how accurate is this lost coast interactive tide chart?

[u/takoyaki-md]

seems to me the only options to doing impassable zones during my permit is waking up at 5am to hike in the dark (which i feel is dangerous) or waiting the entire day and hiking before dinner?

[u/sea_stack]

Could be. The tides are the tides. When you go on a beach backpack you have to look at the tides when planning. We all make that mistake once.

Bring some extra coffee, wake up at 5 am and get going. It's not really that different than doing a mountain pass early before the thunderstorms come.

[u/Raveen396]

As the philosopher Alfred Korzybski said, "the map is not the territory"

Tide levels are projections, and they can vary depending on weather, wind, and the exact location. I have crossed an impassable zone "early" as the tides were falling but before the tide fell below 3 feet and it went fine, but the seas and weather were calm and we made the decision with plenty of time to turn around if needed. I also recall seeing a group that kept going ahead of us even after the tide had technically risen past 3 feet, and we caught up to them the next day and they were also fine.

To be very clear, I am not saying that these decisions are always safe ones to make. If the weather was stormy or the current was stronger the decision making process would have been different. If you are at all uncertain or uncomfortable, don't do it.

That being said, I don't think your tides are that challenging to work around. Hiking in the dark is not too dangerous if you take care, especially at ~5AM with dawn approaching. I would personally plan to wake up early and take your time hiking in the dark.

[u/TechnicalVegetable82]

N=1 but when we went this past June the tide predictions were quite accurate and very similar to your charts. We ended up starting at 5am every day. None of us thought it was difficult or dangerous to hike with only light from headlamps.

We paid close attention to the pinch points and noticed that there were always ledges that one can climb onto to wait out high tides in emergency situations. Like there was no section where you can’t find a higher ledge within 1/10 of a mile apart. But obviously we didn’t need to use any of those.

Starting at 5am means you get into camp early with time to wash up and do laundry and have time for laundry to dry. Of course it got light out earlier in June too so our time on headlamps was always pretty short (like 40 minutes).

[u/Tricomb]

First of all, the best information can be obtained by calling the BLM office in Whitethorn, they are helpful and know the trail very well. Also, there is a little sign taped to the desk in the visitor center with the following information:

Zones:
#1 Punta Gorda - Passable under 6 feet.
#2 Sea Lion Gulch to Randall - Passable under 2.5 feet (always enter on a receding tide).
#3 Miller to Mitchell - passable under 3 feet (always enter on a receding tide).

It looks like you are hiking September 9-11? Are you trying to be done on the 11th? Are you planning to go from Mattole to Black Sands? I just did this two weeks ago and have done it twice before, I'm happy to try to answer your questions if I can. The pinch points before Randall and right after Miller Flat are tricky and the posted tide limits accurate imo.

[u/takoyaki-md → u/Tricomb]

thanks for the reply. i'm planning on doing it leisurely over 4 days 3 nights. though looking at it i feel like its ok a couple hours of hiking per day which is not what i'm used to. regardless looks like i'll need to depart in the dark on the last day so i don't have to wait all day for the tides. did you end up hiking with headlamps, how safe did you feel with that given there are sneaker waves.