Every Sunday, my wife and I walk. We have a few routes we do, often going from near the coast up into the foothills and back, usually 6 to 8 miles. Our knees and hips still work, so we walk at a good clip and usually bring LuckyDog.
On this Sunday (two weeks ago), we left Lucky at home and went up the coast to Gaviota State Park, to hike up the back of the coastal mountains to Gaviota Peak. It’s about 3 miles up, with an altitude gain of around 2,000 feet. Not too steep, but pretty much continuously up.
The trail goes through a woodland area first. Oak and Sycamore dominate the trail here and it’s nice and cool along the way—much appreciated up the trail a bit when we’ll spend two and a half miles hiking up the mountain in the hot sun.
The trail starts to climb, but is still in the blessed shade for a bit. The woodland starts to thin out as we leave the canyon and start up the slope.
Our coastal mountains are sandstone and shale. Along the beach cliffs or in road cuts you can see the old seabed cracked and stacked, flat or tilted from seismic lifting.
How dry is it around here? This dry.
It's a 360 degree view from the top of Gaviota Peak. Santa Ynez Valley is to the north, behind the ridge. Vandenberg AFB is to the west (which seems like north, but plate tectonics have twisted the coast so that immediately below Point Conception the coast is actually following an eastern line. It’s weird and everyone gets confused when they come here.) The ocean lies to the south, and on this day had heavy fog. Down the coast is to the east.
Our climb ends up at a small peak, with a peak can full of notebooks with people’s messages. Took a while to read some of them and they were surprisingly open with disclosure and messages of hope and dedication to improvement and love. Not the “I was here” messages of my mountain-climbing youth, but things like “I’ve been struggling to gain insight into my anger and depression but this year I’m going to find healing and bring that into my relationships.” Amazing. As a species, I think our evolution is toward a compassionate and mindful existence...it’s just taking a long time to get there.
Getting hot, we headed down again for brunch and lots of water. But first, a selfie. Not the best portrait, but age and sweat humble us all eventually.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekend!