SUS FIRE! True Sagittarian, fingers swollen from the desert VRKSASANA: This red/god tree is so similar to the 8 limbs of yoga in many ways. Who would care to compare the two over a cup of coffee? #callmeMy two best friends 🙂A messy mess. There are many stray cats that live here and roam the property, leading you to freaky cavesI resonate with Chris so much #burnmoneyAn enlightened and free gypsy, riddled with society
An avid lover of Into The Wild- both the book and the movie- I begged and convinced my besties to drive out with me to Brawley, CA and visit this freaky site! It had always been on our bucket list, as we are native San Diegans and need to get out more. Hard to do when you live in paradise! Our roadtrip was 2017, during my yoga teacher training. Love you Age and Lyd ❤
Rather than inundating you with words, I leave you with a photo montage of our time together. Watch the movie, read the book, and visualize yourself here on sacred travels. A sight unseen!
Pro tips:
– NO BATHROOMS at Salvation Mountain. None at all! It is a very windy site, ladies, so mindful of how you pee in the wind. Godspeed 🙂 pun intended. The safest place we found to pee was 20 miles before Salvation Mtn, at a Starbucks inside of a Vons.
-at least a 2+ hour drive from San Diego, prepare to stop at Border Patrol w/ Dog Search. Bonus points if you get the sassy, mean, blonde haired Border Patrol Agent that doesn’t believe you are all from San Diego, while holding your licenses in hand that state San Diego addresses 😉 She was really confused and…memorable.
For this Muse Monday, I have decided to honor the moving meditation that brings me the most joy: hiking! I decided in 2020 to participate in the 52 Hike Challenge. The goal is to hike once a week for an entire year, with flexible rules and the contingency that the hike be 1 mile or longer. I am an avid long-distance hiker, so I enjoy local San Diego hikes in the 7-12 mile length (that I can find!). Usually, I would even poo-poo a 1 mile hike. Well, cheers to the present moment, for we currently live less than a few blocks from one of 20+ Tecalote Canyon Trailheads in San Diego county! Needing daily accountability for walking our Rhodesian Lab (aka Infinite Energy), I knew that a 1 mile hike was easy to do, at any time, to get my hiking fix. I can substitute our daily walking ritual for a daily hiking ritual. I just need to try a new route, create a new priority, and remove a few limiting beliefs. I love the accountability of a challenge! My schedule rarely allows for long distance hikes (present moment), so I will enjoy them when they come, and hike lil beeb hikes in the meantime. I have already posted my hike musings on Instagram since the new year started. Enjoy looking through this Archive here of hikes 1-7 on my journey so far!
Hike 1/52: Tecalote Canyon (01/03/2020)
Distance: 2.6 Miles
Companions: Josh, Pinecone 🐾
Animal Magic: Hummingbird (pictured), Mourning Cloak Butterfly, 3 Hawks and a Falcon, Gnats
Musings: because this hike is in our neighborhood, I really have no excuse not to hike once a week. I know the challenge asks you to hike 52 times in 365 days, but once a week appeals to me for consistency. I likely reached 30-40 hikes last year and will also likely nerd out on gathering this information, like I used to.
Hike 2/52: Marian Bear (01/07/2020)
Distance: 1.66 Miles
Companions: Pinecone 🐾
Animal Magic: Spider, bird chatter
Musings: More to be had. There are a few nooks and crannies I haven’t explored that I’d like to get back to… @ Marian R. Bear Memorial Park
Black Dog 🙂
Hike 3/52: Tecalote Canyon (01/08/2020)
Distance: 1.42 Miles
YTD: 5.68 Miles
Companions: Pinecone 🐾
Animal Magic: bird feather 🌞
Musings: Surprised myself hiking 3 times in a week; I have a feeling I ain’t done. Looking forward to logging higher mileage, but appreciating the small windows of hiking opportunity built into my daily life 🐾 Pinecone made me do it today, as he nose-punched the door handle until I succumbed to the present moment 🐕🦺 I’m looking to hike every nook and cranny of Tecalote, so each hike is a wee different/same. Need a buddy 🤗
Hike 4/52: Tecalote Canyon
Distance: 1.47 Miles
YTD: 7.15 Miles
Companions: Pinecone 🐾 who is Cathy Hopper, Marian Bear? These magical Clairemartian women who changed San Diego landscape in the 70s, am I their reincarnate?
Animal Magic: circling bird in the sky , and sadly, a dead possum.
More on that later 🌞
Hike 5/52: Elephant Trees Trail
Distance: 1.11 Miles
YTD: 8.26 Miles
Companions: Josh, Not dog friendly 🚫🐾
Animal Magic: just us doing our thang 🌵 @ Ocotillo Wells, California
Hike 6/52: Tecalote Canyon (01/29/20)
Distance: 1.51 Miles
YTD: 9.77 Miles
Companions: Cone 🐾
Animal Magic: a Tecalote 🦉 herself! Owl carrying twigs and branches with beak, soaring over Genessee. White and glorious, I felt like I saw Hedwig ⚡️
Hike 7/52: Lopez Canyon (01/31/20)
Distance: 2.23 Miles
YTD: 12 Miles
Companions: Chelsea
Animal Magic: squishy terrain 🗻 thank you for checking off the bucket list with me! I will absolutely be hiking Lopez canyon a few more times; I like doing every possible nook and cranny, entrance and exit point.
Chugging along in this challenge! 😍 @ San Diego, California
Long before I was a stewardess of my own Free Little Library, I was an avid seeker of FLLs across the Pacific Northwest and San Diego! I have a phenomenal collection of photos of libraries and wanted to share some of my….inventory. I named this first one, LEND me your EAR, due to the EAR knob. My bestie and I discovered both libraries shown on a hike in San Diego as we passed through residential areas. One hike was near Solana Beach, and the other in good ole North Park. I will always stop, drop and FLL if I see one! They bring me such joy, and I keep ample books in my backseat in the true spirit of: TAKE A BOOK, LEAVE A BOOK (if you can and are able!!!) (Photos from June 2017)
Hike 4/52: Tecalote Canyon
Hike 5/52: Elephant Trees Trail
Karma San Diego Podcast 