This journal may be a long one as we have so many moments to share.....
Stacie and Coral arrived at the Bear Valley Visitor Center to park our car and pick up our permit. Our next task was finding a 5 mile ride to the Five Brooks Trail south on Highway 1. After checking in with a few people to see if they were going our way, we decided to walk toward Bear Valley Road with hopes of getting the attention of people leaving the visitor center. Within 3 minutes we got the attention of a Wilderness Volunteer heading in toward the visitor center. He stopped, turned around and offered to drive us to our trail head. Stacie and I scanned him over and after talking with him, felt he was very safe and our best bet. We gave him $15.00 and squeezed our way into his car, as it was loaded with his camp gear. Ed was from Oregon and has been a Wilderness Volunteer since 2002.
Day 1:
We began this epic hike from Five Brooks Trail and headed towards Glen Camp. The hike had a few climbs, but very doable. When we arrived at Glen Camp, we set up our gear and realized it was time for “happy hour.” We played Rummy in the warm sun while enjoying our beverages and tasty appetizers. Just before dusk, we found a new campsite with greater shelter from the wind. We were nervous sleeping under large old oaks. We quickly moved our tents and settled back in. We continued Rummy into the night and paused a few times to admire the glorious bright stars.
Day 2:
After breakfast and coffee, we packed up and headed out on the Glen Loop Trail and onto Coast Trail for a 7.4 mile trek to Coast Camp. Coast Trail was spectacular in every aspect. We hiked along the coast in awe at the great blue ocean waters and beautiful trail. We hiked through rich tall green shrubs and flowers, and climbed a few rocky hills. About halfway to Coast Camp, we dropped our backpacks and veered off the trail to walk the 132 steps down to Kelham Beach (yes we counted the steps). We noticed a nice waterfall at the end of our steps and enjoyed lunch while sitting on rocks and watching the waves. After getting our backpacks back on, we continued the Coast Trail to our night 2 destination, which had an ocean view. WOW! We set up camp and headed to the beach to collect wood for our anticipated evening campfire. We built a fire pit and made our wood pile as the wind starting blowing hard. Sand was stinging us so we headed back to our campsite thinking we would not be having a fire after all. We relaxed with a beverage and continued our Rummy card game well into the night.
Day 3:
We woke to calm weather and decided to have our breakfast and coffee at the beach and light that fire! EPIC morning…. The beach was deserted and the sun was rising over the mountain. Our fire lasted 2 ½ hours and we sat there, sipping coffee, and had the privilege of watching several Orca whales with their babies play in the ocean! WOOHOO!! It doesn’t get better than this. A few hours later, we were back on the trail headed to Sky Camp via the Woodward Trail. We climbed to the top of the mountain and around, in and out of the forest. Beautiful trail to Sky Camp. Looking for campsite 11 – we realized it was the farthest away and walked into an incredible ocean view site on top of the mountain. Heaven again. The sun was shining on our site and we were thrilled with the location. Our Rummy game continued and as the darkness came upon us, the wind picked up some. We decided to stay warm and continue our card game in Coral’s tent. Perfect. No wind, warm and fun. We set a time of 9:30 pm to finally end the long running game to see who the winner would be. Stacie beat Coral with a score of 3,540. We call it Rummy 4,000.
Day 4:
We were met with a few light rain drizzles in the morning as we packed up. We headed out on the Sky Trail then onto the Wittenberg Trail. The trail was beautiful with the rain mist and trees surrounding us. We dropped our packs and headed up to the top of Mt. Wittenberg, which was a short distance from the trail. Soon after we were back on the Wittenberg Trail making our way to the Bear Valley Trail and car. We cleaned up and headed to Nick’s Cove for the best blue cheese CHEESEBURGERS and fries. We had a fantastic trip, with everything working out to being the best. Happy girls!! Miles Traveled: 21
Stacie and Coral arrived at the Bear Valley Visitor Center to park our car and pick up our permit. Our next task was finding a 5 mile ride to the Five Brooks Trail south on Highway 1. After checking in with a few people to see if they were going our way, we decided to walk toward Bear Valley Road with hopes of getting the attention of people leaving the visitor center. Within 3 minutes we got the attention of a Wilderness Volunteer heading in toward the visitor center. He stopped, turned around and offered to drive us to our trail head. Stacie and I scanned him over and after talking with him, felt he was very safe and our best bet. We gave him $15.00 and squeezed our way into his car, as it was loaded with his camp gear. Ed was from Oregon and has been a Wilderness Volunteer since 2002.
Day 1:
We began this epic hike from Five Brooks Trail and headed towards Glen Camp. The hike had a few climbs, but very doable. When we arrived at Glen Camp, we set up our gear and realized it was time for “happy hour.” We played Rummy in the warm sun while enjoying our beverages and tasty appetizers. Just before dusk, we found a new campsite with greater shelter from the wind. We were nervous sleeping under large old oaks. We quickly moved our tents and settled back in. We continued Rummy into the night and paused a few times to admire the glorious bright stars.
Day 2:
After breakfast and coffee, we packed up and headed out on the Glen Loop Trail and onto Coast Trail for a 7.4 mile trek to Coast Camp. Coast Trail was spectacular in every aspect. We hiked along the coast in awe at the great blue ocean waters and beautiful trail. We hiked through rich tall green shrubs and flowers, and climbed a few rocky hills. About halfway to Coast Camp, we dropped our backpacks and veered off the trail to walk the 132 steps down to Kelham Beach (yes we counted the steps). We noticed a nice waterfall at the end of our steps and enjoyed lunch while sitting on rocks and watching the waves. After getting our backpacks back on, we continued the Coast Trail to our night 2 destination, which had an ocean view. WOW! We set up camp and headed to the beach to collect wood for our anticipated evening campfire. We built a fire pit and made our wood pile as the wind starting blowing hard. Sand was stinging us so we headed back to our campsite thinking we would not be having a fire after all. We relaxed with a beverage and continued our Rummy card game well into the night.
Day 3:
We woke to calm weather and decided to have our breakfast and coffee at the beach and light that fire! EPIC morning…. The beach was deserted and the sun was rising over the mountain. Our fire lasted 2 ½ hours and we sat there, sipping coffee, and had the privilege of watching several Orca whales with their babies play in the ocean! WOOHOO!! It doesn’t get better than this. A few hours later, we were back on the trail headed to Sky Camp via the Woodward Trail. We climbed to the top of the mountain and around, in and out of the forest. Beautiful trail to Sky Camp. Looking for campsite 11 – we realized it was the farthest away and walked into an incredible ocean view site on top of the mountain. Heaven again. The sun was shining on our site and we were thrilled with the location. Our Rummy game continued and as the darkness came upon us, the wind picked up some. We decided to stay warm and continue our card game in Coral’s tent. Perfect. No wind, warm and fun. We set a time of 9:30 pm to finally end the long running game to see who the winner would be. Stacie beat Coral with a score of 3,540. We call it Rummy 4,000.
Day 4:
We were met with a few light rain drizzles in the morning as we packed up. We headed out on the Sky Trail then onto the Wittenberg Trail. The trail was beautiful with the rain mist and trees surrounding us. We dropped our packs and headed up to the top of Mt. Wittenberg, which was a short distance from the trail. Soon after we were back on the Wittenberg Trail making our way to the Bear Valley Trail and car. We cleaned up and headed to Nick’s Cove for the best blue cheese CHEESEBURGERS and fries. We had a fantastic trip, with everything working out to being the best. Happy girls!! Miles Traveled: 21