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With all the rain lately here in Far Nor-Cal we had an exceptionally nice weekend for our trip. Now raining again I will start the trip report..
On Friday I drove down to Shelter Cove to drop off the van and meet up with David L, Joshua B, Cameron K, and David's friend Greg. Piled into David's vehicle and set out on our way north to the campground at A.W. Way county park where we would meet Katharina and her friend Mike.
A little rain and wind came but conveniently waited for us to set up our shelters. Rise and shine the next morning we set out to the Mattole trailhead to start the weekends adventure.
Hiking under cool and cloudy skies we headed south to our first night destination some 15 miles away at Miller Flat. A short break turned into an hour as all were having a good time at the lighthouse which we had all to ourselves.
Creeks were all flowing pretty high as it had been raining for about two weeks, not a dry foot in the group. Stopped at Cooskie Creek for lunch and a realization that I had made an error in the timing of high tide we had to push it to get past the impassable sections. We made it but not without getting at taste of the surf. Also by lunch the skies cleared up and the weather stayed absolutely beautiful for the rest of our trip. No wind! Temps into the low 70's. Some of the best weather I have encounter there, ever!
With doing the big mileage on Saturday I regretfully did not take my camera out nearly enough so I am hoping the others will be adding their photos to this report.
Got to Miller Flat around 6pm and it was PACKED. A busload of students from HSU were there for 8 days and took up most of the camping areas. We settled for a spot on the wrong side of the creek(wet feet first thing in the morning) and managed to find suitable accommodations for all. We spent an enjoyable evening around the fire with everyone cooking with their stoves of choice.
I went down to the shoreline Sunday morning and on my way back to camp I spotted an insole floating downstream. Thought to myself, wow someone is going to be bummed. Looking up I noticed that the boots Mike was carrying across the creek contained only one insole. Raced down back to the waves and saw nothing. A few minutes later the ocean decided to return it to the shore where I spotted it once again. Life is good!
With a 10 mile hike ahead of us we headed south. More creeks and wet feet, lessons were learned about footwear. Those wearing boots wished they weren't and those with trail runners were doing fine with the sometimes challenging terrain. I can hardly believe we had zero blisters or foot problems. We made Shelter Cove in time for lunch, cranking out those 10 miles in 3.5 hours almost all of it on the beach itself. I had a fabulous time hiking with a great group of people! I'll add some more info later, but it's time for dinner..  
Edited by kthompson on 04/20/2010 21:20:04 MDT.
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