It's a Pittie-full Life
  • Home
  • Travels with Tucker
  • Is it Tucker-Tough?
  • Precious Cargo
  • Renovating Rover
  • Tucker's Favorite Folks

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.

Muir Magic

2/9/2019

0 Comments

 
Pirate’s Cove was the first hike I bookmarked when I preparing for our San Francisco gig. A 3.6 mile hike along the cliffs at Muir Beach, it is a part of the Golden Gate Recreational Area—one of the most dog friendly of the federal lands. And then the government shut down the federal lands over a disagreement on budgets. Although Mother Nature never truly “closes,” roads can be blocked and chained off and parking lots closed. With an hour’s drive to get there, I wasn’t going to risk being turned away.

That hour’s drive took us over the Golden Gate bridge and out from under the clouds that had covered the city for much of the week. It’s been said of New England, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.” Here is the Bay Area, “If you don’t like the weather, just go about mile in any direction. It might not be better, but it’ll be different.”

And so it was on Superbowl Sunday. As we crested the meadows outside of Muir Forest and drove down the switchbacks to Muir Beach, the grey clouds parted and sunshine lit up the landscape. The parking lot was mostly empty. The town to the north was just a few streets, huddled up to the seaside, its nearest neighboring town many miles away over hill and dale. It made wonder if people who first settled here came from the inner regions and found it so beautiful, they chose not to return, or if they came from the sea and decided there couldn’t possibly be anywhere better to live than here.
Picture
Tucker and I crossed the bridge and headed along the dirt path that ran alongside the beach. There were a few families playing the in sand and chasing waves, but it was no southern California beach party. The beach here is more Oregonian (if just a word can exist.) The dramatic rocks, the cold, harsh waves: it’s not a beach you lie in the sun and catch some waves; it’s the kind of beach you sit and admire the awe and power of nature.
​
The trail to Pirate’s Cove was clocked at only 3.6 miles, so I suspected this to be a two hour hikes tops. I was wrong. We did walk along the well-marked trail, but we couldn’t just walk. I felt a visceral need to simply stand and look out at the water and land, the crashing waves, the curves of the bluffs: to stand in awe of nature.
Picture
I didn’t even reach for a camera each time. I just let it all wash over me, let the wind bustle through me. Off in the distant, I spied Colt Tower—all the way in San Francisco, worlds away from this magical place by the sea.
Picture
​The trail wound around the side of the puffy pillows of land, and eventually led to the final descent. There are few times I have turned around during a hike. Like Tucker, I am goal-oriented. Or perhaps, it is Tucker’s need to push every boundary that leads him to not stop until he has reached the end of the trail. But here, 350 feet from the promised land, I had to turn away.
Picture
​Dog on leash plus skull & crossbones pictures doesn’t fair well. Looking down at the trail, it was more mountain erosion than an actual trail. The mud and muck with boulders and rocks combined: I knew I couldn’t get down it and back up it safely later, even without a dog at the end of a leash. Perhaps had we come at a more drier time of the season it would have been doable. But for now, I had to content myself with all the experiences I had already had.
Picture
Certainly it was not a waste. The hike was a beautiful walk along the sea. The waves crashing upon the rocks and the birds riding the winds above were magical to see. I wish we had been able to go those last few feet, but I had to consider safety over everything else.

And so we turned around, Tucker accepting that this, not the beach, was the trail’s natural end for us. We started the trek back up and over the meadows, looking northward to all the potential of the open ocean.
Picture
The skies above the hills showed us we need not make a dangerous descent in order to experience beauty:
Picture
​Pirate’s Cove was just the name of the trail, not the destination. For the journey is always the destination, and we arrive the moment we put one foot in front of the other.
Picture
0 Comments

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    January 2021
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    May 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014

    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
    2022.02.28 Chasing Waterfalls Again
    2022.04.06 The Beauty Along The Way
    2022.04.07 The Endless Coast
    2022.04.18 Eostre's Art
    2022.06.06 Near
    2022.06.14 Climbing A Mountain To Reach The Sea
    2022.07.11 Go South To Be North
    2022.07.18 Discovering Terranea
    2022.07.25 The Tee Off Trail
    2022.07.31 Farewell To The Westside
    2022.09.25 Fleeing The Heat For Fall
    2022.10.27 Return To The Redwoods
    2022.10.28 Commit To Adventure
    2022.10.29 Unexpected Turns
    2022.10.31 The Day After
    2022.12.26 The Mountain Temple
    2023.01.03 Back To The Bay
    And Away
    And The Day After...
    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
    Yet Far

    RSS Feed

About    Contact   
c 2014 August Nights Press