On this, our last day hiking on the coast, we got to sleep in. Mostly. I mean, we had to leave by a certain time to make sure we could make it past Hole in the Wall before high tide, but there was no need to be up before the sun.
I didn’t really want to leave, but the conclusion of this trip was better than the last one, because we had made our destination. We made it all the way to Shi Shi Beach from Rialto and back. Over 60 miles, but that doesn’t really convey what it meant to traverse that terrain.
I kept rolling my right ankle that day, but never so badly that I couldn’t continue. And after we made it, we drove a short distance to the 3 Rivers Resort where cabins had been booked well in advance. Because there’s nothing like a hot shower after 9 days of backpacking.
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| Misty morning at Chilean Memorial. |
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| Bill got a closer look at the memorial itself. |
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| I wanted to eat these berries, but I wouldn’t without identifying them first. |
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| I finally found the overland trail near Chilean and took it while Ambrose and Bill went by the rocks. |
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| More tree problems. |
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| Getting closer to the exfil. |
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| What a perfectly round hole. |
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| There’s Hole in the Wall! And lots of people – though not as many as the last time we exited. |
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| A brittle star near Hole in the Wall. I pointed it out to a tourist with a large camera. |
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| The sign for Ellen Creek. |
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| Ambrose making it to the trailhead! |
