"..passing the impressive Berry Creek Falls and ending at the edge of America at Waddell Beach on the Pacific Ocean." Every Trail
A baby deer and 3 boring adult deer, banana slugs and so many trees. Early on the trail, there were two cars that must have gone off the highway and over the cliff. Both looked to be from decades back. New trees stood guarding the ghosts of old trees. Again and again, we passed the tall and lean in a ring about a mossy stump.
At one point, Daniel stepped accidentally on a fat lizard. So much of the tail came off. It was really struggling. So, he decided to kill it, but it took a moment for him before he could step on it with permanence. He had to step hard and kind of grind his foot. It was awful.
At one point, Daniel stepped accidentally on a fat lizard. So much of the tail came off. It was really struggling. So, he decided to kill it, but it took a moment for him before he could step on it with permanence. He had to step hard and kind of grind his foot. It was awful.
Seventeen miles in, after hours of quiet and wild, we came upon Big Basin State Park Headquarters and our first "campsite." There were school children, cars, families and crowds. We stood in line to buy vanilla frozen yogurt in waffle cones and Daniel got a couple cold beers. Chilled treats and laughter in the Redwoods; it was as if we'd come upon a carnival.
I sipped the whiskey we'd hauled there in a plastic flask and later we went for a dark walk among the tallest trees. Daniel had cried hiking at the site of the ancients in Sequoia National Park, but he was dry-eyed that night. I stood inside one that was burnt out and looked straight up to the stars. From around the other side, it looked completely unharmed all 324 feet of her, ridges in the bark like veins, the bumbling roots her toes, branches bent gracefully like elbows and the charcoaled insides rippled like ribs.
Crawling into my sleeping bag and lying horizontally, I had the sense of lying, eyes closed, on the hot cement at the side of a pool. Feeling still like I was swimming. Or like when you take off your skates and try to walk and the gliding is still happening on some level. Dizzy magic. That's how it felt to stop walking after so many miles.
Lucky for us, the walking began again the next day, first thing. We walked until we saw the ocean. Blue and windy around that first bend. We picked berries and clicked pictures of peach and white flowers and took advantage of the toilet before stepping onto the sand.
On the shore, we held our hats tightly and took a couple more photos and then hitched a ride to the bus station. Back to San Jose. We had a baseball game to attend-the San Jose Giants. It was a perfect 2-day downhill adventure. I still can't believe that we walked all the way to the ocean. I love that.
-Sugar Glider
-Sugar Glider
No comments:
Post a Comment