After Easter and so on...

Stardate: 04.11.2010

Monday April 5th dawned sunny and mostly clear, with only wispy clouds between the Lighthouse point we started walking from and the sun. Walking away from the Hostel we all felt renewed, clean, and triumphant. Beforte we even made it out to the HWY-1 I smelled onions, looked over and saw that the Hispanic pickers in the field at the side of the road were harvesting leeks. Visions of leek soup floated across my tastebuds and I importuned the closest migrant with a smile and a wave, “Como esta amigo,” I said, “Un Leek para mi?”

“Bien...si.” he replied, handing me one enormous green onion and smiling that patented smile that is reserved for crazy gringos.

“Gracias man, muchas gracias.” I ended and swung on down the road whistling and using the leek like a conductors baton. We were heading for a little tyown called Pescadero because it had the nearest market and we were almost out of food and cigarettes, and Pescadero was four miles up the coast and two miles inland according to the old hippie guy who ran the hostel and was either stoned or just very laid back at all times dude. We found a connecting road that cut off a bit and we also saw many beautiful things on the way (including a pile of abandoned, but fresh, leeks and a fennel bulb which we promptly added to our load) and we made the distance in about two and a half hours over hill and dale.

Pescadero is a nice, friendly, small town that intends to stay that way. They have one gas station/taqueria, and two Deli-markets next door to each other, none of which take food stamps so I shopped cheap. The legs and thighs of a chicken, a couple potatoes, some jalapenos and some frosty Mountain Dew for the road. Susanne got some Cranberry-Pomegranite juice and a couple other little things, and J.C. And Nick pretty much sat outside and enjoyed the break.


Then we set off down Stage road towards the town of San Gregorio seven miles to the North and back on the 1 (or so we thought). By then it was about three in the afternoon and we were looking for a campsite from the moment we cleared the outskirts of Pescadero, but we were entering horse and ccow country and the road was either bordered by poison oak among the eucalyptus trees, or by inhospitable barbed wire fences. We found what appeared to be a good site, up a dirt road, after about three miles, but it also turned out to be infested with poison oak, so on we trekked getting more tired and cranky by the yard. Finally we found an unfenced property with no “No Trespassing” signs that had been planted with cyprus and pine at some point. Poison oak does not like pines, so we were safe.

Susanne had a brief freak out and wanted to go by herself to beach, but was talked out of it and settled down to cut vegetables for dinner while Nick and the two Jameses set up camp. Later she attacked her tent, but the thing about Susanne is that she is so consientious about the feelings of others that she appologises even when she does not need to, so it is easy to just get past bursts of temper. We all figured that it had been a long days walking with heavy gear (10-12 miles), and we were hungry, so a bit of temper was par for the course. Dinner was cooked over a fire for a change to conserve propane, and because we needed several things cooking at once. Potato-leek soup, tortillas, and grilled chicken (cooked on a steel plate) was terrific and made everyone feel much better. The ground was sloped and bumpy, but we still slept well and awoke refreshed.

Tuesday we hiked another two miles into San Gregorio (which, as Susanne mentioned in her blog, I kept mispronouncing in a variet of ways) and I caught a snake on the way.

There we enjoyed the General Store's ambience (totally cool place, check it out if you are ever in the area. I bought two stickers “Art Junkie” and “Not All Who Wander Are Lost,” for my computer. Susanne and J.C. also bought stickers, and we had beverages. There turned out to be a bus stop right outside the store that we discovered would pick us up at 6:30pm, so we walked another mile down to San Gregorio State Beach where we lounged the afternoon away and waited for the bus.

There was a stop right across from the beach, so at the end of the day we caught the bus there and rode it up the coast to Half Moon Bay where we went to Safeway and were looking for a campsite when we got interrupted by a ranger. She told us where we could camp for $7.00 each. We said ok, waited for her to leave, then hiked off in the opposite direction and camped on the dunes. The next day, we caught bus up to Monterra State Beach where we spent Wednsday, and Thursday nights. Fabulous place, we enjoyed our two days there quite a bit, though it was hella windy. I'll post some photos and such from there later, but it is almost time to go find camp for tonight, and the rain has stopped for now, so I need to finish this quick.

Friday we caught another bus into Pacifica, and J.C. left us at the Linda Mar Shopping Center Starbucks to return to the world of the day to day. That night we camped on the beach right across the street...

to be continued...

On Easter Morning

On Easter morning

I
Like God


am reborn

where land and sea
frolic together
in sand and foam
on the left coast


Where I AM


Roaming to and fro upon the Earth


and I wonder
if the clouds were grey
and low
to catch the gulls cries
on this morning
long ago

If a single ray of sun
broke through to light HIS way home
like you might see in a movie

or if the spirit drifted
heavenward like smoke

If the Angels song
sounded like these waves
against the stone...

Peace out y'all...
                                                         

Walking and Writing Go Together, Sort Of, Kind Of, Not Really:

Stardate: 04.10.2010

Writing and walking are interrelated in that walking gives you plenty of time to think about writing, and you see and experience plenty of things to write about, but the two endeavors remain more or less mutually exclusive. I can write while walking, but it is likely to result in tripping, or running into something (like the end of Susanne's stick that is often held parallel to the ground at approximately the height of my crotch), or getting run over because I'm not looking where I'm going, or some other equally unfavorable result. Furthermore, if I write while I walk I am seeing the page, and the past I am writing about rather than the scenery I am passing, and it is also difficult to take photos while walking and writing at the same time.

 addition, my writing times have been constrained by the necessities of maintaining forward momentum on this trip, as well as by all the other exciting and/or necessary things to do during a day on the road. Things like cooking for four on a single propane burner half buried in the sand to prevent it from tipping over while the wind tries to blow it out and season one's repast with grit at the same time, or setting up a tent while the wind tries to turn it into a kite, or lying in the sun with your eyes closed and absorbing warmth on a chilly spring afternoon, or capturing canine skulls and snakes in the wild (though admittedly I have only captured one of each so far),

                                                                          or taking pictures of anything and everything even vaugely interesting in subject or composition,

or painting on my denim jacket and writing quotes on the sleeves with permanent marker. Let us not forget smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, herbifying before dinner, talking trash with fellow walkers, reading novels and bibles, creating sculpture using sand, stones, and sticks, or giving and receiving back rubs after a long day under the enormous weight of my pack, sleeping to the sound of surf and wind, dodging traffic on the highway, dodging bikes on the bikepath, wading in the ocean, contemplating my navel,

and endless other edifying pursuits up to and including eating a pound and a half of candy in one sitting.

All of this excitement has therefore caused me to fall behind on writing, though I have wrtitten a bit of poetry and such longhand, and I will eventually transcribe such into digital format and post it in the appropriate places. Lack of power sources and internet connections has also taken a toll, half the time my cellphone doesn't even work, and the computer's battery is only good for about two hours between charges. Nonetheless, I must persevere and communicate at least the gist of our adventures to the intrepid reader.

Since I last posted much has transpired. We were still in Santa Cruz then, now we are in Pacifica, and the journey is a tale indeed. On Friday, the 2nd of April we headed into Santa Cruz from our camp at Natural Bridges and established ourselves at an outside table belonging to the Safeway Starbucks on Mission St. From there I uploaded some photos, we charged devices, and Susanne contacted friend Anne who came to meet us there.

It started raining again as we joined Anne and her husband Chris for lunch at a nearby taqueria, then she dropped us off downtown at a thrift store. Got a book there, and Susanne got something or other, then we walked down to Trader Joe's to stock up on groceries on our way to bus stop. Before shopping we saw that the Art and History Museum was free on Fridays and had a surf art exibit going on and we were bummed because we thought that we'd have to skip it if we were going to catch bus to North County. Turned out that we missed one bus and the next didn't leave until 7:15pm, so we stopped in another thrift store where I picked up a weatherproof jacket for four doillars, and then we got to spend three hours at the museum and that was way cool, particularly since Art is kinda the point of this expedition.

Anyway, we enjoyed the museum, then took a bus to Davenport, arriving near dark, and started hiking North looking for a good camp spot. Came across this small beach access on a short side road off the one, and pitched our tents on the grass near the pit toilets since it was already nearly ten and we didn't know what the tide was going to be like. In the morning, we moved tents down to beach, made breakfast, and hung out reading and writing and such, at about 10am James Comfort texted me saying he was on the way, and I sent back info on what bus to take to meet us. He called when he got off in Davenport and I walked out to the one to meet him and guide him in.

We hung out some more, built a sand sculpture with sticks and rocks included, and then hiked a couple of miles before finding a good spot to camp on the beach at a place called Pelican Rock. J.C. Had never met Susanne or Nick in person, but he fit right in like I figured he would. Easter Morning, we lounged through the morning, and started walking about 11:30, then it started raining and we walked in it for hours. Wound up making coffee and rice under the eves of a State wildlife reserve bathroom at Nuevo Anno, then hung out in information center.

After a while, Susanne talked a ranger into giving us a ride to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Youth Hostel. Susanne's Mom generously funded beds for us, and we all were in one room, the other two rooms occupied by a nice family from France with two adorable and inquisitive little girls, and a couple from Washington or something like that. We all got hot showers, I made a fantastic dinner in a real kitchen, got online briefly but couldn't do anything useful, then we played Scrabble (my favorite boardgame, YAY!) and I won. Then everyone else went to sleep and I took another shower.

Gotta Go! But I'll be back soon with next installment of the adventure...peace out y'all.

I Am Way Behind on Posting...but will catch up.

I Have just been busy walking, talking, taking photos, and generally living. Also, net access has been quite limited. In the meantime, here is a sample of the places we've been.

Rest Day Necessitated By Rain, Probably A Good Thing: Stardate 04.01.2010:

The rain cleared up Tuesday enough for us to move around, but came back that night, and continued intermittently all day yesterday and into this Morning...stopped sometime after Midnight. We all stayed dry this time...yay...but that meant a lot of down time. 


I got to read and write some, Susanne went for a long walk, Nick napped and wrote. We had a great vegetarian stirfry for lunch, but then got stuck with cold ham, cheese, and salsa for dinner because it was raining too hard to use burner outside, and too dangerous to use it in tent. 


Still, the enforced rest was good for us. We probably needed a day of eating and resting to let our bodies catch up to the strain of carrying the huge load we've saddled ourselves with.  All of us feel stronger today, and that is no April fool. Off to find a good place to do art and maybe sell some jewelery or something...peace.

April Fools: the remaining crew as of 04.01.2010, hiking into town.

Thank God For My New Tent: Stardate 03.30.2010:

Can you say hallelluia my brothers and sisters, can you say Praise the lord. I bought a Coleman tent for this journey since my old one was too beat up to move and it leaked.


Yesterday after Ellen left and I posted we took a bus through the university, then hiked and found an “open space” where we could set up camp. Unfortunately, the canyons are choked with poison oak and blackberry vines under the trees, so we can't get under cover of the forrest canopy easily unless we go into the redwoods, so we settled for camping on a flat high place just below a ridge where we would be out of the wind. This was important because it had been misting and drizzling since noon, and rain was forcast for last night, today and tomorrow.


We knew we were going to get rain on this trip, it is inevitable in the spring north of Point Conception on the West coast of North America, but we were hoping to have more time to settle into the rhythm of the walk before testing ourselves against it. The projected rain, on top of being tired and sore, is what convinced Ellen that it was time for her to leave the train yesterday afternoon. So, we found ourselves with three tents lined up, Nick, myself, Susanne, in a row. With our backs to the crown of an Oak rising out of a canyon about a mile from the ocean, front doors about six feet back from a small rise that broke the wind sweeping down over the high grassland and gave us a place to set up the propane stove to cook dinner.


We were rather dispirited from the weather, and Ellen leaving, and the struggle to find a suitable camp. Susanne cooked redbeans soaked with dried jalepeno, oregeno, salt and pepper, and seasoned with chillis onions and garlic, plus some meaty and mushrooms left over from the first night—Susanne's good that way, she's only sort of vegitarian, which means she'll eat stuff with meat juice in it, and occasionally even eat some meat. Dark was coming on fast, the drizzle was threatening to turn into rain, and the propane was begining to sputter, so we ended up eating our beans pretty hard, but they were chewable, and they tasted great with tortillas soaked in the broth. Susanne and I ate in my tent, Nick went and hid in his, but again, that does not prevent talking as the walls are thin.


After we ate, Susanne went back to her tent, I read by candlelight for a while and the three of us chatted back and forth, and prayed that the rain would treat us well. Well, it rained, Susanne got pretty wet, Nick's tent held the water out, but hehad trouble with condensation, and mine was perfectly dry...Yay! Hurrah for Coleman. It took us a while to get going this morning, Susanne and I ate tortillas with avacado, bell pepper, jalepeno, pepperjack cheese, lemon juice, and salt. Nick drank coffee. He got the only cup of hot coffee because the propane died for good before we could heat more water...bummer.


We finally got packed up and headed down the hill; where we were pleased to find that our spot was actually close to the Highway and provided easy access to town. I am currently writing in a laundrymat where we came to wash and dry our sleeping bags and some wet or dirty clothes. We are packing up and getting ready to go in search of a coffeehouse where I can upload some more photos, blog and, charge equipment. Off we go into the wild blue yonder, off we go into the sun...peace out y'all.




P.S. Now in Westside Coffee House here in Santa Cruz, gotta get some eats, looks like the rain we were supposed to get today might have blown by...hope so. More later.