North Coast Exploration - 8/28 and 8/29/16

Saturday:  Epic.

Ron and I have gone on some amazing adventures, and yesterday's is at the top of the list. We paddled over 10 miles roundtrip to dive on a remote spot looking for trophy abalone. This particular location has been part of my abalone-psyche since the 80's - my Dad would talk of it as a fabled destination for big tens. By the 90's I was going there with friends, camping and diving from 4-wheelers back when those were allowed that far up the beach. By that point though I'd already hiked to this remote spot many times, and after off-road vehicles were disallowed up the beach that far I continued hiking up there. From the beginning, the hike was a big part of going on the trip.

By 1993 I'd been up that beach many times, but I'd never gotten a confirmed ten inch abalone. I was living in San Jose at the time, and I had an opportunity to drive up to Humboldt starting at 11PM. I drove all night, and when I got to the trailhead around 4AM I packed my dive gear and my dog and a big Maglight and hit the trail. A disappointing Perseid Meteor season had an amazing comeback from my perspective that early morning, as I marveled at dozens if not hundreds of shooting stars as me and Sokay walked up the beach in the blackness.

We arrived at the reef just after sunrise and a couple solid hours after the turn of a very low tide. I would have limited time to get out there and find what I was after before the incoming tide covered it all up. Without a weightbelt, I made my way out around various rocks and kelp beds, and soon I located an awesome shelf with 4 big abalone in about 9 feet of water. I worked meticulously as I tried to pry the largest one off to take it home. It wasn't happening! After 30 minutes and feeling leg cramps coming on I decided to pull one of the other abs on the ledge - it ended up taping out at 9.75" I had to give the big one a few more tries...
I was stubborn - bent my iron and had to bend it back between two boulders, and right when I was about to give up on this big abalone, I gave a little twist where I'd only been prying. It seemed to make all the difference - the ab popped off the rock, and I grabbed it and shot out of the water in the most triumphant display imaginable!

It was my first 10, and it was a dandy. I still have the shell.

Jump forward to today - we would skip the hike in favor of a paddle on nice flat water. We've waited for these conditions and this timing for a few seasons - today was the day. We set out around 7AM from the Shelter Cove launch as around a dozen of our yak-fishing buddies were setting out to try for salmon, halibut, rockfish and lingcod nearer to port. Ron and I paddled north on water that sometimes rivaled a Tahoe morning - the ocean is a very special place, and when it gets like this it's exponentially so.

We paddled a little over two hours to get where we wanted to be, and we were ready for a dive. About 1.75 hours in the water and we'd gotten what we came for - Ron pulled a 10.8 inch ab.

This is why I guide. I want to get people on one of the best days of their outdoor career. I want to get people on one of the best days of their life. It's not just about the abalone. We challenge ourselves, and we're looking to pioneer routes and methods - I've been thinking about this kayak trip for years, and today it became a really awesome reality.

We made our way back down the coast and dove one more spot much closer to the Cove - 15' of viz and some nice abs, but it wasn't the same as what we'd just been through. The challenge of covering the miles, diving in very low visibility and doing it all on our kayaks was really what we were after - the trophy ab was just a bonus.

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Today's Adventure: Exploration!

I am blown away. I never imagined such a wild and untouched piece of the north coast existed. Today we paddled south from Wilson Creek - False Klamath Cove, toward the mouth of the mighty Klamath. What I thought would amount to a few rocky coves turned in to one of the most amazing landscapes I've ever seen!
We did our thing on a beautiful ocean and discovered an amazing place - Mission Accomplished.

This is what I'm doing out there. Finding ways to tap into amazing opportunities in the outdoors, and sharing it with my guests. I hope you'll get in touch if you're thinking about a trip you'd like to fulfill.

Bucks?  There's a reef there that need to be almost flat to hit up.  I got out there once in the mid 90s before the 97 storm murdered the road down to the beach and blocked motorized access.  I've tried to hit it a few times since but its always been too rough.

Thanks for the report and pics!

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Bucks? 

Not that far north.

Today's pics (Sunday):

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AWESOME report and totally awesome pics. Thanks sharing and congrats on such an awesome trip!!

Great blend of history and current events, super work Ron, Terry and Eric!

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us Eric.  Always love your trip report with wonderful pictures.

O.M.G.

Awesome stuff!!!!!!!!!

 

Congrats guys and thanks for sharing!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Gorgeous country there.  Thanks for the report

Great photos and report as always! Thanks for sharing Eric.

Thank you Eric for taking my brother and I on a breath takingly beautiful adventure.  One of the top two most scenic places I have kayaked on the north coast.

Eric thinking about it...

Hey thanks for a great report! I can feel the great spirit of exploring you experienced! Surprised to hear you mention the low viz- I would have thought with such glassy conditions you might get the rare awesome viz day. I've dove south from Shelter Cove and had not awesome viz, but not terrible either.Anyway inspiring report and photos!