-4-The Road

We have 365 chances each year to take a nice walk. Each day is an opportunity to get out for a short while even for just half an hour and walk. Of course things happen and I do not get out every day, but I try to. You can be a morning walker, a noon walker or and evening walker. Each time has abundant reasons to be the best time to walk. We all get to choose our own best walking time.

I live in the Santa Cruz mountains. There are a number of walks I can take that start at our front door and wind this way and that way. I try to walk 4 plus miles each morning if I can. I will go out for 2 or 3 miles and then loop back depending upon my choice of the day. Weather can have an impact, but I do find that some of the best walks I have taken have been in rainy or windy weather. The weather can keep some of the regular walkers indoors, but if I dress for the weather, I find the stormy walks are well worth the effort. In the winter months, wind and rain is frequent. There is an unwritten rule that the rain will be that hardest at the farthest point out on the walk. I have learned this over time. It is typical for me to look out, see some light mist and say "why that is not so bad". So I start out and things hold together for awhile. Naturally I get out a few miles and here comes the sleet and the 40 mile an hour wind gusts. The local weather people call them storm cells. Did I mention I love Goretex and long sleeve sweatshirts? Once or twice a light dusting of snow may fall. In the summer it rarely rains at all, but frequently we do get fog in the early morning. Thick fog damps the air and slightly muffles the normal sounds. I feel as if I am walking in a dream scape.

Walking introduces me to neighbors that I meet along the way. Fellow wanders of the roads and trails. Some are walking, some are jogging. Some people meet at spots along the road at prearranged spots for their walk dates. I also have met people that see me walking while they are driving by on their way from here to there. They wave and I wave back. Some people I actually have met, some people I recognize their vehicle , but know not who they are. Yet a wave is nice to get, and acknowledgment from one person to another, a hello that is never spoken.

My usual morning walk along the road takes me by the Summit Store, Burrell winery and a number of homes, all of which are quiet in the early morning hours. It is not unusual to see wildlife along the way. There are several coveys of quail that scuttle about in the bushes along the way. I am usually scolded on a regular basis by the Stellar Jays, but I do not take it personally. I know it is their place in the order of things to scold, a task they relish. And they do such a good job of it. As I pass through their domain, they quickly take up scolding someone or something else. I see squirrels frequently, trapeze artists extraordinary, with death defying leaps between the big trees. I have seen small gray foxes, quick and quite, flash and they are gone. I frequently see deer. If they spot me, they will freeze in place and try to determine if I have seen them. They survive on stealth, speed and being aware. Perhaps good lessons to learn for anyone. On occasion I will see a coyote or two, usually on their way to some important meeting. Very rarely I have seen bobcats, they are most shy. Once and one time only I saw a small mountain lion. It looked like a one or two year old, and was running away as quickly as it could. It was obviously scared to death and with good reason. Nothing dramatic as one might imagine from some of the panic caused by the sightings reported by others. Mankind is the most dangerous beast in the woods, top of the food chain. Personally I am more concerned by some of the aggressive dogs one comes across on the trails than any other wildlife I encounter on my walks.

I end my morning walks where the begin at home. Time for a hot shower, a hot cup of tea ( my wife has made me several of my very own tea cups) and get ready for the day. For me, a great way to start the day. Try it sometime, much more rewarding than an hour on the treadmill.

-3-Earth Day

The earth is where we walk. I like to help out if I can, so tomorrow's walking will be as nice or perhaps even better than today's. This Earth Day I took a long walk over a short distance. That is to say, I took many trips behind a wheelbarrow. The journey consisted of loading up large tarps of ice plant, wheeling the load about 200 yards and dumping the ice plant. Then repeat the sequence, for a good part of the day.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse is a small state park located north of Santa Cruz. It is the tallest lighthouse in existence on the west coast. It turns out that all the nice ice plant around the lighthouse is a nuisance that has pushed out the native plant life. Now this was news to me since I though ice plant was native to California. Not so. Turns out, ice plant is native to South Africa. Sailors took cuttings and spread it all over the place. It seems that ice plant has a very high concentration of vitamin C. Sailors would plant it a various ports of call to have something to combat scurvy. Ice plant can be invasive as all get out, when it finds a place it likes, it just moves in and takes over. Sort of a crab grass on steroids.

So for Earth Day, I went to do battle with the invader from afar, the infamous ice plant. There was a small enthusiastic group of volunteers to carry out the battle. For some reason, my place in the organization was wheelbarrow man. It was not as glamorous as ice plant puller or native plant planter, but I took solace in knowing that I had found my station in life and solace in the fact that no one else wanted to take my station from me. So the journey of many steps began and ended on a short path between the lighthouse and the dumping place for the evil weed. The day had a stiff onshore breeze of around 20mph to keep one cool and the ocean had lots of whitecaps.

At the end of the day, a large patch of ice plant had been removed, native plants had been planted and I felt the good tired feel of doing a days work. And the day for the Earth is a small thanks for all the days I have spent walking upon the Earth.

Go out and volunteer some time at your favorite park or trail or lake or shore. It lets you get back in touch with the Earth and with yourself.

-2- Yosemite In The Early Spring

The best time to walk in Yosemite is in the early spring. It is a great place to walk just about anytime as it is truly an outdoors person's paradise. Flat trails, steep trails, very steep trails and solid rock faces if you must challenge yourself.

Early spring is the best for several reasons. The snow in the higher country is melting, so the waterfalls are in their prime. The main falls are really roaring and the seasonal falls are all adding their part to the experience. Each turn of the trail rewards the walker with unbelievable views. Early spring is best because the tour season is not yet in full swing. One has more of the trail to one's self. Early spring is best because the weather is cool, not too hot, not too cold, just right.

It was our 20th anniversary, so we decided to stay in the Ahwahnee and hike the local trails. The Ahwahnee was built in the early 1900s and has been in service ever since. There are pictures of Theodore Roosevelt, Ansil Adams, and other dignitaries scattered about the place.

The old hotel is fun, it is old and has its very own ambiance. That includes tea every day from 4-5 in the great room. The dining room is large and glorious with 35 foot ceilings . If you can get the alcove for breakfast, your seat will allow you a direct view of Yosemite falls and a smaller set of falls that drop right behind the hotel. The trails are convenient to the hotel, so ample walking opportunities exist.

We walked to the base of Yosemite Falls. The water drops from a cliff for a long drop and then a shorter second drop. Yosemite Falls are the tallest waterfalls in the United States. They are in fact the 6th or 7th tallest waterfalls in the world. On loses one's sense of perspective when looking at the falls, they are so tall they don't look tall if that makes any sense. The volume of water was so great that a perpetual wind exists at the base of the falls. That wind is result of all the water pushing the air out of the way as it falls. There was also a nice rainbow created by the mist from the mist at the base of the falls. As one faces the falls from their base and looks just to the right of the top of the falls, one see the Lost Arrow. This is a stone spire that stands out away from the main rock wall. It is one of the many climbs that rock climbers make in the area. Personally, it scares me just to look at the Arrow from the bottom of the falls.

We walked the trail to Half Dome as far as the top of Vernal Falls. This includes a section of the trail known as the Mist Trail. Let me assure you, there was mist and then some from all the water in the Merced River roaring by. The walls of the canyon are close, so the sound and the mist make for a dramatic hike. In the morning sun, we also caught a double and possibly parts of a triple rainbow close to the bottom of Vernal Falls. We walked aways on toward Nevada Falls, sort of the next stop on the pilgrimage to Half Dome, then turned around and came back by a section of the John Muir trail. The Muir trail had several sheltered sections still covered with snow which made crossing them interesting. The slopes were steep and the snow was melting, slippery in spots to say the least. The parts of the trail exposed to the sun were lined with early wildflowers, including big patches of lupine. It was all in all a very enjoyable walk.

Anyone who likes to walk should go to Yosemite some time, go in the off season and stay a few days. Walk and see what is to be seen. See it in the light of spring or fall rather than the glare of summer. The colors are subtle; grays, greens, browns, blacks splashed with with mists and and tumbling waters.

Go try it some time, it is worth the trip. Your life will be richer for doing it.