Waterfalls and Mt McAbee - Big Basin Redwoods State Park - California, United States

A strenuous 12 miles loop starting at Big Basin HQ, continuing on sunset trail, Berry Creek Falls trail, a short section of Skyline to the Sea trail, and then climbing up Howard King trail to Mt McAbee Overlookd, and down and back to HQ using Hihn Hammond rd.

Rebecca (calipidder), David, Sam (samydee), David (croyle), Antony (antonyw) and I all met at 9 in Big Basin HQ, ready to hike this nice loop. There were signs of trail closure, and when we asked a ranger at the information/parking booth, she told us that a section of Skyline to the Sea was closed, around the junction with Berry Creek Falls trail. To go to the falls today, the only option was to use Sunset trail (which was our intention anyway). But it looked like we would not be able to climb to Mt McAbee (from Berry Creek at least). We thought we could come back through Timms Creek trail.

The hike along Sunset trail was great. It felt nice hiking in the redwoods forest. There was a little bit of mud but it was not really a problem. We crossed a few creeks and enjoyed looking at the clear water and taking pictures.

When we made it to the first fall we stopped and some of us started using serious photography equipment to try capturing the beauty of the area.

We started to see a few people coming from the lower falls. It seemed strange because we though the falls could only be accessed from Sunset due to trail closures. We asked and people informed us there was no sign of closure anywhere. Some people came from HQ via Skyline, some others from Waddell Beach. Great... I guess our Ranger was misinformed then. Our original plans were back.

We continued hiking and taking pictures until we reached Berry Creek Falls. There, we took more photos (of course) and had a nice lunch before hitting the trail. As suspected, there was no closure and we took Skyline to the Sea until the junction with Howard Kind trail, where we started climbing. That was quite a tough, long climb, especially difficult after a lunch break. For some reason, I didn't realize that it was a 1300 ft climb. But I really enjoyed the trail. It went through a variety of terrain, from canyon bottom along Waddell Creek, to Chaparral once on the ridge. I think we climbed all this at a brisk pace. 

We took a short break at the top, admiring the view of Waddell Beach through Rancho del Oso, and then continued down back to HQ, which was rather quick even though our legs were tired.

Post-hike dinner was held at Bear Creek Brewing Company in Boulder Creek. Another fun day playing outside with good friends!

You get a nice map for $3