After a long drive on Friday evening, a late arrival at the Black Sands Trailhead parking lot, and a somewhat uncomfortable and short sleep in the back of the Subaru, Kevin, Stani, and I woke up early to prep our packs. We caught the shuttle at 7am along with 4 other guys, and made our way along the winding 2 hour drive to Mattole Beach.

With our packs on our backs we started heading south along the coast. The weather was fantastic. We passed by a plump of seals basking on the beach, and later on saw a family of deer. At one point we had to stop for a bit to wait for the tide to go down in order to sneak past a rocky section of the trail. I still ended up with some soggy feet despite running between waves and trying my best to avoid the water.

We put in a long first day and covered 17 miles. By the end of the day my feet were sore and I was glad to enjoy the sunset and relax.

The morning presented us with a misty and beautiful beach. We continued south, pushing past the impassible zones before high tide came. We sought out the firmest sand or the largest rocks to walk on. The day eventually turned very sunny and hot, and we eventually also sought out the shade.

We were back at the parking lot by noon. Stani's feet were a little sore from the sand, Kevin had a blister, and my feet were sore. Success.