2017-12-24 Big Basin Backpacking
Summary
- Route: Big Basin State Park. Skyline to the Sea Trail -> Berry Creek Trail -> Sunset Trail Camp -> Sunset Trail. We basically followed the "Sunset Loop - 1 Night" route here on Page 11.
- Length: ~ 20 km roundtrip from visitor center. We camped at Sunset trail camp, which is at the mid point.
- Elevation Gain: ~500 meters.
- Time: ~ 2.5 hours each way.
- Difficulty: Moderate. The trail is rated as difficult, but almost all the trail reviewers disagree with that. There are some segments that require some effort, and we needed to take a break to catch our breath, but overall it is relatively flat. Navigating on the trail is no problem even for beginners as it is well marked.
- Scenery: Redwood trees, mushrooms, waterfalls, and small creeks. I personally prefer some lake or ocean views so the scenery here at Big Basin was nice but feels a bit boring after hour 1, but YMMV.
Preparation
- Reservation: Backpacking at Big Basin requires permit. This trip was a last minute idea, so we were not able to book a reservation at the park website. However you can always call or walk-in for a same-day camp permit. The website has a Calendar that you can check for availability. We walked in on the day of Christmas Eve, so there is no problem finding an open camp spot and permit. Actually we were the only group there that day for backpacking...kind of scary during the night being all alone in the woods.
- What to bring: Sunset Trail Camp, like most other trail camp in Big Basin, has no other facilities except a food locker and a basic toilet. There was no running water, so we packed a water filter. This is also the first time I needed to use a filter outdoor. Good learning experience. The park stopped trash service in the winter, so we followed the "pack-in, pack-out" rule and took home all our trash with a ziploc bag. There is no picnic table or bench either, so I packed a foldable camping chair. The rest are just the usuals: tents, food, jetboil, water, hiking poles, headlamps, etc.
- Keeping ourselves warm (maybe a little bit too warm...): It's December, so we packed a few additional layers. However, the camp, despite being on the top of a hill, is actually surprisingly warmer than the visitor center at the bottom. There is no wind either, and my 19F sleeping back turned out to be too warm.
- Overall, I felt Big Basin state park is fairly advanced in terms of its application of technologies in the age of Internet comparing to other state parks. The website has almost everything I needed to know for planning the trip, and almost everything can be self-served online.
Trip
Day 1
We arrived around 11AM and successfully got the permit. Had we fail to do so, our backup plan was to finish the loop in 1 day without camping.
We hiked at a very moderate pace and stopped to take pictures from time to time. Overall it felt relatively easy and we arrived at camp in less than 2h50m.
We took the clockwise route, and spent the first day mostly on the Skyline to the Sea trail, then turned right onto Berry Creek trail.
If you love seeing like a millions of trees like this, you should come to Big Basin.
Trees, lots of fallen trees...
On the berry creek trail, there are 3 different waterfalls: Berry Creek Waterfall, Silver Fall and Golden fall. I honestly don't remember which is which by just looking at the pictures and had to guess based on the picture time.
Silver Fall?
This was on the top of Golden Fall. A couple in Love.
We arrived at the Sunset Trail Camp around 2pm, and we were the only group for the entire night. We set up the tent, and went back down to Golden Fall for water. We filtered about 5Ls of creek water for dinner, breakfast, and drinking water for the next day etc.
It's winter time, so it turned dark fairly early around 5PM. We listened to a few podcasts and fell asleep very soon... Oh, yes, obviously, there were no cellphone reception throughout the park...
Day 2
Sunset Trail -> Visitor Center.
Woke up pretty early, had some breakfast and coffee, packed the tents and started heading back around 9AM. What's interesting though is: This is the first time that I didn't wake up to a tent covered by morning dew. It was completely dry. Wasn't exactly sure why.
Mushrooms, lots of mushrooms.
The second day was mostly downhill, so it was a bit stressful on the knees. I am glad that I brought hiking poles.
Thoughts
The best thing about Big Basin is it is very friendly for backpacking beginners. The trails are moderate but still offers certain level of challenges. A great variety of backpacking trail options, from 1 day to 4 day trip, and you get to control your pace comfortably. Not crowded at all, at least not in winter holiday time.
One downside for me is its scenery, but that's just personal preference. If you are a person who never gets tired of giant trees, then big basin is perfect for you.
