Today was my first sand hike at Henry Cowell State Park. The hike began through towering grove of redwood trees. One of the cut barks at the entrance of the park shows several thousand age-depicting rings, from pre-history to 1930s. Its deeply saddening to walk in the shadows of the oldest trees under threat from erosion (because hikers don't always stay on trail) or the drought. Because of its height, the trees also seem to attract lightning, and one frequently sees a tree living strong albeit inspite of a charred interior.
We hiked past the redwood grove alongside San Lorenzo river. When Spain colonized America, a road called El Camino Real was laid all the way across the Spanish land. California falls in this region and hence everything here is named San XYZ or Santa ABC after the Catholic priest/ priestess who presided over the respective mission.
Once past this river patch, the trail sloped upwards, and was made up of sandy soil. A fellow hiker bantered why would anyone carry tonnes of sand and put it on the trail. Another countered that this is normal ocean sand, this land was a part of coastal area before it rose up by tectonic activity. This seemed plausible because California lies on the San Andreas fault. Morever one could see the gleaming ocean in the distance. The hike was billed as "easy" but it was quite challenging because of the sandy soil.
Hiking is a tool to be hopeful of the future, that no matter how reckless the humans, how destructive the forest fires, life might ultimately go on.
We hiked past the redwood grove alongside San Lorenzo river. When Spain colonized America, a road called El Camino Real was laid all the way across the Spanish land. California falls in this region and hence everything here is named San XYZ or Santa ABC after the Catholic priest/ priestess who presided over the respective mission.
Once past this river patch, the trail sloped upwards, and was made up of sandy soil. A fellow hiker bantered why would anyone carry tonnes of sand and put it on the trail. Another countered that this is normal ocean sand, this land was a part of coastal area before it rose up by tectonic activity. This seemed plausible because California lies on the San Andreas fault. Morever one could see the gleaming ocean in the distance. The hike was billed as "easy" but it was quite challenging because of the sandy soil.
Hiking is a tool to be hopeful of the future, that no matter how reckless the humans, how destructive the forest fires, life might ultimately go on.
