The top of Saddle Peak. This is an optional portion of The Backbone Trail (wish I had known that before)—you can cut around it and take Stunt Road if you don't want to deal with the elevation. It was one hell of an uphill climb. But at the top, there are these wild rock formations. …
Continue reading The Backbone Trail
The past few days, I hiked the Backbone Trail. Not all 67 miles, but 37, which is enough if you ask me. And the whole point of this blog is to catalog my travels and sometimes, those travels aren’t so grand. In fact, they can be pretty pathetic. Because here’s the deal: I cried. I …
Continue reading Fear tastes different in the wild.
Carrizo plains saw a lot of tourists this season, thanks to California storms that quenched our thirsty soils and watered the lands. And in the last couple of weeks, it's seen a lot of trampled flower heads, which is a little frustrating. Not that I didn't trample a few myself from the overwhelming excitement of …
Continue reading My Greatest Loves, and Greatest Losses
I'm coming home from my wanderings. Briefly. I'm sure I'll head back out soon. I'm too restless not to. But what a week for it. Aside from Earth Day (if you haven't planted something yet, get on it), Friday was the birthday of my main man of the mountains, John Muir, a major advocate for …
Continue reading Chasing Waterfalls
Sometimes, when I'm tired, and this world is a little too much for me to take (which, to be honest, is quite often these days) I like to play amongst the flowers. I like to tread, barefoot, through the grasses, allowing the thorns to catch in the lining of my dress, implant themselves into the …
The toe of my boot nudged against an errant piece of slate. It slid, tumbling down the mountain's face, down to the waters below, the ones that would grind it down to the texture of the fine pebbles that line the seashore. It's one of those weird moments in which you are suddenly made aware …
Continue reading One Life. One Love.
I guess when I think Travel Blog, I think wild adventures, vast explorations, paramount discoveries. But sometimes, it just means working up the strength to get out of bed in the morning. See, travel is about personal growth, not growing the number of stamps in a passport. It's about the time you spend wandering the …
I love the stars that blanket the sky. Their shimmering surfaces, shrouded in winking flames. Perhaps I love them for the secrets they hold. Born from nebulae, living for millions of years before exploding into a supernova, what a glorious name for death. We become spirits that roam the earth, but they shimmer with the …
Continue reading Starry, Starry Night
The Wild Heart of Life 