THE LOST COAST TRAIL • HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIFORNIASAT OCT 24 TO TUE OCT 27, 2026 • TIMES PACIFIC

Jeremy on the Lost Coast.

For his dad, who holds this plan and makes the call if Jeremy is late, and for his mom, Alan, Jason and David.

On foot and on his own: 24.6 miles of wild coast from the Mattole River south to Black Sands Beach, three nights camped.

The one promise

Out at Black Sands and in touch by Tuesday, October 27, at 4:00pm Pacific (7:00pm Eastern).

No daily check-ins: there is no cell signal on the trail, so silence until then is the plan, not a problem.

The days

FriOct 23

Drives to Shelter Cove, the little town at the trail's south end.

SleepsInn of the Lost Coast

SatOct 24

His car stays in the top lot at the Black Sands Beach trailhead; the 7:00am shuttle takes him north to the Mattole trailhead. He walks south past the Punta Gorda lighthouse. The beach after Sea Lion Gulch is walkable only at low tide, after about 2:05pm. If the tide or the surf slows him, he stops at Randall Creek, two miles short.

SleepsSpanish Creek

SunOct 25

No tide to wait for: creeks, grassy flats and beach.

SleepsMiller Flat

MonOct 26

A slow morning in camp. From about 2:50pm, on the falling tide, the last low-tide stretch: four and a half miles of beach under the cliffs. Not past Buck Creek by 5:15pm: he camps there and walks out Tuesday afternoon instead of morning.

SleepsGitchell Creek

TueOct 27

Out to Black Sands Beach and his car by about midday. In touch by 4:00pm Pacific (7:00pm Eastern).

SleepsThe Black Sands Inn

WedOct 28

Drives home.

SleepsHome

Where he is: Find My

He shares his location with each of you: in Find My on an iPhone, iPad or Mac, tap People, then Jeremy.

With no signal out there, his dot moves only when he sends it: by satellite under open sky (a small satellite icon and the words Satellite Location; your iPhone needs iOS 16.1 or later to show it), or on an evening when his small Starlink dish is up.

An old dot is normal: the time under his name says when it was sent, and out there it can be a day old or more. If he needs help, his iPhone can text emergency services by satellite.

If he is late

Tuesday, 7:00pm Eastern, no word:

  1. Check Find My: where is his dot, and when was it sent? Text him and call him.
  2. Call the King Range BLM office, 707-986-5400, before 7:30pm your time, when it closes. Say he was due out today; they know the trail. No answer: BLM Arcata, 707-825-2300.
  3. Call the Black Sands Inn, 707-986-3858: has he checked in?
  4. Then wait, but not past 10:00pm your time. One slower finish is still fine: if Monday's tide ran short, he camped at Buck Creek and walks out Tuesday afternoon, near dark (sunset there is 6:21pm).
  5. Still nothing at 10:00pm your time (7:00pm there): call the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, 707-445-7251, and report an overdue hiker on the Lost Coast Trail. Search and rescue there is theirs. Read them the box.

Not 911: from home, it reaches your own local dispatchers.

Call sooner if anything worries you. If he turns up after you have called, call the Sheriff back.

What to tell the Sheriff

Who
Jeremy Runge, walking alone (his permit says a group of three).
Route
Lost Coast Trail, King Range, north to south: in at the Mattole trailhead Sat Oct 24; due out at the Black Sands Beach trailhead, Shelter Cove, Tue Oct 27 about midday.
Permit
BLM overnight. Camp areas: Sat Randall-Spanish-Big Creeks; Sun Big Flat-Miller Flat; Mon South Coast.
Camps
Sat Spanish Creek or Randall Creek; Sun Miller Flat; Mon Gitchell Creek or Buck Creek.
Car
In the top lot at the Black Sands Beach trailhead since Saturday.
Shuttle
Lost Coast Adventure Tours, 707-382-1959: the gray 7:00am shuttle Saturday, to Mattole.
Phone
iPhone 17 Pro Max: satellite texts and Emergency SOS. No satellite messenger or beacon.
Seen
His last Find My dot: the place and the time.

The two nights in town

Fri Oct 23Inn of the Lost Coast205 Wave Drive, Shelter Cove, CA 95589707-986-7521
Tue Oct 27The Black Sands Inn59 Surf Point, Shelter Cove (Whitethorn, CA 95589)707-986-3858

The numbers

The trail

Sketch map of the Lost Coast TrailThe trail runs along the coast from the Mattole trailhead in the north to the Black Sands Beach trailhead at Shelter Cove in the south. Saturday night at Spanish Creek, Sunday at Miller Flat, Monday at Gitchell Creek. Three stretches are walkable only at low tide: by Punta Gorda, Sea Lion Gulch to Randall Creek, and Miller Flat to Gitchell Creek. The shuttle goes north by road on Saturday morning.Mattole trailheadstart, SaturdayPunta Gorda lighthouseRandall CreekSpanish CreekSaturday nightMiller FlatSunday nightBuck CreekGitchell CreekMonday nightBlack Sands Beach trailheadhis car; out TuesdayShelter Coveboth InnsPetroliaHoneydewPacificOceanKING RANGEshuttleroadN5 miles

Sketched from OpenStreetMap places. Not for navigation.

Made Tue Oct 20, 2026 • Tides: NOAA predictions for Shelter CoveThe one-page PDF