Lost Coast

[John H]

I have not fished for a while. I had two trips planned. The first was cancelled due to low water and the second was cancelled due to high water. I decided to do some hiking instead. The drought conditions we have here now are conducive to hiking so I thought no reason waiting for the spring or summer to go.

The first trip was to Ventana wilderness. That place is generally an impenetrable, brush choked, tick infested, half burned poison oak thicket. If you are looking to get a sufferfest going I can recommend some overgrown trails. There are some nice places though and I would go again. The Arroyo Seco river is a beaut and I followed it on a 60 mile loop to its headwaters at Cone Peak. I expect Arroyo Seco had a nice run of steelhead back in the day but farming in the Salinas Valley put an end to that.


One of the nice spots on the Ventana hike. Easy walking along a ridge 4000' above the ocean. Big Sur and Highway 1 are down there somewhere.

The second trip was to the lost coast. I hiked from The mouth of the Mattole to Shelter Cove which is 25 miles. There is a surfer camp in the middle and there were some elephant seals laying around but other than that there was nobody out there. There are several beautiful streams coming out of the mountains and I would guess three of them I crossed get a steelhead run.


The big view from the Shelter Cove end of the trail.


This is Cooskie Creek which is right over the ridge From the AH Way campground on the Mattole.


This is Big Flat Creek. I crossed it at the beach and spotted 2 inch and 8 inch steelhead. The big ones should be heading to the ocean soon. It will take them all of 30 seconds to get there. I expect the adults come into a stream like this during very high water and get in and out pretty fast.


This is a beach camp just above the high tide line. I spotted abalone in the rocks at low tide which was nice to see given the hard time they are having due to the kelp die off.


Nature can be brutal. I would guess this is a mountain lion kill. Looks more like a scene you would expect to see on Kodiak Island or somewhere like that. Wild place. Bear, deer and fox tracks on the beach.


Crab buoys look good hanging in your backyard but you have to carry them a long way to get them out.