Backpacking Trip: Skyline to the Sea as an Overnight
November 1 - 2, 2003

By Steve Sergeant

The Skyline to the Sea trail travels through two large California state parks, Castle Rock and Big Basin. The trail descends 2,300 feet, over 34.4 miles. Our plan was to do this as an overnight, two-day hike.

In order to cover this ground, we would need to travel really light. For example: I was carrying a base weight of about six pounds, plus about 2 1/2 pounds of food and two pounds of water. Steve N. started out with about 13 pounds of gear, and about 8 3/4 pounds of food and water.

We met at the trailhead at Waddell Beach, our exit trailhead, at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning. Five of us climbed into one car for the winding and round-about drive up to Skyline Drive and the parking lot to Castle Rock State Park. The drive took longer than I planned. Instead of starting the hike a little after 07:00, we weren't on the trail until well after 8:00.

Our plan was to hike the shorter, "Classic" route from Saratoga Gap, down to Jay Camp at Big Basin State Park HQ on the first day. When we arrived at Saratoga Gap, we discovered that overnight parking was not permitted there. So we had to continue to the main parking lot at Castle Rock. That added almost five miles to our hike, all on the first day. Our first day's hike would be 21.1 miles.

We hiked past Castle Rock Falls, through dry oak forest and chaparral hillsides. We took our first significant break 2.8 miles from the trailhead at the Castle Rock trail camp. After a 10 minute break, our hike took us along the southern edge of the park, through forests of bay laurel, madrone, and oak. We passed through the corner of some land that has an interesting story.

The San Lorenzo River Redwoods is a large chunk of land, more than 1/4 the size of Castle Rock State Park. It contains an old-growth stand of redwoods that was a bit too remote to be logged in years past. The land was purchased by an environmental group called the Sempervirens Fund. The land narrowly escaped sale to a logging company. Now the Sempervirens fund must raise enough money to pay back the loan for the land, so that they can donate the land to the state park system.

By a little after 11:00, we had met the "classic" route of the Skyline to the Sea trail, which parallels state Highway 9 for the first half of its route. Just before we were to cross the highway and separate away from it, we stopped at the Waterman Gap trail camp for lunch. Some people hiking this trail only get this far on the first day.

We left the trail camp at 1:00 PM and soon crossed Highway 9. The trail kept us under the cover of thick forest for the next two hours. The temperature never got above the low 60's that day, and hiking in the shade was quite cool. When we finally came across some bare rock in a clearing, taking a break to bask in the sun was a treat.

We were certainly racing against the clock. By 3:00 PM we were still almost six miles from the Big Basin HQ, and the sun would set at 5:11.

We descended into the canyon at the headwaters of East Waddell Creek. We skipped our last hourly break, in hopes that we would actually get to camp before total darkness hit. We started encountering day hikers as the sun set behind the canyon walls. We arrived at the headquarters office at 4:56 PM. We were able to register for our campsite with a live human, instead of with an "iron ranger" as we were expecting.

Another quarter mile brought us to the Jay Camp. The five of us set up four shelters -- two tarps, one ultralight tarp/tent, and one conventional tent. We cooked dinner and were in bed by 8:00 PM.

The morning was cold. The overnight low was about 36 degrees. The sun rose at 6:34, but we stayed in our warm bedding until almost 7:00. We had a shorter hike that day of 13.3 miles, and didn't feel particularly motivated to get a hasty start. We took our time at breakfast, and were hiking a little before 9:00.

We started by hiking down the road to park headquarters, then across Waddell Creek, and back onto the Skyline to the Sea trail. The trail took us though some giant redwoods, up a bit of a climb, and over a ridge into the West Waddell Creek canyon.

We encountered at least three groups hiking back toward Big Basin HQ. They had started at Sunset Trail Camp, the most popular trail camp in the park. By about 11:30, we arrived at the junction for the trail to that camp, and to one of the most popular scenic destinations in the park, Berry Creek Falls.

A tenth of a mile detour took us to the observation platform at the base of the falls. We took a 10 minute break there to enjoy the view. Not far from the junction with the Berry Creek Falls Trail, the Skyline to the Sea trail crossed the creek again, and widened into a road. We saw a bike rack full of mountain bikes, which had apparently been ridden from Waddell Beach.

Proceeding on the trail, we hiked another 40 minutes before we found some nice logs to sit on for our lunch break. Steve N. chose to cook a hot lunch. The only flat surface to set-up his stove was on the (very wide) trail. I considered the possibility that an inattentive cyclist might upset the lit stove and cook-pot. Though several rode by without decelerating, there was no problem.

The remainder of the hike followed Waddell Creek near it's level. We stopped at the Twin Redwoods trail camp for one last break before the last two miles to the beach. The last mile of the trail climbs the canyon wall about 60 feet, and gives some great views of the Waddell Creek wetlands.

It was 3:00 PM when we arrived at the parking lot. We had covered 34.4 miles a day and a half of hiking. It was a great trial for an ultralight attempt on a more challenging trail.