California Coastal Trail

The California Coastal Commission approved a plan Wednesday that would add 2.4 miles of beachside paths to the California Coastal Trail. The commission's unanimous approval is a major step for a $5.5-million plan that would add not only a trail but also fencing and overpasses to make it easier for people to safely cross railroad tracks to get to the beach. The proposal still needs the approval of city officials and the Public Utilities Commission. The federal government will provide $4.

California officials and Hearst Corp. have reached a tentative agreement on a $95-million deal to preserve most of the rolling hills and grassy tablelands of the Hearst Ranch around San Simeon, which have long served as a picturesque gateway to Big Sur. Under the proposed accord, which California Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman announced after months of negotiations, the state would buy about 1,400 acres west of Highway 1.

Within five years, hikers may be able to walk along the ocean from Sea Ranch to Bodega Bay as a 40-mile stretch of the California Coastal Trail emerges along the Sonoma County coast. It also may be possible to walk along 20 miles of inland meadow and forest trails from the coast to Occidental before 2010. The trail is being expanded through a series of land acquisitions by the county Open Space District and funding pledges by the state Coastal Conservancy.

Richard Nichols began walking the California coastline in June 1996, starting at the Oregon line. Ninety-six days and two pairs of boots later, he arrived at the Mexican border. Now he is preparing to do it again--all 1,156 miles--next summer. This 59-year-old environmentalist with a walrus mustache longs for another immersion in the gorgeous scenery that unfolds a step at a time along the California Coastal Trail.

Just a half-hour's drive north of the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Beach is tucked into an often blustery, foggy cove that escapes the attention of tour buses making a beeline for nearby Muir Woods National Monument. Although you can follow Pacific Coast Highway to Muir Beach, a more dramatic approach can be made on foot along a spectacular length of the California Coastal Trail that extends north from Tennessee Beach.

Boosters of the proposed 1,600-mile-long California Coastal Trail say it will be an urban-rural-wilderness collage. That kind of engaging mix is already open to hikers in San Luis Obispo County, along Estero Bay just north of Cayucos. The concept of the California Coastal Trail is to piece together a continuous hiking route along the entire state.

As a member of the nonprofit Coastwalk group, which sponsors walks along the California Coastal Trail, I enjoyed John McKinney's Dec. 26 article about the trail ("Sand in Your Shoes and Views of the Pacific on the Millennial Trail"). I'd like to add that the trail now has its own Web page, with descriptions of its history and development and some amusing sidelights (http://www.californiacoastaltrail.org). Most important, Proposition 12, the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air and Coastal Protection Bond Act, goes to the voters March 7. It provides $5 million for coastal trail construction as well as funds for the acquisition of parkland and development of trails throughout California.

From a distance, they looked like a ragtag army on a forced hike along Coast Highway on Tuesday. They're not soldiers, said Richard Nichols, who with nine others has spent the summer hiking California's 1,100-mile coastline. "But we are on a mission," he said Tuesday as the group hiked from Corona del Mar to Crystal Cove. They began their journey three months ago at the Oregon border and plan to finish when they reach the Mexican border about Sept. 20, Nichols said.

If you want to get to know Ventura County's coastline, walk it. So says a hearty band setting out Monday on a six-day trek that combines hiking, sightseeing, camping and learning about the ecology of the coast. This isn't just a casual stroll. The hike is sponsored by Coastwalk, a statewide nonprofit organization that wants to establish a coastal trail the length of California. Since 1983, the group has conducted these walks in coastal counties to promote the idea.