This is not the CoHo that I remember
Introduction - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
After a number of emails sent to the Stanford Redwood list and to Maddie herself, I received word on November 18 that the Lost Coast trip was a go. Maddie arranged a meeting for prospective Lost Coast travellers on Tuesday, November 21, at 8:00 pm at the Stanford Gear Shed. That was going to be a difficult time to make, as I had arranged a dinner date with someone that I met at my favorite club, Q Cafe a few weeks prior. Unfortunately... or fortunately for me (depending on whether you believe in the Goddess of Love or the God of Backpacking), I was no-showed at the restaurant for our 6:30 pm dinner. This was actually the second time that I was no-showed (!) and I interpreted that as a definite bad sign. So at 7:05 pm, I sulked back to my car and headed over to Stanford.
This is not the CoHo that I remember |
I arrived at Stanford about 30 minutes before the meeting, so I decided to stop by the Coffee House, otherwise known at the CoHo, to grab something to drink before heading to the Gear Shed. A few years ago, the CoHo was remodelled. The colors inside the place were brightened and they brought in Starbucks. The result? This is not the CoHo that I remembered! It's become far too commercial and far too happy for my tastes. I missed the dim lighting and the decor from the old CoHo. Saddened, but undaunted, I ordered a Chai and sat down with my D30 and Blackberry and begun reading email and doing some available light photography. Contrary to my tastes, my camera liked the brighter environment in the CoHo, and I was able to take some decent photos at ISO1600 with the D30.
At the meeting, I was introduced to Maddie, the trip organizer, and two prospective backpacking mates, Christian and Brett. Christian was from Germany and Brett was a first-year Ph.D. student in Mathematics. Since this wasn't an official Redwood-sponsored trip, the details were pretty ad-hoc. The others didn't have adequate motor vehicles to drive up to the Lost Coast, so I "volunteered" my vehicle for the trip. Maddie was going to buy the food, and we agreed to meet at the Gear Shed the next night around 8:30 pm to begin the long, six hour drive up to the Mendocino area.
On Wednesday upon returning from work, I began packing my gear into my two backpacks. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go small and light or big and heavy.
 Getting ready for the Lost Coast |
On my previous trips into the outdoors, I brought my Canon PowerShot S100, a small 6.2 ounce camera that fit neatly in my Eagle Creek waist pack. This time, I vowed to come back with some superb outdoor photos, and I knew that the S100 wasn't going to cut it. Enter the Canon D30 digital camera. In my quest for a lighter backpack, I met a heavy roadblock in my desire to have the best photos to record my outdoor Kodak moments. The D30, along with various lenses, flashes, and batteries, ended up weighing quite a bit, probably around 10 pounds when all was said and done. In a bag that I purchased earlier in the day from Keeble and Shucat in Palo Alto, I stuffed in the D30, the 28-70 L, the 24-85, a 420EX Speedlite, a 1GB MicroDrive, and a Slik aluminum tripod that I borrowed from a co-worker at Palm. I was a little concerned about bringing such expensive and fragile equipment with me on the trip, especially since the weather called for rain and knowing that the D30 wasn't weatherproofed as Canon's fine EOS1V film camera.
On Wednesday afternoon, I called up the King Range Field Office and spoke with Carol Sullivan, the Park Ranger stationed there, and asked her numerous questions regarding our trip to the Lost Coast. Carol was especially helpful, imparting nuggets of wisdom that would prove useful on our trip. She even decided to leave us a small package at the Field Office for us to pick up when we arrived late in the night. We agreed that she place a package with my name on it under a rock next to the information kiosk in front of the Field Office. Assuming that no one took it when they closed for the night, the care package would include a detailed map of the Lost Coast, a tide table, and other useful information. I remember thinking in my mind that this was going to be an adventure to find the care package as if it were a hidden, buried treasure!
When we finally met at the Gear Shed, there were only three of us, Brett, Maddie, and myself. Christian decided to go on another trip with some of his friends, though he wished us a good luck and happy trails.
We were bringing a four-season, four-person tent, so I didn't have to pack a tent myself. That being said, I decided to stuff my bivy sack in my pack in the event that we did some lightweight overnight hikes. Once again, I stuffed a little too much gear into my Lowe Contour IV backpack, but it was nowhere near my Desolation Wilderness weight record. The Lost Coast was bear country, so we also decided to take along two bear canisters to store our food.
Driving up to the Lost Coast takes a long, long time. 6 hours of driving, starting at 8:38 pm in the evening can take its toll on even the most alert of drivers. Luckily, I had the programmer's drink of choice with me, Mountain Dew. I remember cracking open a can at 10:15, just as we passed over the Golden Gate Bridge. One can was enough to keep me awake through the rest of the drive!
It's about 200 miles from San Francisco to Garberville, a small town that we headed into to reach the Lost Coast. We had to find the King Range Office where our care package was located. We passed a number of fire stations and driveways which looked to me (though not to Maddie or Brett) like ranger stations. Eventually, drove by a wooden information sign that was unmistakable. We found the King Range Field Office kiosk!
 Look! There it is! |
 The Care Package |
I stopped the car and pulled out to find the care package, wrapped in a clear plastic bag with my name inscribed in big black letters, exactly where Carol said it would be. Inside the care package were three items, a more detailed map of the Lost Coast, a tide table, and a plastic information card for backpackers.
We got back into the car and drove a few more miles down the road to Shelter Cove. Since it was now 2:00 in the morning, it was difficult to see where we could park to sleep for the night. Eventually, we found an RV campground where we parked the car and set up our large and spacious 4-person tent. By the time I went to sleep, it was 3:00 in the morning. We had driven about 6 hours to reach the Lost Coast!
 Look boss, the ocean, the ocean! |
 Adam of the sea |
I've done a number of solo backpacking excursions, into Desolation Wilderness and Henry W. Coe State Park, and on both occasions, I set up shop in the backcountry. That's what I would call backpacking and camping; what we did on Wednesday night, setting up camp in an RV campground, was not. I don't have anything against car camping per-se, but it's just not the same thing as hiking into your camp for the evening and sleeping amonst the stars without society just around the corner. Nevertheless, car camping is better than no camping at all, so I sucked in my "I'm too good for this," attitude and slept soundly till the morning dawn.
Growing up as a kid in San Diego, I never really liked the ocean all the much. To me, it was smelly, dirty, and deadly; after all, who knew what lurked beneath the surf in the ocean? During a junior high trip to Catalina, I had an "adventure" with a underwater seaweed cave which soured me to going into the ocean ever again to this point. All that being said, over the years, I have grown to appreciate the beauty of the ocean. Perhaps living in areas of the country where the ocean was relatively far away, or non-existent, such as Stanford and France, made me realize that living in San Diego was pretty cool!
When I backpack, I typically wake up to first light. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, was no exception. As Brett and Maddie continued in dreamland, I got up and started looking around. It was dark when we pulled up into the campground, and it was interesting to see in the day the number of RVs and motorhomes there were set up. Plus, it was always neat to see the sign that read, "Private RV Campground, Permits Required"! I had left my photography equipment in the car, and after getting up and packing my sleeping bag and sleeping pad, I pulled the camera out, along with my tripod, and started looking for interesting things to shoot.
 Shelter Cove |
My camera has a focal length multiplier of 1.6. This means a 50 mm lense is really an 80 mm lense with my D30. While it's great for telephone shots, it doesn't do well for wide-angle shots. Luckily for me, digital cameras make it easy to stich photographs together. I stiched the photo above using PhotoStich, software that was included with my D30. Sure, you can see the seams where two images were stiched together, but it works well enough to make a powerful impact. I was looking forward to taking stiches of ocean panoramas and from atop the coastal mountaintops.
 To The Lighthouse |
 Car Camping |
 Happy Thanksgiving |
 I Like Fish & Chips |
 Hello, Doggie |
 In Flight |
 Hiking along Black Sands Beach |
 Brett along Black Sands |
 Maddie along Black Sands |
The weather report called for rain on Thursday, and rain it did!
 Coastline view from Buck Creek |
Introduction - Part 1 - Onward Ho to Part 2! - Part 3
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