10 am arrival. we labored up the winding slopes of the forest trail. By 12 pm, we finally arrived at a promontory overlooking a grand view of the pacific ocean. From the vista, I could see the trail continued, uncoiling like a snake down the mountain. Fuck that! I had enough switchbacks in the morning. I just wanted to go straight down. Of course I thought I saw a shortcut through the bushes. I put on my thick sweatshirt and told the girls to meet me at the bottom. The trail I saw ended after 25 feet. Rather than admit defeat, I decided to bear with it. The shrubbery was intense. All I could see were thorn bushes and what looked like poison ivy, and masses of branches. I was crouching,limboing, and struggling with each step. Sweat poured down my face. There was no end. I tried to see paths that deer would take... indeed I saw deer shit all over the place. At times, I turned my body 180 degrees and just forced my way down through vegetation. When I finally poked out of the bushes at the bottom. My cousin and her friend were there waiting for me. I was drenched in sweat. When I told her my fear of poison ivy, Pam responded we don’t have poison I’ve here.... we have poison oak.” “Great,” I thought.
We walked to the waterfall. Imagine a giant waterfall by the ocean, the fresh water gushing down the sand into the salty sea. A few other waterfalls were further along on our trail too. They were a bit weaker. The beautiful thing about these smaller waterfalls was the water would disappear into the sand and not even make it to the ocean. Water into sand by the ocean.
For the next couple hours we walked by the rocky sea shore. It was like walking on glass. I eventually crawled into the tidal pools. I could see a huge starfish and a hermit crab with a shell on its back. The starfish was hard and intractable as I tried of lift it. it's arms detached. oops. I guess that’s what happens when they get old. Far from being pacific, the Pacific Ocean waves crashed violently onto the rocks creating a mist to arise cloaking the cliffs and mountains in a purple haze.
“Let’s try catching another trail back home down the coast” my cousin suggested. At 2 pm. In the middle of our trek, I joked to my cousin, “wouldn’t it be funny if the tide came up and our trail was submerged?”
Misreading the map and interpreting the landscape features wrong, we thought the trail was close at hand, we actually took our pants off to wade through certain sections, thinking that the trails was right around the bend in the cliffs... it wasn’t.
4:45 pm. My hands clung to the rock cliff. i was trying to scale a cliff to check if there were any trails beyond the bend. Down below, the Pacific Ocean roared. “Luke, we have to go, the tide’s coming up!” they screamed. my camera was in my bag, along with my water color pads... all would be ruined. I clung to the cliff. it sounded hollow, as if the rock would crumble from my weight. i got to a bend in the cliff where i could go no father. I couldn't see any rocks around the bend. two feet below, the water swirled. i could see translucent gray rocks beneath the green sea.. but they were 3 feet away and i was 2 feet up. they screamed at me. leap of faith. i sent my hand to the other side of the bend hoping to grab a rock... before i could think, i was submerged in the Pacific. soaked from head to toe i grabbed a rock in the ocean, regained my balance and skipped from submerged rock to submerged tock till there was some sand. the trail had gone under water and i had escaped death by pacific rip tide.
5:30 i ran to the arch rock. beyond it was the coastal trail back to the entrance. i climbed part of the cliff till i could climb no more to see if it was passible. it wasn't. shit. i saw some caves carved out by the ocean. tranquil beautiful flowing sea anemones anchored to the underwater rocks below. arch rock looked like a bridge. the sun was blinding. surrounding the arch were angular rocks, stoics in the sea. it looked so primitive. i wished i could've stayed, but i had to get back, the girls were waiting for me.
we hastened to the waterfall. that is where the wild cat trail ended. we had just spent 3 hours trying to find another return trail along the coast but failed cause the high tide caught submerged everything. another 15 minutes and we would've been dead meat.
6:10 at the waterfall. the sun was about to set and we had 6 miles of hiking up and down the mountains, through the mountains and streams.. ughh. i tried to buy some shorts or pants off various campers along the way to no avail. by now, the sunset was covered by clouds. majestic pinks and purples over the grey green sea. i hiked in wet jeans and wet t-shirt. there was a hole in my underwear. i wore the rattiest pair of underwear i owned that day. when i loosened my pants, the girls started giggling and laughing hysterically... but i had to do it.. my wet jeans were cutting into my thighs. ughh. i took it like a man. it smelled like rain, but it didn't rain. and we ran an we hiked though mud and rocks and narrow trails, and we held hands for the last 3 miles taking each step with trepidation seeing only the faint glow of the path in the midst of imperturbable darkness which was the forest trees. i whistled and ate a whole bag of granola to pass time. the silence of the walk would have been too scary. cathy asked " would you be content being killed by a deranged lunatic in the woods right now" "No" i said, " i haven't done all the things i've wanted to do in life." she replied "at this point, i wouldn't care too much, then we would be out of this jam..." she walked ahead.. i couldn't see her anymore. i was alone. pam and cathy were walking in underwear to avoid their wet jeans cutting into their skin like mine. all i could see were the open skies, the stars and the shadow of dark trees.
the pasture, the sound of mules, a couple lights, the parking lot, hallelujah car. when i awoke in the backseat in my ripped underwear we were back in san francisco. what a hike.
the morals:
don't hike off trail
allow for time getting back during the daytime
don't wear ripped underwear
bring extra clothes to leave in the car
hike with others
check the tides
don't mess with the pacific
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