B and I were on the road to Aptos before 8 a.m. on Sunday morning. Traffic on Hecker Pass and Highway 1 was light. The entrance to Forest of Nisene Marks State Park is less than a mile from the freeway exit (coincidentally named State Park Drive).

The park is a haven for mountain bikers and runners, most of whom park their vehicles outside the entrance to avoid the six-dollar day use fee. Since we intended to start from George's Picnic Area, nearly two miles beyond the entrance, we paid to park.

The plan was to see the park's two waterfalls: Five Finger Falls and Maple Falls. We planned to hike the Aptos Creek Fire Road until we reached the Aptos Creek Trail, where we would make a quick detour to see the epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Due to a landslide last winter, the trail is closed beyond that point, so we planned to backtrack to the fire road and take the White Lagoon Road-Big Slide Trail to reach Five Finger Falls. From there, we would backtrack to Miller Pond Trail, cross the creek, and head north on Bridge Creek Trail until we reached Maple Falls.

It sounded good, which is why it was doomed to fail.

We had no trouble sauntering up the fire road. It's wide, well-traveled, and paved.

Beyond the gate at the Porter Family Picnic Area, the roads narrows and the pavement disappears. On this stretch, mountain bikers dominate. We saw a few determined runners, but no other hikers.

Redwood trees towered above us, providing a canopy of shade and keeping the temperature cool. Highs were expected to be in the low to mid eighties. With the exception of a few sunny spots, it never felt that hot.

According to the interpretive sign at the Loma Prieta Mill Site (elev. 320), the forest was heavily logged from the 1880s through the 1920s, so we were actually hiking through a second-growth forest and what once was a town of 400 loggers and their families. Today, there's almost no evidence that the community ever existed.

We made several stops along the fire road, taking photos of the creek and coastal redwoods.

After ninety minutes of steady climbing, we reached the trail head of the Aptos Creek Trail. We immediately crossed the creek and followed a winding path to the sign memorializing the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that shook California on October 17, 1989.

As we made our way back along the weaving and twisting trail to the fire road, I mentioned to B that for a straight line drawn on the map, the trail was awfully curvy. Instead of joking about it, I should have taken it as a warning.

We returned to the fire road and climbed a number of switchbacks until we reached what the map called the Top of the Incline (elev. 962). From the so-called top of the incline, the road continued to climb.

We reached the White Lagoon Road junction easily. According to the map, the Big Slide Trail clearly splits from the road. According to reality, the split isn't so clear. We followed what we believed to be the split until we reached a sign that gave no indication as to our location, but made it blatantly clear that no bikes were allowed.

From there, the trail became a steep, single-track path. It crossed ditches and hills and wound around trees. It dipped and banked and disappeared in places; the only hint of a trail being a strategically tied ribbon on a tree branch. Along the way, we encountered a mountain biker riding in the opposite direction, obviously ignoring the park's signage.

It took an hour to hike the 1.3-mile trail shown on the map. When we reached the junction, instead of finding the Aptos Creek Trail, we discovered a fire road and a trail sign identical to the one we had seen earlier. It was apparent we had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

From what I can piece together, somewhere along the Big Slide Trail, we accidentally strayed onto an unmapped bike trail and looped back to the Aptos Creek Fire Road. We had managed to hike a circuitous three-mile route to a point two miles north and 700 feet above where we had started.

At the time, we didn't know where we were, so we chose to hike down the road until we either came across a sign or a person. Twenty minutes later, we had seen neither. Instead, we stumbled upon an amazing view of Monterey Bay. We could see all the way from Moss Landing to Santa Cruz.

Around the next bend, we came across three mountain bikers resting. I was pretty sure where we were, but to be safe, I pointed at the map and asked, "Would this be Sand Point Overlook?"

One of the cyclists smirked and said, "Those are some powerful map skills you have there."

It took me a few minutes to appreciate his remark and the humor of the situation. I suppose that when I lost my sense of direction, I lost my sense of humor, too.

Anyway, the revised plan was to take the Hinckley Basin Fire Road to West Ridge Trail, connect to Big Stump Gap Trail, and hike to Maple Falls via the Loma Prieta Grade. It would be a three-mile detour, but we would at least see one waterfall.

We made it to Hoffman's Historic Site (at the Loma Prieta Grade Junction), but like the building we beheld, our drive to see the waterfall had collapsed into a heap of detritus.

It was after two in the afternoon and the prospect of more climbing didn't sound appealing enough to attempt, so we admitted defeat and hiked back to George's Picnic Area.

On my way down, I swore I would return to the Forest of Nisene Marks to see the original plan through and reach the two elusive waterfalls. Next time, no landslide, unmapped trail, or incline is going to stop me.

I leave you with my favorite photo from the hike. It isn't very good, but I like it.

You can see a few more photos from the hike on Flickr.