Today didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned. I was supposed to meet a friend to go for a hike at Portola Redwood State Park, a place that I used to take the kids camping almost every summer. Since I was able to leave a little earlier than expected, I decided to take the slightly longer drive along the coast. I’m really glad I did one, because it’s wonderful to drive by the ocean and I don’t get to do that very often and two, because I had just passed Moss Beach when my friend called to tell me that her brakes were making a bad noise and she did not feel safe driving on the windy road to the park. I was disappointed mainly because I really wanted to catch up with her and talk to her about what I’m dealing with in terms of my job search. She’s somebody who is very practical and has good ideas. But it was not meant to be today.
I remembered I had seen a hike in the Half Moon Bay area that I was interested in doing in a recent Weekend Sherpa email. What had attracted me to the hike was that part way through there was a swing attached to one of the trees near the trail, I love that sort of thing. I looked up the hike and discovered it was just an eight minute drive from where I had stopped, so it felt like it was meant to be. I parked on the road and walked about 3/4 of a mile down a dirt road past several horse ranches and followed the signs directing me through one of the ranches to the start of the trail. The old barns and stables were just beautiful. It was a foggy day, so the gray skies added to the beauty of the green trees and the faded buildings, many of the roofs were covered in heavy moss, which probably added a good layer of insulation to the stables. I met a pair of Shetland ponies called Teddy and Bear as I headed down the road winding through the ranch.
A woman about my age was feeding a horse and we greeted each other. She asked if I was heading for a hike on the Spine trail and when I said yes, she told me I was headed the wrong way and directed me to turn around, go back past the last barn, then turn left at a huge pile of manure and I’d find the trailhead. I thanked her, turned around, passed lots of horses and a very noisy goat and found the start of the trail. There was a board with several bells hanging on it and a sign urging bicyclists to take a bell to warn hikers when they were going around corners. I think this is a fantastic idea when bicyclist and hikers are sharing a trail, especially a narrow one with turns. I headed up and enjoying the wonderful views, trekking through a lovely eucalyptus forest.
As the trail emerged into the open space and climbed toward the fog I kept my eye out for the swing. Luckily, it was not hard to find as the tree is directly off the trail with a beautiful view. The swing a nice wide piece of wood and felt very secure swinging out over the land. I felt like a little kid again, leaning back and pumping my legs. I took several selfies of the delighted look on my face. I know, such a dork!
After I had my fill of swinging, I got back on the trail and continued to hike up. There were a lot of dandelions and I couldn’t resist stopping to blow one! As I got further up parts of the trail were quite overgrown and I had to forge my way through tall weeds and vines. I ended up turning back as the trail was crisscrossed with thistles and blackberry vines, and it was not comfortable to hike in.
Speaking of uncomfortable, as I hiked, I thought about the fact that I’m not scared when I am doing things on my own in new places, like I was right then bring out on a trail, or camping or traveling solo. More often I’m scared when I am working with other people – worried how they will judge me, if I’ll live up to their expectations and my own expectations. I have such fear and anxiety about falling on my face or doing anything wrong and embarrassing myself. No wonder the job search process feels so stressful at times.
The views going back down were wonderful, doing an out and back hike on a hill is always my preference as it seems like a different hike each direction. Soon enough I was back down at the bottom saying goodbye to all the horses. On the way back, I noticed there are several pastures on the hillsides for horses to roam freely in, most of them had leads and blankets thrown over the fences. Not a bad place for a horse to board.
On the way back, I stopped at a store that sells natural and sustainable supplies to pick up some more laundry sheets. I had bought a box over a year ago before I headed to the retreat center in Wyoming, figuring using the laundry sheets when I traveled would be much easier than pods or liquid detergent and better for the environment since there would be no plastic garbage left over afterwards. I ended up liking them so much I used them all the time and the box lasted me over a year! So I happily went back and bought another one. There was an artist sketching out a design for the front windows when I was there – very cool.
In the evening I went to a joyful and very popular performance of the SF Queer Chorus at the Mill Valley library. I am so impressed by the range of speakers, entertainers, programs and exhibits that the library assembles for the community. The performance was wonderful, the chorus sang compositions ranging from Handel and Mozart to Björk and the Indigo Girls and included The Swan by Camille Saint-Saens played on a pink melodica-type instrument and Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ sung as an English madrigal! We swayed, tapped our feet, hummed and sang along. It was a lovely feeling of joy and support. Happy Pride!
