| Skyline to the Sea Trail, February 2004 (by Casey, to read Pa's version click here) Around 4 pm Emily came home from work and we hit the road at bit later. It was Valentines Day and soon we were eating Vietnamese sandwiches in route to Castle Rock State Park. By the time we arrived at the parking lot it was 7 pm and very dark. Hiking in the park after dark is strictly forbidden, as it should be, but I chose to ignore this little detail and after Emily pulled away I was left alone in the lot. With the adrenaline and excitement that comes with doing something that you are not supposed to do (and that also is a bit scary) I set off on the 2.8 mile hike to the Castle Rock Trail Camp. During the hike it came back to me that I had been on the trail before several years back, although at night, as expected, it was a totally different experience. Lights twinkled in the distance, way down in the watershed, indicating human activity that could never be seen during the day. Areas where the trail was cut through the sandstone presented a unique challenge, or at least caused me to slow down. At one point I heard rustling in the bushes and froze, quickly realizing that was a pretty stupid thing to do since I had a headlamp beaming brightly on my forehead. After an hour I arrived at the Frog Flat Camp and found a group with teenage kids making a lot of noise around a campfire. Kids will be kids so I moved on to the Main Camp and the loop consisting of sites 18 through 25. Here I found one site occupied with a serene group of older hikers but still decided to move onto the other loop of the Main Camp. It was vacant and I slept in site #11. Although the sites were pleasant, with fire pits and picnic tables, I can not imagine and reason to warrant going back for the night. The next morning I awoke and was pleased to find that my Cloudburst Tarptent was dry both inside and out. By 7 am I was on the move for I had to hike 3.1 miles up the Saratoga Gap Trail to where I would meet my parents at the intersection Highways 9 and 35.
Shortly after the above picture was taken the trail, or rather a fire road, entered private property and then the road became paved and remained that way almost all the way up to the gap. I met my parents in the parking lot, ate a few egg sandwiches my Mom made (thanks Mom!), edited (threw some stuff out of) my Dad's pack, and by 8:30 am we were on the trail.
For the rest of the day I set the pace and my Pop followed along. Although I tried, I couldn't lose the 60-year old man! Actually, I was walking at close to 3 miles/hour and he had no problems keeping up. Normally, I don't hike that fast but most of the terrain was enclosed forest, just like I grew up in, so I saw no need to prolong the experience. It is also worth mentioning that all the way from Saratoga Gap to Big Basin Headquarters the trail follows the road, first Highway 9 then 236. As this was Sunday morning we had the sounds and sights of motorcycles racing along the road to keep us company, along with the shots from a firing range echoing through the valley. In addition to the noise was pollution of another kind, litter. Since the trail was so close to the road (sometimes below, other times above, often to the left, and even to the right) trash from cars was evident. The trail itself was spotless but at times refuse abounded only feet away.
Around 3:30 pm we arrived in Big Basin, having walked 15.3 miles, all of it following roads. Although the day had started out sunny it was now overcast and occasionally I would feel drops of water on my arms. As usual, the last few miles seemed to go on forever although seeing day hikers in pristine clothes let us know that we were close. At the park headquarters I inquired about the availability of tent cabins, on the off chance one was available. Both my Dad and I had brought tents and I had made a reservation for Jay Camp but with rain likely a cabin seemed a reasonable luxury. Although I didn't tell my Dad at the time, I also wanted one for my own personal well being as I had been walking most of the day with an extremely sore right Achilles tendon. A few were available and after plunking down $49 (seems like an awful lot) we were headed to them, "towards Boulder Creek" the girl told us, "then a sign will tell you where to turn left". After 3/4 of a mile we did reach the sign and went left, but by that time our spirits had begun to sag. We didn't want to walk any further at all, much less 3/4 mile. Additionally, we were headed in the wrong direction so all of the distance would have to be backtracked tomorrow. I confessed my injury to my Dad and he responded with a hip ailment. Ahead of us, the road showed nothing but more road, and it was straight so we could see fairly far. I took out some of my aggression on a bush with my hiking sticks. To keep up spirits, I told my Dad that we would have hot showers at the tent cabins (we could also have had these at Jay Camp) but my mind then turned to my parents hot tub and I told him so. Still walking, he reasoned that if Mom picked us up now we would save her quite a bit of driving, after all home to Big Basin was about 30 minutes while home to Waddell Beach was over an hour. Still walking and talking we developed our excuses even further. We had both been on the remaining bit of the trail before, seen the falls, etc. Cutting it short would mean missing nothing, except a good nights sleep at home. We could drive to Waddell Beach anytime and ride bikes, lock them up, then walk the rest of the way to the falls (I have done this before and recommend it over any other method to see the falls). The trail was just a walk through the redwoods, no different than a walk around the house. By this time it didn't matter who said what, the other agreed. Finally we made another turn and the tent cabins came into view but our minds were made up and we were looking not for our cabin but a pay phone. The camp host didn't have one and someone camped at another cabin told us we would have to go back to the park headquarters. The look on my poor Dad's face was more than I could bear. He had been a perfect trooper, but now we had to walk all the way back. I sat him down at a picnic table, made him some Gatorade, and told him to rest and walk back when he was ready. Then I took off and made a bee line for the phones. On the second ring my Mom picked up (I don't believe in God, but "Thank God"). Seconds later the situation was explained and she was on her way. With that out of the way I went to get a refund for the tent cabin but found the gift shop closed. What the f**k, it wasn't even after 5 pm yet. I also wanted to have an espresso waiting for my Dad but the snack shop was closed as well. Sh*t!
Not much later Pa showed up and within 20 minutes my Mom arrived, with Scoobie of course. I had to know, so we drove from the headquarters to the tent cabin and back to headquarters. Would you believe it was 4 miles?, we didn't. That means we had covered 19.3 miles that day. All of it either within 20 yards of a road or on a road, plus, I had gone an extra 3.1 miles before meeting my parents. To summarize, before ever going on this hike I suspected I wouldn't like it. I only went because it was a three day weekend and Emily had to work the entire time (plus, my Mom volunteered to pick me up so a car shuttle was not required). As I expected the trail was uninspiring, but I you must realize I grew up in a log cabin surrounded by a redwood forest so it was not in the least bit exotic. Castle Rock is nice, and so is Big Basin, as is Waddell Creek, but for me they are day destinations. Sleeping in a tent in the redwoods (and paying for it) when I could be sleeping in the redwoods in my parents house just doesn't make sense to me; it's like someone from Hawaii vacationing in the Caribbean. Of course, the next day I wished I hadn't given up, but only because when I set goals I like to keep them, even if they are a bit stupid in the first place. (click here to read Pa's version) |
