sho.gun
09-04-2008, 02:36 PM
Flustered about the lack of Labor Day weekend plans, I planned a last minute camping trip up to Northern California. We ended up going to Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, a good 12 hour drive up north from the Los Angeles area. Descriptions mentioned a good length of steep, unpaved, potholed, single lane road that eventually lead to the camping area so we rented a dodge ram pickup from the local enterprise (17 mpg on a 1k+ mile round trip :()...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2820329401_f2cabe498b.jpg
The drive was ridiculously tiring and we left at 2 AM on Saturday morning, we ended up getting there at around 3 PM. The single lane dirt road proved to be pretty fun to drive though we did run across a couple of cars going the other way. With a steep ravine on one side and the mountain on the other, one car has to back up/down until a suitable passing area was found. It was rather scary but still fun:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3117/2820334527_e2c2b6da07.jpg
Sinkyone Wilderness is also known as California's "Lost Coat" because it's so separated from any major highways. California's Pacific Coast Highway actually makes a turn inland and merges with the 101 around the 50-60 mile swath of land because the terrain was too rugged for roads. This very reason makes Sinkyone much less accessible than other coasts in California, thus the nickname given to it.
The campsite was a good 0.4 miles away from the parking lot, so we had to lug all our gear there. That was f'in tiring.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2821176534_be411afcb3.jpg
This time of year, the Roosevelt Elk males are trying to get it on with the elk females and as such they tend to be aggressive even when they see you from afar. We had a couple of instances where the elk started charging and we had to run away scared ****less. Nevertheless, they're beautiful animals!
While we were returning from a hike, we came across a group of female elks ON the trail along with a male. They were slowly eating their way UP the trail and we were forced to climb onto a fallen tree with 20ft drop on either side over a steep ravine to wait while they pass. The male elk stood there for a while trying to figure out how to get to and kill us but decided that perhaps the female elks were more interesting.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2820510839_c52b058a8b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2068/2821353730_a275c07691.jpg
Overall, an awesome trip to an awesome place. The beach was beautiful and deserted, truly lost. There were tide pools during low tide:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/2820519557_fc741334d8.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2820543279_7da694ef2b.jpg
A ton more pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemonizer/sets/72157607071466266/
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2820329401_f2cabe498b.jpg
The drive was ridiculously tiring and we left at 2 AM on Saturday morning, we ended up getting there at around 3 PM. The single lane dirt road proved to be pretty fun to drive though we did run across a couple of cars going the other way. With a steep ravine on one side and the mountain on the other, one car has to back up/down until a suitable passing area was found. It was rather scary but still fun:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3117/2820334527_e2c2b6da07.jpg
Sinkyone Wilderness is also known as California's "Lost Coat" because it's so separated from any major highways. California's Pacific Coast Highway actually makes a turn inland and merges with the 101 around the 50-60 mile swath of land because the terrain was too rugged for roads. This very reason makes Sinkyone much less accessible than other coasts in California, thus the nickname given to it.
The campsite was a good 0.4 miles away from the parking lot, so we had to lug all our gear there. That was f'in tiring.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2821176534_be411afcb3.jpg
This time of year, the Roosevelt Elk males are trying to get it on with the elk females and as such they tend to be aggressive even when they see you from afar. We had a couple of instances where the elk started charging and we had to run away scared ****less. Nevertheless, they're beautiful animals!
While we were returning from a hike, we came across a group of female elks ON the trail along with a male. They were slowly eating their way UP the trail and we were forced to climb onto a fallen tree with 20ft drop on either side over a steep ravine to wait while they pass. The male elk stood there for a while trying to figure out how to get to and kill us but decided that perhaps the female elks were more interesting.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2820510839_c52b058a8b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2068/2821353730_a275c07691.jpg
Overall, an awesome trip to an awesome place. The beach was beautiful and deserted, truly lost. There were tide pools during low tide:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/2820519557_fc741334d8.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2820543279_7da694ef2b.jpg
A ton more pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemonizer/sets/72157607071466266/