ET's Info-Stew

19:49: We left Livermore about 6:15am. I had only 5 hours of sleep because I went to bed at 12:00, so needless to say, I was tired to begin with. We arrived at Clovedale at about 8:30am so we were making good time. The whole way there I had to blare my music just to keep my eyes open. With me driving my car and Mr. and Mrs. Cleek in the Taurus, I had nobody to keep me awake. We drove up to Garberville and went to go to Shelter Cove. The instructions I had found on the internet were incorrect so we had to ask some locals. After 45 minutes of driving on narrow roads and steep hills we ended up at Black Sands Beach at Shelter Cove. There were several cars there but no much info about long term parking. While I parallel parked in a small space, Mr. Cleek asked a couple of people what to do. First he asked an Indian family. As they walked past my car I heard on say "How can they go 7 days? What kind of people are they?" A local woman gave us some useful info. We signed a sign-in sheet, put over extra stuff in my car and all went back to Garberville in the Taurus at about 1:30. After lunch, we proceeded north to exit on Mattole Road, which didn't exist. According to the map, we were in the right place, but there were no signs for Mattole Rd or anything we could identify with. I recognized Honeydew so we went that way. The ride to Shelter Cove was horrible, but it was nothing so bad as the windy Mattole Road, which made me pretty carsick. At the trailhead, we unpacked out gear and headed off. The sand was soft and I sunk deep, sometimes to my ankles. In that kind of sand, speed is reduced greatly. Nonetheless, we walk 2.5 mph I guess. On the first big river was a couple of old cabins, one witha man inside. We were going to find a nearby campsite, but as we were looking we found a No Trespassing sign. We asked the guy where it was okay to camp and he told us a place on the other side of the lighthouse which 1/2 mile away. We found a creek and decided to look for a spot. Right next to the creek, a party of at least 6 was camping. We found a spot about 100 yards NW of their site. While we were setting up, a couple came by also looking for a campsite. We told them the nearest one was one between us and the large group, so they camped 100 feet away. So much for the "Lost" Coast. Looks like it has been found. See pic for 20:21 for a rock formation nearby. Everything in my gear works well. My watershoes are particularly useful. My water pouch is excellent. My backpack is good except the loading. When I load my stuff, the gear settles down and out. I need to make a way for the CG to be closer to my body. Tomorrow I will try tying rope around it before I load it. At Shelter Cove, there was a sign that said that backpacks had been stolen by bears. We want to hang our food up but there are no trees. My dinner, lasagna and green beans, was great. We are about to start a fire so I can warm up. To see our campsite see pic for 20:29.