The wind had almost died as dusk settled into our sandy little nook, deep in the rugged Nor Cal cove. Suddenly the harsh glare of a maglite illuminated our campsite.
Good evening folks, I'm Officer Michael S.... the park ranger began as he read our faces with the light. Here's the situation:
You have violated four laws- lighting an uncontained fire on public lands, camping in a restricted area, ownership of a dog without a leash, and...
Shit- the fun's over, I thought. I didn't even hear the fourth violation. No amount of pleading was going to get us out of this situation. At the rangers prodding we found ourselves preparing the tents, food, beer, guitar, and miscellaneous gear for a treacherous semi-vertical hike up a debris field in the pitch dark. This could get ugly I thought.
***
Noodles and I had arrived at the impressive cove just before 1am on Sunday morning under the light of a semi-full moon and a thousand stars suspended lazily in the sky. The water sparkled before us like a million fire-flies as we descended through prickly bushes and poison oak. Slipping and sliding down the hill we were happy to land on the solid boulders lining the cove below- only to find that high tide was in full swing.
Noodle's head lamp, a bike light strapped to her head via a shoelace, had been relogated to a hand held at the point. As we hopped from rock to rock we carefully inspected each step to make sure it wasn't going to be a slippery mistake. Ten minutes later we had made it to within 30 yards of the beach only to be stumped by a vertical spire of rock which protruded dangerously over the dark, swirling waters.
Putting our heads together we decided that going over it might be the best idea so I climbed swiftly up to inspect the other side of the spire. Wrong. Stretching my hand to the top of the wall I got the uneasy feeling that the hold was going to be no good. Sure enough, the rock broke away cleanly and crashed to the ground below.
Fuck- I muttered. Katherine! Come spot my feet, I'm coming down. This way is useless. My head lamp was effective when my feet were securely planted and I simply had to look up for a hand hold, but trusting someone else to guide you blindly down was a whole different story. My adrenaline was pumping by the time I was back on solid ground and it took a couple minutes of breathing to reform a cohesive plan.
On further inspection of the extended ledge we found that you only needed to make one smooth move to reach the other side. The disadvantage being that the ocean was sending in a nice dose of spray with each intermittent wave so you had to act quickly. We put our packs down and Noodles rounded the corner first. I then shuttled the gear (including a loose sleeping bag, two packs, a pillow and guitar) to her on the other side. I followed her closely behind and we scampered to the beach.
Success! We hooted and howled at the moon as we glided toward the welcoming camp fire. Dodger finally greeted us about twenty yards from camp with a gruff growl and bark. Once he realized it was us the wags and wiggles were in full effect. We stoked the fire and settled in with a beer and toke and sang a few tunes as the jitters wore off. The crisp, salty air promised a stellar day to follow.
Part two tomorrow...
