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Travels with Tucker

I'm not John Steinbeck and Tucker is certainly no Charley. But after our first year together travelling over 14,000 miles, criss-crossing America, hitting 17 states, I thought it was about time we started documenting our adventures.

Hidden Vistas

3/16/2019

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There are few places for Tucker to enjoy the redwoods in San Mateo County. Looking through the Mid Peninsula Open Space website this to recheck the areas my faithful companion could experience, a new one popped up that he could explore.

LaHonda Creek Open Space with the caveat “designated trails only” was suddenly on the webpage for Dogs! Lower LaHonda had not interested me as it was described as farmland and meadow, inhabited by cows so the fact that Tucker wasn’t allowed didn’t bother me. Stretching from ocean to foothills, near Pescadero it is rolling hills and flatland. But Upper LaHonda, where the "designated trails only" are, is in my heart’s neighborhood—right off Skyline Blvd in the redwood forest. I applied for a permit (first time I’ve had to do that for hike anywhere; it feels quite official), received my parking pass and Tucker and I were set for our weekend hike.

The trailhead wasn’t directly off Skyline Blvd. My trusty steed had to negotiate some bumpy and steep terrain on narrow dirt roads to find the entrance. Along the way, there were mansions, these massive abodes looking like they had been carried by a tornado from their Beverly Hills location and set down neatly in a small clearing in the forest. There was no traffic. There didn’t even seem to be any people in the houses.
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The final road in the directions ended abruptly with a gate.  I needed to unlock the gate, get in, then lock ourselves in and continue to the parking area. However, had we just hiked here, we could have just walked through the pedestrian gate unhindered... or just walked around both gates.
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​The parking area was only a few cars wide and not a single soul looked to have been there recently. I was surprised to find that we had actually driven back out of the forest and was in a meadowland of sorts.
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​There were no cows, but this was most definitely grasslands... Steep grasslands and rolling hills, but still grasslands.
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We were headed to Vista Point, yet from just about anywhere on the trail, there was a vista to behold.
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​Although the space was bovine-free, it still felt a little like we were on someone’s farm.
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We travelled on, and after walking through a little redwood grove, we came to another open meadow with the sign:
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We had reached the designated Vista Point.
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I watched in awe a bald eagle soar overhead and dipped down to the valley below. It was hard to discern where ocean met sky. The clouds that had lingered from the morning mist and previous night’s rainfall created a canopy above the gently rolling hills and forests.
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​Tucker and I stood in reverence, and I wished I had packed a blanket for us to sit in the damp meadow and look out over the hills for hours.
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Instead we stood and took it all in, letting the air revive us and the view heal us before turning our tracks to head back to my trusty steed who stood alone in the parking area.
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​The trail back went through another forest where we paid respect to the ancients.
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When we returned to the truck, I didn’t want to leave this hidden little space, so beautiful not just for its views but for the space itself. Our tour in San Francisco was ending, and this would be our last weekend adventure in the wild. But it seemed a fitting place to bid farewell until next time, just around the corner from my heart’s home, now a part of it forever.
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An Irish Escape

3/9/2019

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​Only thirteen miles from where the Pacific Ocean crashes upon the shores and cliffs of California, there is a hidden lake high in the Santa Cruz Mountains named Loch Lomond. Little-known and only accessible March 1st through Labor Day, it keeps true to its Irish nomenclature with its misty atmosphere and deep green surroundings. On the day Tucker and I visited, we can’t say so much that it was raining, but more that we were walking through a raincloud that had dipped below the mountains’ peaks. It seemed the perfect hiding place for a sea monster.
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We took the advice of some hikers in AllTrails and began with the forest portion of the hike, and then looped around to the lake to try to spot an ancient denizen.
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The forest portion of the hike was exactly what I had needed:
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​It was difficult to spot anything in the lake—even a dinosaur—with how murky it was up close. I was surprised to see some brave folks fishing in it. A few people were in boats, headed to the island in the middle of the lake.
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​From the lakeshore itself, it was simply a lake in the woods: serene in quiet to most; the inspiration for camp horror movies to others; and for others still the place of legends and mythical transpirations.
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​But from high atop the trail, the lake was a stunning beauty—even under the cover of clouds—a reflective glass in the valley between the peaks.
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That’s the thing about hiking—and life: it’s all about perspective. The world doesn’t change; we do. We walk a little further down the trail and we see things we hadn’t before. On out-and-back trails, even though our feet tread the same soil, we experience a whole new view facing the opposite direction on the way back.
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​Just last weekend, Tucker and I were traipsing over boulders at a beach and now here we were deep in the mountains at a lake. Yet both times, we were hiking in Northern California. Labels and boundaries aren’t natural elements. It is us as humans who set boundaries—on land and for ourselves. We delineate one space from another using names; one time from another with age. We separate ourselves from our experiences and others. Hiking takes away those boundaries. From ocean to mountaintop, it is all one world—one world that is constant in its diversity and uniqueness. As we walk through it, it is not the world that changes, but us and our perspective. From every vantage point, there is something to learn and experience. We just need to be open to it.
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Our Own Monterey

3/2/2019

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Having spent most weekends in a northern exploration, I felt it was about time we headed south. I had heard that Monterey was a very dog-friendly destination, and only one hundred miles south of the city. So on one of our final Fridays off, Tucker and I drove past Santa Cruz and continued down the California coast.
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I had picked Monterrey Peninsula Recreational Trail from Alltrails as our destination hike. It wasn’t until I drove past the city limits of Monterey that I realized that we wouldn’t be in Monterey the city, but in Monterey the county… in a town called Pacific Grove.
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Much like our Santa Cruz Christmas, the hike was more of a leisurely seaside town sidewalk stroll than an actual woodland adventure. Tucker didn’t seem to mind.
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​His pleasure is in the scents that drift from the ocean and carry over the sand.
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​And of course the climbing. He loves the climbing.
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​The rocky beaches were other-worldly.
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​The beaches weren’t just sand and rocks. They were broken shells—homes of animals who once lived here.
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​Tucker and I sat on one of the rocky outcroppings to take in the ocean air and enjoy the view.
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​When people ask me why I freelance and travel for work and why I don’t want to settle down, this is why.
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​The new places we get to explore, the different lives we get to witness and sometimes be a part of. I have a permanent residency in a state in a country as is required by societal norms. But I really live here, on this planet. The whole world is my home. Sometimes I enjoy sitting on the front stoop, other times I like to enjoy the view from the back deck, but more often than not, I want to pack my bags and go adventuring on the back forty. Sometimes I find a woodland kingdom, other times, a mountain top, and still others, an ocean that goes to the horizon and beyond.
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    Posts

    All
    2016.01.03 Home For The Holidays
    2016.01.04 A Hike On Another Planet
    2016.03.25 Equality Is For Everyone
    2016.03.27 Our Easter Weekend Services
    2016.04.15 Just Des(s)erts
    2016.05.29 Max Patch
    2016.05.29 Rising To The Peak
    2016.05.29 Spring Adventures
    2016.06.11 The Best Of The Unexpected
    2016.06.25 The Ghostly Tale Of Greybeard Trail
    2016.07.03 Escape...to Storyteller Rock
    2016.07.05 A Salute To Asheville From Chimney Rock
    2016.08.15 Up
    2016.10.01 Since You've Been Gone
    2016.12.09 How We Spent Our Summer Vacation
    2016.12.10 Let The Sun Shine In
    2016.12.11 Eyes To The Skies
    2016.12.11 Where The Rainy Day Takes You
    2016.12.18 Waiting For Whistler
    2016.12.31 Only In Canada
    2017.01.10 Christmas On The Coast
    2017.01.11 Christmas On The Coast
    2017.04.22 Out Of The Desert And Into The Land Of Enchantment
    2017.05.05 Someplace To Be; Not Somewhere To Go
    2017.05.20 New Canada
    2017.05.28 Rise To The Challenge
    2017.06.18 Exploring The 'Hood
    2017.06.24 Bishop's Lodge: Anything But Heavenly
    2017.07.01 Finding Your Church
    2017.07.08 Mother Nature's Springs
    2017.07.22 Beside Every Great Woman
    2017.10.15 Finding (Water)Fall(s)
    2017.10.28 This Is 40... Part I
    2017.10.29 This Is 40... Part II
    2017.11.18 Battle Amidst Beauty
    2017.11.25 To The Looking Glass
    2018.02.25 Where The Dog Takes You
    2018.03.31 After The Rains
    2018.04.14 Truly Home Again
    2018.06.02 Just A Walk On The Beach
    2018.07.21 Ready? On Set!
    2018.08.04 Return To The Redwoods
    2018.08.11 Return To The Redwoods
    2018.10.27 The Forty-First
    2018.12.15 The End Of The Tour
    2018.12.30 Santa Cruz
    2019.01.05 Chasing Mavericks
    2019.01.20 Finding Your Soulspace
    2019.02.09 Muir Magic
    2019.02.23 The Point Of Point Reyes
    2019.02.25 From Muir To Mori
    2019.03.02 Our Own Monterey
    2019.03.09 An Irish Escape
    2019.03.16 Hidden Vistas
    2019.04.06 Our Life: The Carnival
    2019.04.20 One Man's Trash Is Another Dog's Art
    2019.05.04 Black Rock And Blue Skies
    2019.06.08 Water
    2019.06.15 In Conversation... With Nature
    2019.06.29 Go Tell It On The Mountain
    2019.07.06 Not So Yosemite
    2019.07.07 Magic Chimneys
    2019.07.20 The Long Way Around
    2019.11.23 All Trails Lead Here
    2019.11.30 Seeking Solitude In All Directions
    2019.12.14 Forest Friends And Soul-Places
    2019.12.21 The San Franciscan Canine
    2019.12.26 An Unexpected Christmas
    2020.01.11 Kicking Off The New Year On The Coast: Part I
    2020.01.12 Kicking Off The New Year On The Coast: Part II
    2020.01.12 Kicking Off The New Year On The Coast: Part III
    2020.01.19 From The Beach To The Bay... Almost
    2020.03.01 Livin' La Vida Local (SF Style)
    2020.03.20 A Place In Which To Shelter
    2020.03.23 Socially Distant
    2020.03.26 Shelter Of Majestic Beauty
    2020.03.28 Follow Your Heart
    2020.04.04 South For The Spring
    2020.04.21 Finding The Way Back
    2020.05.11 First Rate Second Choice
    2020.05.30 Trails Worth Taking
    2020.07.15 A Reflection Of The Bay
    2020.07.22 A Quarter Of The Way To Half Moon Bay
    2020.10.10 Mountain Air
    2020.11.21 The Great Donut Drive
    2020.11.26 Holiday Special
    2020.12.21 The Great Conjunction
    2020.12.25 The Magic In Every Day
    2020.12.31 Some Other Beginning's End
    2021.09.12 The Oregon Trail
    2021.09.18 Reaching The Summit
    2021.09.26 In Light Of Grey Skies
    2021.10.03 Adventures Need Not Be Far
    20211010-from-the-sea-to-the-mountain
    2021.10.10 From The Sea To The Mountains
    2021.10.16 One Beaut Of A Butte
    2021.10.23 Birthday Falls
    2021.10.31 Where Angels Rest
    2021.11.07 Where Falcons Soar
    2021.11.14 To The End Of The Road... Or Island
    2021.11.20 Reflections
    2021.11.28 Giving Thanks To Mother Nature
    2021.12.05 The Journey Of The Falls
    2021.12.18 Right Here
    2021.12.26 The Magic Of Any Day
    2022.01.03 Taking Our Leave... Maybe
    2022.01.04 Beaches And Bluffs To The Redwood Forest
    2022.01.06 The City By The Bay... And Beyond
    And Away
    But Not Far Away
    Comes The (Water)Fall
    Everywhere
    Maximum Wind Speed
    Nose To The Wind
    Not Out There
    Not The Map
    Part I
    Part II
    Santa Clause
    Santa Paws
    The Look Of Discrimination
    The South's Answer To The Southwest
    Tucker Wescott: Interior Designer
    Up
    Water

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