S2E6: What is the Lost Coast Trail?
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What is the Lost Coast Trail?
Today we sit down to discuss a short but sweet trail... and promptly go off the rails!
Hosts Constantine and Magpie begin the show with an introduction to the stats of the Lost Coast Trail. A trail that spans 25.3~ miles along the King's Coast in Northern California, it covers surf, sand, mountains and bluffs...and that is just the terrain. It has sweeping views, tidal zones that must be traversed safely, wildlife swimming in the waves and tanning in the sand. All the joys of a long thru-hike can be found within its comfortable distance.
After going over the access to the trailhead and the permitting process for the trail the conversation begins to take a turn. A turn for the better, or for the worse? Who is to say... what we can say however is that it indeed takes a sharp left, right, circular, perpendicular, pentagonal turn towards both our hosts internal mid-life crisis'. In what form do people in their late twenties have mid-life crisis, and what does that look like? Well, you are going to have to listen to find out, but we will tell you it involves backpacking "vs." thru-hiking, bandwidths of suffering, broken knees and lower backs, and more than a fair share of "Xyience"!
Traversing back off an emotional tangent, our hosts begin discussing the intricacies of the trail. The play-by-play of miles, the tidal zones and where they are located, the flavor of the miles, camping locations, water sources, wildlife, weather patterns, travel to and from both terminus, amount of hikers and everything you need to know to hike and access the Lost Coast Trail.
We chat why Xyience is indeed better than science and how one could even argue one created the other, a real chicken and egg scenario. We chat big creeks, cuddly Elephant Seals (Disclaimer: DO NOT cuddle), mindset of hiking and thru-hiking, laundry and chickens, a vending machine that mysteriously dispenses dimes/nickels/ and even a dollar coin?! We chat the definition of pulling a "Classic Constantine", foot issues, rotten spaghetti (yes, literally rotten), and drinking from the fountains of youth we call Xyience (no, not literally but certainly figuratively).
We wrap up the show with an impromptu Ramen Rating Review. Cementing the reason why our hosts are together as to their two lowest rated ramen and two highest rated ramen were the same! Those that rate ramen together... well probably are a tad malnourished and nutritionally deficient... but at least suck down salt packets with a grimace on their faces and a smile in their hearts.
A very fun, weird, and perfectly unexpected turn of an episode. Seems apt for the flavor of where we are figuratively, literally (no not literally, but yes actually literally) and where we are spiritually, (yes spiritually, akin to those Elephant Seals along the Lost Coast Trail, cuddling, feeding our blubber reserves, and waddling our way forward through this metaphorical deep sand shores of life.)
Anyway... great trail, would recommend.
FAVORITE QUOTES:
"Blubbery, cuddly, kissable, bundles of joy"
"Tastes like salty memories of soup"
"Depends how you define a Big Creek"
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