The idea was to get some time alone. Some time to put space in my mind. No one else around to distract me from myself and to hear the quiet. I made a plan to camp alone for a few nights. This seemed quite daunting and also quite adventurous of me. The idea of camping alone seemed like something I needed to do.. and that everyone must do at some point.. it's funny that it occured to me that way at the time, because since this adventure, when mentioning camping alone, the response is often something along the lines of:
"Why??"
Very few people that I've spoken to have been keen on the idea of doing this themselves and even a little surprised that I'd ever want to do this. I will say that it was totally worth it although it definitely ended up being more than I bargained for...
The drive up was beautiful. A little fog over the golden gate bridge and I was out of SF and into the sunshine. The Information Center at Point Reyes was well managed by a group of rangers, one of whom I registered with for a campsite. Evidently all the campsites (or most of them-- it's not quite clear...) were hike in and after I told him explicitly that I wanted to be as close to the beach as possible, he suggested that I hike in to "Coast Camp." He implied that the hike was pretty mild and not too long.. a little over a mile in, to which I thought "No Big Deal! I hiked into the GRAND CANYON!! This must be such a little thing compared." So, I got my back country pass and was on my way, so excited and proud of myself for the adventure I was beginning on.
I got down to the site and realized that I didn't really have a proper pack.. for some reason, I had thought I wouldn't need one and had urged Mark to take his pack with him back to Columbus... but I did still have this huge army duffle, which I promptly began filling with all types of super heavy things, such as a half a bottle of wine, drawing pads, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, tent, etc. etc.
Well... now we get to the point where I recognize (all in hindsight of course) that this was a terrible miscalculation of my strength and stamina.
I hoisted the gigantic pack onto my back and started on the trail, which was hugely exhausting and found out after thinking I'd hiked for a mile and should be there that I had only traveled a half mile... I proceeded another half mile, and panting, sweating and worrying, found out that the trail was actually 1.8 miles ish and I had a looonnng way to go still...
Well, let's cut ahead to note that I made it to the camp, and I also lucked out to find that a maintenance ranger was working there and he ended up being nice enough to hook me up with a ride up to my car the next day so that I could enjoy the fruits of my labor by spending one night at my site and also not have to bear the trip back up to my car.
So... there you go.
Don't try that. That's my advice. Don't hike to stay overnight without a proper pack and without truly trying to pack as light as possible.
HOWEVER, it ended up being really wonderful.
Peaceful for sure, as there was really seriously NO ONE around, I had the beach entirely to myself, a nice little campsite, a tent set up long before nightfall, all the books I wanted, a glass of wine and a mushroom risotto to boot.
I will mention that I had pinch marks for a few days on my shoulders and was grateful, really thankful that I found that really really nice Ranger.
He was a cool dude. Really nice. He was from Alaska, where he had built his own house, but had relocated down to California for family issues.
When I got dropped off at my car the next day, it was a relief and the ride back to SF was spectacular.
Stopped at Stinson Beach and texted my buddy Bill. He wrote back right away that he'd love to host me for the night... and also that our friend Neil was coming in town who I hadn't seen for a few years as he was living in Columbia and I was living in Abercrombie. Perfect! Just what I didn't know I wanted. :)))
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