Weekend: Hiking Cape Falcon, May 2016

Note to Self:

The path ahead of you may be an uphill trek that is uneven and muddy, prone to slippery spots and roots tangling their leggy tendrils into trip-ups on the trail.  The wind on the unprotected parts of the trail may reach a temperature cooler than expected for a spring day.  You might think, “It’s three o’clock and a little late and we still have quite a walk back already.” But I’m here to tell you, that sometimes it might be best to just ignore the fact that mid-afternoon isn’t the best time to start a hike.

Maybe your knees are a little sore from a previous adventure, and you already feel like you were really productive for the day.  Maybe you have a nervous disposition and want to plan everything so that there is no chance of being caught in the woods after sunset.  Maybe you are just content with the view of the ocean from Short Sand Beach and you don’t feel the need to hike up to Cape Falcon to see the view from the top.

I’m here to tell you: Unless all odds are against you, take the hike.

Grab a few friends who remind you that adventure is out there and that there is goodness in the world; grab a water bottle and a jacket.  Don’t turn around at the view point that is half-way up to the top, even if you are tempted.

You will pass a tree by the trail that is as wide as a car and your way will be lined by ferns and wild irises. Soon the trees that shadow the trail will open up into a field of cow parsnips and a somewhat prickly coastal shrub that has grown over and around itself so thick that it has become a natural hedge maze. The path will open into smaller paths breaking up like fingers spreading from a hand, each leading to a different edge of the Cape- a different view, a different experience.  The view is incredible no matter which choice you make.

Each trail leads to a different edge of the cliff.  You stand above the line where the seagulls soar, pointing their arrow-tip wings into the air and curving like a parenthesis over the wind. The waves crash and flare up in white as they break against the rock formations below; they are so far below you that you can imagine their sound so precisely that you think you can actually hear it from this distance.  This is the type of cliff that makes you want to make sure you don’t lock your knees next too it or lean too far towards the edge. It feels like where the sidewalk ends and eternity begins if eternity were layers of water and sky and the color blue.  It’s the kind of blue you can float in.

Trust me, it’s worth it.

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.

-Henry David Thoreau