INCH Hike: Northeastern Coe Loop

1295. Northeastern Coe Loop (04/30/22)

Hikers (10): Adam, Christina, Jarda, Jim, Manfred, Mihail, Shuli, Sophie, Steve, Yipeng
Distance: 28 miles
Rating: 5 difficulty, 5 beauty
Park info: Henry Coe State Park near Hollister

Write-up by Steve -- Pictures by Sophie, Adam, Manfred, Jim, Jarda, Kendra, Shuli and Steve

Prolog: the Mustang Pond crew came over to visit the Jackrabbit Lake crew the night before the hike.

The Pre-party

Sunset at Jackrabbit Lake

And now for the big day. Well, it was pretty epic. We started off with the standard cheer.

1-2-3 INCH!

Re-grouping in the shade along Red Creek Road

Heading up Red Creek

This is very picturesque, but pretty sure there isn't a waterfall on this trail.

Whoops! I missed a brushy turn and led us farther "up the creek" than necessary. So we had to turn around. Found a route up and over a bit down the trail. Manfred continued up the creek and over and met us a little later.

Taking a short-cut out of the Red Creek valley. . .

. . .and back down the other side

Waiting for the INCH train after scouting out the start of Mt. Stakes Trail

Preparing for the unofficial trail route starting at that rock cairn

Tiny INCHers heading toward Point 3215

Re-grouping at point 3495 -- we're a little ashy

Eye on the prize at point 3755

We hung out at Point 3755, waiting for Jim and Shuli. Eventually headed off for the goal. Had planned to make a loop of this section, but ultimately decided to go out-and-back. We were behind schedule. . .and it was warm.

INCH near a county highpoint

On the way back, we were surprised/happy to see Shuli heading off for the summit. We talked to Jim, who was feeling a little better, but skipping the summit. This complicated things a tad because he needed to wait for Shuli and we needed to start heading down. . .

Heading back to the campground (far, far away)

I had three potential routes back. I tried to take a straightforward old road back that I'd used on a prior visit to the same area, but after beating around for a while, it was too congested. Figured we should head back to Pinto Creek--option #2. I knew it sucked, but was potentially better from recent fires. But before that happened, Manfred went ahead in the other direction to scope out whether a new structure on the hilltop was occupied, which was preventing me from trying the third option. He declared it was all clear, so we headed up and took option #3 down. This was especially pleasing to me because it was all new trail. It was pleasing to everyone else because it was mostly clear until the last bit at the bottom.

Off to the new "trail"

Oristimba Creek watershed

Heading down the "trail" to Oristimba Creek

Much water was filtered here--first water since hiking out of the creek in the morning

Once we recovered a little at the creek, there were still many miles left, including a section that goes up and along Rooster Comb to avoid private property.

Some of us hiked under the Rooster Comb. . .

We were all very happy to reach the morning meeting point. We stopped to wait for everyone. . .and enjoy some cached beers. Mihail clearly enjoyed them.

The hike was challenging

We eventually headed back to camp, still missing quite a few people. But lo and behold, upon reaching camp, there was Christina, Yipeng, and Sophie. They'd attempted to trespass, got caught, and ultimately got a ride. . .The rationale was that Yipeng had hurt her ankle and needed a two-person escort back to camp. So that covered a majority of the missing people.

I took a dip in Jackrabbit Lake to clean up, but didn't have enough dry clothes, so was too cold to participate in the now nighttime party. Fortunately, a kind soul delivered a Rasputin and a pretzel, so it wasn't a total bust.

Not a bad way to spend the night

Jim and Shuli were still missing. Turns out they took Pinto Creek back, which was crappy and slow, adding insult to injury. They short-cut back (claiming not to see the Rooster Comb Trail in the dark) and also got caught--but did not get a ride. Sorry, neighbors of Coe, we're not usually like this. . .But hey, what an adventure!

Manfred's relive video featuring Deadmau5.

Milestones:
Highest point in Stanislaus county
Yipeng's 230^th leaf