go overland. 

As you approach you will see this rocky area. The trail goes up and over this. Just walk up the creek a bit to find the trail. 

Next, You will come to this sign:

This is the Junction of the Lost Coast Trail with the Cooskie Spur Trail.The LCT goes back north for a short distance, following a fence line. Go through the gate (please close) and drop back down to the beach. The storms this winter eroded the hillside a bit so don't expect there to be a trail for the last 15 feet down to the beach. 

If you are traveling South to North this is what you will see:

As mentioned above, this is where the hill side has been eroded from the winter storms. You will need to scramble a bit here.

When you see this sign, go up and over!

Hopefully this helps you find your way. 

If you have any questions please call: 707-986-5400

Paul