Appreciation post: I finally gave the Lost Coast Trail a shot last month after avoiding it for years, and it completely changed my mind about coastal hikes.

I always thought the constant sand walking and tide charts on the 25-mile stretch in Northern California would be a huge hassle, but the raw, empty beaches and seeing whales from the bluffs made the extra planning totally worth it, so what's another coastal route that's worth the logistical headache?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_susan3mo ago

Check out the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. It's a bigger headache with ladders, cable cars, and way stricter permits, but the old growth forests right up to the shore and shipwreck ruins are unreal. The mud is legendary, but so is the feeling of being in a place that hasn't changed in centuries.

robinson.leo3mo agoMost Upvoted

That's the thing, the best stuff always seems to need a little extra work.

young.spencer1mo ago

Oh man, @robinson.leo you're so right about that. It's like the stuff that takes actual effort is the stuff that sticks with you the most. I was talking to this older hiker who did the Continental Divide Trail and he said something that always stayed with me - that the hard parts are what make the easy parts feel earned. Without the mud and the permits and the weird logistics, you're just walking through a pretty postcard. There's no story in that.