Petrolia, Ca.. What a cool place.. Calif's first oil well site....but ...

[SoCalDem]

nding the Lost Coast
For really getting lost, a trek through one of California's lesser-known treasures is in order

Linda Watanabe McFerrin
Sunday, July 18, 2004

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/07/18/CMGJS79LCI1.DTL






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It's odd to find an undeveloped strip of California coastal property, let alone a 90-mile stretch wide enough to encompass both the 60,000-acre King Range National Conservation Area and 7,500-acre Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, but the landscape here, at the juncture of three tectonic plates, is hardly a settling one. A fierce geology shoves the rocky talus of the King Range upward at a violent rate, lifting peaks a startling 13 feet every 1,000 years, or 10 times faster than most places in the world. Heavy rains -- this is one of the wettest spots on the Pacific coast, averaging 100 to 200 inches a year -- and high winds erode the slopes and send detritus tumbling downward. There is no coastal thoroughfare because the crumbling cliffs and precipitous palisades offer no leeway. There is no string of dreamy seaside villages replete with shops, cafes and cheery little inns, no stream of gawking, car-bound visitors. But there are floods and mudslides, quakes and storms, ticks and mosquitoes, poison oak and even scorpions, wasps and rattlesnakes -- a natural "No Trespassing" sign so convincing that most folks observe it and, like the freeway, turn aside and let the coast stay lost.



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From Black Sands Beach in Shelter Cove you can catch the Lost Coast Trail heading north to the remains of the Punta Gorda Lighthouse and the mouth of the Mattole River, or south -- the far more challenging half -- up bluffs and down ravines through the Sinkyone Wilderness. The hike in either direction takes around three glute-busting, knee-jarring days. You'll encounter quite a cast of wildlife. In addition, wrens and warblers, plovers, osprey and endangered bald eagles, bear, coyotes, elk, fox, bobcats, mountain lions, skunks, raccoons and some of the biggest banana slugs you've ever laid eyes on make this region home. Other shorter hikes setting out from the area include the King Crest Trail, an 11-mile march along the spine of the King Range from Saddle Mountain Trailhead to North Slide Peak that will take you to King Peak, the highest point on the California coast north of Big Sur , and a 4-mile climb to the same summit and back known as the Lightning Trail, probably because of the switchbacks that zigzag up the mountain. Buck Creek Trail -- a 4-mile, four- plus-hour hike that takes off from Saddle Mountain Trailhead -- is one of the shortest and steepest ridge-to-beach routes. Horse Mountain Creek Trail is less aggressive, dropping only 1,800 feet to Buck Creek Trail's 3,200. Chemise Mountain Trail, one of the easier rambles, runs around 6 miles from Wailaki Campground to Needle Rock and takes about three hours. Whatever the trail, be sure to pack food, water and protection from sun and storm for your trot into tick-ville; you won't find any convenience stores, and the weather can be mercurial.

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Petrolia, where the first California oil well was drilled, is around 11 miles farther up the curling road and a mere 5 miles from the coast. Thankfully, the oil quality was low, production poor and transport a bit of a problem, so the oil industry never took hold. There is a B&B in Petrolia. It has one room and is the only B&B in the Mattole Valley. There's also a church, a general store and several houses -- all quite picturesque in the low-key, backyard way that tends to make intruders of outsiders. It's hard not to intrude in a world that prefers isolation. Locals, though friendly, are understandably wary of tourism. Many of them see newcomers as a threat.

Eric Godson, an Idaho transplant and Vietnam vet whose trip to Mexico in the '70s took an unexpected detour to the Lost Coast, observes that many residents just want to be left alone. "We learned to live simply, with efficiency and very little waste," he says, citing geographical, meteorological and practical concerns as preoccupying. "For me, it was a place to regenerate," he adds, before getting sidetracked by recollections of a cabin aromatic with the grassy scent of hundreds of swollen marijuana buds hanging from the rafters. Now a Bay Area resident, he's surprised by how little the Lost Coast has changed. "My old 1950 Ford and '57 Jeep are still up there, towed to a neighbor's property. He says I can have them back if I want them."

It's not surprising that locals are extremely defensive and possessive about land and privacy. For a profound sense of what has been lost, spend some time in what's left of the once vast redwood groves. There you will get an impressive picture of the area's true magnificence. You can hike and camp in Rockefeller Forest -- 13,000 acres of protected sequoia sempervirens stretching along Mattole Road from the Avenue of the Giants all the way to Honeydew. The cathedral-like beauty of a woodland full of these soaring trees, some of which are more than 300 feet tall, will make you wince at the way a couple of decades of logging managed to destroy the work of millennia and understand why conservationists have been at loggerheads with lumber companies in the region. The 33-mile Avenue of the Giants is a main attraction. It skirts the perimeter of one of the last great stands of California coastal redwoods -- 52,000 acres of river and redwood established in 1918 by the Save the Redwoods League. Quite popular with tourists, it comes with the usual exploitative sideshows like Chimney Tree, the Shrine Drive Thru Tree and the Eternal Treehouse.

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If you go
For more information about hiking and camping in the King Range, check in with the Bureau of Land Management King Range National Conservation Project Office: 768 Shelter Cove Road. [phone] or www.ca.blm.gov/Arcata.

Call of the Wild offers three-day beginner backpacking trips into the King Range: Call of the Wild, 2519 Cedar St., Berkeley, CA 94708. (510) 849- 9292, visit www.callwild.com or fax [phone].

-- L.W.M.

[mike_c]

1. don't go....

You'll hate it. The Mattole Valley is one of the most miserable places on Earth. Really....

[zx22778a]

2. Petrolia Ontario

Its my mother's home town.

http://town.petrolia.on.ca/