Lost Coast!

This past weekend I did a steller sea lion survey as part of my participation in the Marine Mammal Education and Research Project. We took a hike down the California's Lost Coast, which is this huge chunk of Northern Cali's coast that's almost completely uninhabited by people. It's got pretty much no roads and is used as a wildlife preserve, and has been for some time now. The group I went with got there Friday night, and we camped out at the camping site just outside of the preserve. It was super fun, and for one of the first times since I've been here I've felt really happy. I made some new friends and got out to a place that was big and beautiful and full of life. It sure beat sitting around in Arcata all the time. I went and got trained for gray whale surveying on Sunday, but unfortunately I didn't get any pics of that. For that I went north to Trinidad, and basically sat in the sun for a few hours, looking for signs of gray whales, etc. It was awesome! Anyway...to explain the lost coast:



This is Chris and Zack trying to split up a huge log of driftwood when we got to the campsite. We got there when it was dark, so they said screw looking for the small stuff and came back with a whole freakin tree. Luckily, Chris was equipped with lighter fluid, so finding kindling wasn't such a big deal.

We hung out and got to know each other that night, had some wine and shared some snacks and finally went to bed with the hopes of staying warm. In the morning I woke up to this.

The night wasn't that dark, since there was this lovely full moon.

However, the basic sillhouette didn't prepare me for this kind of view the next morning. It was amazing. And amazingly cold.

The sun was just cresting over the hill when I woke up and started walking around. No one else was up for a while. That is except for....

Evidence of the night before...and....

MOLLY!!! I love this dog soooo much.

We started our hike, and eventually, after about two miles of walking on sand (sucked, btw) we got onto the trail that brought us above the beach. Here we can see a driftwood shelter that we had actually thought about hiking to the night before, but figured we'd be too damn tired to haul all our gear out there in the dark. Good choice.

We hiked along for a little while longer....a few miles longer. But it was beautiful, and beautifully flat so that was awesome. The sun was warm and the air was sweet smelling.

We finally reached our survey point and sat for an hour watching the mix of steller and california sea lions on the rocks below us. We counted them and looked for brands, noted their behavior, etc while eating our lunches. 'Twas awesome!

Then, we hiked back

And passed the lighthouse along the way, climbing up into it like the rugrats we are.

This little bug was living in a pipe in the wall of the lighthouse. Sometimes the little things you notice on a hike are just as cool as the big mammals. I'm hoping I get to go back soon.