J. Smeaton Chase (1864-1923)

An English immigrant and author, Smeaton Chase, who was passionate about equestrian travel and botany, rode the California coast on horseback creating some of the first maps and descriptions of the coastal trail. Smeaton chronicled his adventure in a book called "California Coast Trails-Riding along the Pacific Coast in 1910"

Don Engdahl

First known hiker of the entire California coast. A reporter for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, he reported extensively on the adventure and the threats to access and the environment.

Bob Cowell & Dinesh Desai

Bob and Dinesh hiked from Oregon to San Francisco in 1995 scouting the trail for the 1996 Whole Coast Hike, and they completed the hike with the group (below) in 1996.

Beverly Backstom
Marilyn Goeller
Barbara Johnson
Faye Kelly
Richard Nichols

The names above list those members of Coastwalk's first Whole Coast Hike; they completed the 1155-miles logged in 112 days. An additional 14 people joined the group for sections of the trip from 50 to 500 miles.

Kent Bien

Kent ran the CCT in 81 days.

Jon Breyfogle
Virginia "Ginny" Gregurek
Linda Hanes
Janette Heartwood
Steve Jones
Jean Kenna
Wallace "J" Nichols
Diana Savage
Max Stein

The above, members of Coastwalk's Coastal Trail Expedition (CTE '03), logged 1198 miles in 116 days.
Read their day by day hiking notes and see their photos here: Archives

Thomas Bane

Starting on May 31, 2004 at the Mexican border, Thomas reached the Oregon border on July 29, logging 1213 miles in 60 days. His journal and photos are posted on the Trail Journals website.

Nate Olive (The Wookie) & Sarah Janes (Island Girl)

Nate and Sarah hiked not only the entire CCT from Oregon to Mexico, but this was their last leg in a hike of the entire Pacific Coast-from the Washington-state/Canadian border.

Bernie Krausse & Stacey Matthews

By February of 2005, Bernie and Stacey had backpacked from the Oregon/California border to Santa Barbara County, as three sectional walks. Read Bernie's two articles in the Hiker's Resources Section.

Gregor Seiböck

Backpacking around the world in support of sustainable living, Gregor walked the southern half (from Mexico to Pt. Reyes) of the CCT in what was to be among the wettest January-Februarys on record.

Jessica Gauvreau

Starting in January, Jessica walked, by her own description, in a leisurely way from Imperial Beach, south of San Diego, to San Francisco, while for the most part staying in hostels. See her notes in the Hiker's Resources Section.

MO JO Coastwalk

Mo and Jo hiked the 1200 miles of the California Coastal Trail in the summer of 2016 to bring awareness to the need to complete the CCT and preserve the California coast.

Follow their tour here: MOJO Coastwalk

Read their blog of the entire hike here: MOJO Coastwalk 2016 Blogs

Natalie Larson

Natalie Larson runs the entire 1200 mile Coastal Trail in 44 days and wins 4th place in the FKTOY (Fastest Known Times of Year) for her self-supported trek up the California coast.

In that adventure, she cussed out a mountain lion, fell in love with Malibu, learned the tidal tables on the Lost Coast, and had to take an Uber through a Naval base.

Read her story here: OC Register

And listen to a podcast about her story here: Ultra Runner Podcast

You!

Let us know if you complete the whole trail so you can be featured on this page, too!