Chuck's News: Sunday, September 24, 2023 - Racing a Storm - 11.86 miles - 958 total vertical up - 741’ down - 6hrs 30 minutes

Glorious sleep!! It took me a while to fall asleep last night. I had cramping on my right shin that wouldn’t leave me alone. I massaged it, took ibuprofen and a Benadryl and it eventually gave me a break and let me doze off. About three pee wake ups during the night and it was 7:30am. My tent was pitched perfectly on loose, deep, large grained sand. Lots of room inside. Mattress was inflated perfectly. So comfortable. Bliss. I spent an hour writing yesterday’s blog and finally emerged from my tent about 8:30am. As is my practice, I pack everything in my pack while still in my tent, then step out, roll up the tent and put it in the outside pocket and I am ready to go.

I found Malcolm at our cooking station amongst the driftwood logs under the tarp having his morning coffee. I joined him, getting out my “Morning Sunrise” almond base cereal and having it for breakfast. He talked about a 9:00am “wheels up”, but it slipped by as he continued to pack. I had the tarp down and stored and was ready to go. My shoes were still sopping wet from yesterday’s romp through the mud in the rain, so I had put on my wet socks to make a matched set. Malcolm’s right knee started giving him pain year afternoon and was better after the night’s rest, but still talking to him. We set off down the beach, our first landmark ahead was Carnahan River and the cable car across it. Malcolm Jr. was a few minutes behind as was Bones.

We climbed the ladder to get off the beach up to the cable car, loaded ourselves in it and shoved off. It was a hard pull to get up to the unload station. Bones had arrived at the loading station and was waiting on the other side. We sent the car back, held it for him while he loaded on, and helped pull him across the river. We had been walking toward the Carnahan Lighthouse, it off in the distance, white against dark green evergreens, standing out on the point. When we got to Carmahan Point we scaled ladders to gain the high ground and followed the forest path thru the trees until we had beach access again. Malcolm and I were up ahead of Bones and Malcolm Jr by quite a bit. We hadn’t seen them for a few hours. Once on the beach we felt the wind had freshened, but it wasn’t cold. We were still in T-shirts and shorts. We could see white objects in the distance down the shore. We weren’t sure what they were. The footing was at times very grippy sandstone, sometimes slippery rock, then firm sand and occasionally soft sand. As we approached the white objects we found they were tents, Teddy Roosevelt type. Up the beach a bit further we found the hamburger shack. The proprietors have to pack in all their goods, so prices are steep. $37 for a burger and coleslaw. We stopped in to say hi, then continued on. The path split in just 100 yards, beach or forest. We chose forest because the tide was a bit too high yet. The path was overgrown and the salal tore at our clothing and packs as we pushed through. In about a kilometer we dropped back to the beach.

It was now noon. I suggested a stop for lunch and within a couple hundred yards found a rock shelf to duck behind to block the wind while I ate. Malcolm wasn’t hungry having eaten the equivalent of two breakfasts a few hours earlier.

While stopped, Malcolm Jr and Bones caught up. I ate and Jr taped Sr’s sore knee. We were soon off. We rounded a point and had to ladder up off the beach to make it around a point for about half a mile. While traversing the top of the cliff’s edge Malcolm pulled out his phone to take a photo. It slipped out of his hands and flew off the cliff’s edge. Luckily, it got caught in the shrubbery about six feet down. He was at the rear of the line, maybe 30’ behind so he yelled to get us to stop, then climbed over the edge to retrieve his phone. I came running to see what the yelling was about only to just his arm reaching up from the abyss and his son reaching for him. I didn’t know what was going on, but from my perspective, Malcolm had fallen off and Malcolm Jr was trying to save him.

The trail returned to the beach and followed the shoreline up to the Cheewhat River. Here we headed inland to cross a suspension bridge. From here on we are on trail and boardwalk all the way to Nitinat and the infamous Crab Shack. The boardwalk decks through this section were particularly slippery. Neither Malcolm nor I took a tumble off the decking, but we each slipped numerous times and we’re extra careful with foot placements and balance.

We had been casually racing the approaching storm that we had been tracking for close to a week and now it was catching up with us. A gentle rain started when we’re five minutes from the Crab Shack. Upon arrival, we walked under their covered area and shed our packs out of the rain, then walked down the ramps to the Crab Shack to inquire about extending our nights of lodging.

The Crab Shack is a three sided building suspended on floating logs in the Nitinat River, tied to the south shore. The open side faces the river. The open area has a big wood stove in the middle of the 15’x15’ room with one table against the bank side wall. Plastic patio chair surrounding the wood stove are filled with hikers. Hanging from the rafters are numerous coat hangers adorned with wet socks and boots basking in the heat rising from the stove below. Facing inward, to the left is a high counter and opening to the kitchen beyond. Here Hazel and Ryan are cooking up food and tallying the money. 62 year old Sam, a retired fish and wildlife agent and Hippie Doug tend to the boats that ferry hikers across the river, the wood stove fire and spin tales and stories when around the stove during lulls in their duties, share their reefers and take turns being the town drunk.

We were able to negotiate three nights in cabin one. It sits above the “lake” with a commanding view. The lake is extremely affected by the tides at this point, only 500 meters from the ocean. The water surges in and out with the changing of the tides rushing past the front of our cabin at remarkable speeds.

Both Malcolm and Bones went down to enjoy a crab and salmon dinner after we had settled in. I, not wanting to shell out $40 for dinner had my curry rice and chicken dinner up on the deck of our cabin.

My shoes have been absolutely soaked for two days. I asked Bones if he could hang them over the wood stove for me when he went down. I spent an hour cooking and eating and watching an old episode of Stranger Things on my phone, then walked barefoot down to the Shack to enjoy the company of our hosts, other hikers and companions.

I talked with Sam and Hippie Doug for a while, learning about the surrounding area. I was right by the stove, warming and drying my toes. Malcolm and I had a long discussion about our history with cars. It was now half an hour past hiker midnight (8:00pm) so I headed for bed by headlamp, still bare foot, my shoes still drying. What an amazing day!!

Heading up the beach