Hiking in Andrew Molera Park

This past Sunday we both had off of work in time to head out on a small road trip to do some hiking. We didn't know at first that it would turn into a hiking adventure, and we especially didn't know it would turn into such a mental and physical excursion! We just had a general idea that we wanted to go hang around some nature and trees and that we have heard so much about Big Sur.

So, Sunday afternoon we packed up my car (Rhonda the Honda), and prepared our traveling car-sleep-pod. This is a fun way to turn your car into a super-awesome sleeping area by folding down the back seats so you have access to the trunk. Then you load tons of pillows and blankets on the back side of the seats and slip your feet into the trunk to sleep. Super comfy! And you can use the back window shelf as a nightly supplies shelf. All you need to do then is put up sun blockers on the back and side windows and you have yourself a little sleep pod fit for some Queens! We also decided to take Bella, Phoenix' Italian Greyhound, with us for this adventure - which was totally a fun idea! ( Bella Howling Video )

Anyway, we headed down highway 1, south about an hour or so before sunset. This gave us enough time to get to the most beautiful part of the 1 that picks up after Monterey. Once you pass Monterey it's a windy, enchanting ride along the cliffs of the coast. And if you're lucky enough, you can catch some of the most beautiful sunset scenery ever - with the waves crashing and the entire horizon turned deep pinks and oranges. We were that lucky. We found the perfect little turn-off to jump out and take some excellent pictures and feel the clean pacific air rushing in with every wave. ( Sunset Video )

Once we had had our fill of the sunset, we got back in the car and headed toward Big Sur. Those windy roads aren't nearly as fun to drive after the sun goes down since you can't see anything and you have to be super careful driving. Eventually though, we came to a huge sign that indicated Big Sur camping. The attendant told us it would be $34 dollars for the night and check out was at 11am, which we were pretty bummed about. That meant we would have to spend another $20 the next day for day parking. We zipped around the compound to see if any camping spots called to us, but they didn't. So instead we decided to not pay all that money and head up the 1 a little more to find a little knook to park the car in - since we were planning on sleeping in the car anyway, may as well do it for free! On the way to find our perfect sleep spot we came across a really beautiful restaurant with an enchanting atmosphere, but we didn't eat there...only looked around. And soon we drove to find our spot - a little tucked away spot that probably is used to park construction vehicles.

We explored our area just a bit, but we were parked right across the street from the Ocean Cliff, so we had lots of fresh air and the sound of the Ocean to sleep to. We climbed into our sleep pod, snaked on some cheese, crackers, and wine, and jammed on our drums and guitar for a bit ( Drumming Videos ). Bella snuggled up under the covers and seemed perfectly comfortable in her little sleep-pod cave! Then it was time to rest for a big day of adventure the next morning!

The alarm went off around 9ish and we slowly got ready. We made some peanut butter, jelly, apples, and granola breakfast wraps. We've definitely fine-tuned our traveling tools and food to have everything we need and some pretty nutritious food! Then we left our little knook and headed back toward the Big Sur camping area, but we came across another hiking area sooner! The attendant there recommended that if we wanted some beautiful scenery we should head about 5 miles North and check out Andrew Molera Park - it had a beach with cliffs and excellent driftwood he said. And also had some mountains and Redwoods to hike through...which of course contained everything we love about nature and was absolutely the perfect place for us!

We got there, parked, and prepared our pack for the day - some food, water, warm clothes, our multi-tools (Thanks Dad!), camera stuff, notebooks, and thankfully a headlamp. Since we weren't expecting a full-on hike, we didn't bring any hiking boots - so we made due with flip-flops. We made sure Bella had her little sweater on, since she has NO body fat and it was pretty chilly that day. The first part of the adventure was that we had to wade across a little river! Which was totally fun and frigid, and kicked our adventure off! ( River Walk Video ) Once we got to the other side we headed for the beach front trail. On the way there was some excellent mountain scenery and some deer. When we got to the beach it looked like we had just been stranded on an Island, like in all the movies. The cliffs were huge and rocky, the beach was covered in kelp and tons of driftwood, and with every wave large stones were sucked into the Ocean, creating this really unique sound ( Beach Video ).

Also, the sand was this really pretty pink and black color. At one point Phoenix went to take a few pictures of the sand and turned her back to the waves...which snuck up on her and pulled her flip flop right off her foot! She jumped into action, tossing me the camera and ripping off the first few layers of her clothes to go in after it! Which I got on film of course. It was totally awesome! Luckily she didn't have to get too wet, because the Ocean spit the sandal right back to her after playing with it for a bit ( Sandal Rescue Video ). She was a beast for it anyway. Then we walked along the beach and found this super spot where someone had built a throne from driftwood, so we stretched, sat down to enjoy the view, and munched on some cheese and crackers. We got treated to a front row seat of surfing as a surfer paddled out right when we settled in.

To the left you could see the cliffs and coast and we knew it was time to continue on our adventure. The hiking trail was going to lead us along the cliffs and through those mountains! We weren't really sure how far the hike was or how long it would take us, but we had taken a picture of the map before we left the parking lot - so at least we had that. Out we set to discover an endless terrain of beauty! We took our time, playfully yelling to the cliffs and waves and skipping along the trail. By this time we had taken off our sandals and were taking the trail on with our bare feet. The way I see it, this increases reality because you're opening up another sensor to be able to perceive the world. You can feel the mud, grass, rocks, and all the many textures of the world you can't really feel when you have shoes on.

Every 30 feet or so there would be a little turn off from the path, that lead you down to the cliffs. We took most of these I'd say! It's an absolutely incredible thing to be sitting on the edge of a cliff with the sun shining on you, the waves persistently crashing on you, and air hitting you after being brought thousands of miles across the Ocean. It truly feels like some of the cleanest air you can breath. At one point I took off all of my clothes and jewelery to stand naked in the breeze, being cleansed by the pure winds. It was incredible. There was no other hikers around so we felt really free to be able to do whatever we wanted - be it OMing, standing naked on the cliff, pretending to be a the Road Runner, or screaming at the top of our lungs at the beauty ( Road Runner Video ).

This spot I got naked at was probably one of the most beautiful and energetically charging spots I've ever been. You could stand and see coast line for miles to your left or your right. Or you could look straight out and see the sun glistening on the Ocean, dancing with the pulse of the waves...as far as you could squint your eyes to see. Then of course you have the incredible spans of blue sky. And all the energy seemed to be pushing towards me with wind and wave. This is the place I'll go to in my head from now on when I need to "escape" or find my "happy place" ( Happy Place Video ).

Maybe it was the fact that there was SO much beauty, or maybe it was a lesson I learned from watching Bella as she zipped around us seemingly unaware of the enchanting scenery ( Bella Bee Chase Video ). But I started to realize that even though this beauty is nearly overwhelming to us, at the same time it's really nothing special. That it's just a bunch of trees and water and mountains that have formed. That the trinkets I was collecting (snail shells, pretty rocks, etc) may have felt significant - but it was only because I choose to assign significance to it. Bella didn't seem to be amazed by the scenery or the perfect spiral of a snail shell, but we were dazzled. This may sound like a depressing realization, but honestly it's not. I like being aware of my humaness and I truly enjoy what it is to be a human - with the flaws and non-sensibleness, and emotions, and sensations. Becoming aware of my human traits only helps me enjoy them more (and often times makes sure that I am choosing to have healthy traits only). So that was one of the biggest lessons that I learned, philosophically speaking from this adventure - that life is just a series of insignificantly significant moments! ( Silly Society Video )

The next lesson I would learn was about overcoming and letting go of fear. As I looked ahead of us, I saw no bend in the trail that would take us back to the car before sunset. My overcautious side was constantly trying to gauge how much light we had based on how high the sun was from the waves. It seemed a very serious thing to me - that we may be stuck on the mountain in the dark, trying to find our way back without knowing the trail...and who knows, there could be BEARS or Mountain Lions out there! My head would just spin with the news story - "Two young girls eaten by bears while hiking at night, barefoot". I continued to express this fear to Phoenix, who would just grin huge with no fear and an unending thirst for adventure. Bears didn't scare her, and neither did the dark...so we kept moving.

Each wiggle in the trail opened up a new, more expansive view of the coast as we climbed higher and higher. The sun continued to lower and I eagerly kept an eye out for the bend in the trail. At a certain point the trail turned and made a serious treck up the mountains, and we were now doing some serious altitude climbing. Maybe it was the fresh air that charged us, or maybe it was the desire to be at the highest point when the sunset would bless us with a magnificent show...but we started jogging up the mountain here and there. The stress of the pending darkness was starting to weigh me down...so mid-way through a hill I declared to myself - "By the time I reach the top of this hill, my fear will be gone" and I released the fear, accepting the fact that we would INDEED be hiking back in the dark. Once I let that fear go, I was able to truly enjoy each moment of the rest of the hike. I had accepted that I was alive NOW and that every new NOW was a new adventure. That even if we did encounter a bear, which was relatively unlikely, that it would be one HELL of a way to die. With the weight of fear gone, I giggled every few minutes with the glee of the adventure as we climbed. Phoenix remained as steadfast and protective as ever, making me feel safe and confident to carry on.

We came across a small path that lead into a mysterious patch of trees and couldn't help but go in. It was like stepping into another world. Instantly it became quiet as we were sheltered from the wind and sun. The ground felt like a feather bed from the layers and layers of trees-turned-mulch. The trees creaked and danced for us, and we decided to sit down to eat a bit. I knew that we were now fully committing ourselves to the darkness if we were dedicating time to relax. I pulled my headlamp out and slipped it around my neck where I like to keep it on night-time adventures. The sun shone through the entrance to the the tree patch, casting a small pie-slice of setting golden light into the mysterious forest. Only a few minutes of refuge, but it was magical. Then we headed back out into the wind to continue our climb up the mountain.

With the sun beginning to set we would turn to face the Ocean every 20 feet or so to be treated to one of the more beautiful sunsets of our lives. An ocean of clouds began to roll in like waves, and we were at the perfect height to see above them. Like our own personal sunset. We reached the peak at the perfect time, of course, and stood in awe at our reward, panting from the climb. The sun's rays reached out like golden fingers from God, separating the thick hues of pinks and orange. An entire 360 degree view of heaven - complete with mountains, cliffs, ocean, trees and clouds. (Sunset Video) The video could never do justice, but at least it gives a general idea of the beauty we breathed in.

It just so happened that the peak was also the bend in the trail that lead back toward the car. We had met the turn-around right as the sun was setting, which encompassed tons of insignificantly significant meanings: The setting of my fear, the resolution of the hardest part of the hike, the peak of physical stamina, and so on. We sat triumphantly on the only bench of the entire hike and screeched out in success to the winds. Then...suddenly...some guy popped out of the bushes with a camera. We looked in shock at this random human that had reached our peak, but not by the same path we did. I asked him where he came from and he pointed through the trees and said "Work" - there was some kind of compound next to the park...he had just driven where it took us hours of hiking and psychological trials to get to! He asked us if we were hiking back, and we nervously said that we were. He looked at us with suspicion and said "Do you have flashlights? It's probably about an hour at least back to the parking lot". We laughed and said we did, then he offered us a ride. It was SO TEMPTING! We looked down the trail as the sun slipped away and bounced back and forth between the idea of hiking it now that we had an easy way out.

Finally we decided that NO! We were going to hike it! That our destiny lie through the woods! So we checked our camera-map one last time and began jaunting down the hill. This path was obviously the most hiked path, as the trail was wide and easy to travel. We walked side by side, giggling and preparing ourselves. We now were out of the open terrain and in the trees, which we find very comforting. I set my energy and gave out a growl to create a protective bubble and keep out the bears. Bella remained ever-loyal at our sides.

A crescent moon and a few stars got brighter and brighter, so that we could see them through the canopy. I know there were some very beautiful trees along that hike, and we touched and connected to a few that were on the path. Every so often the trees would open up and we could see the outline of the mountains along the star filled sky, and it felt again as if we were on an abandoned island. We knew we were the only ones out on the trails, and we felt very brave. At one point Phoenix felt a bug bite her on the shoulder and went to wipe it away...but it wouldn't, it was buried in her. The great bear warrior dropped to her knees, as if she was just shot, calling "Whaaaat isssss itttt?!" It was probably one of the cutest scenes I've ever witnessed. Of course it was just a little tick, which I've dealt with all my life - living with dogs and near woods. I plucked it out, circled it to look at later, and cooed away her fear. It was too damn cute.

We knew our path was to take Ridge Trail to the Hidden Trail, and then finally to River Trail. Thank goodness for our little camera-map. The hike back was relatively easy compared to the hike up the mountain, though we did finally put our flip flops back on. And the crisp night air was silent and refreshing. All around we could hear crickets and we smiled up at the sky and each other. Finally we reached the river we needed to cross to get back to the parking lot and were both excited and sad that our adventure was ending. We definitely were thrilled about having to get back in the river for a final cleansing and challenge before we were threw. It was deeper this time and we stood in the middle for a few seconds to take it all in, but it was too cold to stand for long.

Sitting in the car was like a luxery, and we drank as much water as we wanted. Then we headed back on Highway one and home to shower and sleep!

---

---

---