Coastal Walk Favorites

Each of our coastal walks require careful packing and meal planning, especially in rural areas with limited access to stores, cell services, and water. A missing propane tank, phone charger or toothbrush can throw a wrench in the works. Though Jo and I are both highly adaptable and good natured about SNAFUs. We always make it work.

We find places to stay that are close to our routes and within our budgets. Generally, we set up a base camp and return to it each night. We chart reasonably safe walking routes, and determine how far we want to walk on a given day so we can arrange our transportation to and from our destination (typically Ubers or public transportation in urban areas and leaving a car at each in rural areas). We usually shoot for around 10-12 miles a day, but often end up walking 14-16.

But once all the packing and planning and arranging is done and we start walking with our daypacks full of delicious food and water and, in my case, camera gear, a wide open day full of surprises lays at our feet. The only weight on our shoulders is our picnic.

We set in motion and let life come to us. And it does, in such splendor and color and variety.. Life spoils us in a way that no shopping spree could so much is enter the contest. Well, unless the spree was at a travel agency or, maybe at REI, if I could have both. But truly, if I had to pick, the rhythm of walking: the endless discoveries; the random meeting of kind strangers; the camaraderie, would win out, hands down. The only thing that could ice the cake would be if we could convince our respective wives, Lea (Jo’s) and Ellen (mine) to come out and join us sometimes. But we also fully get that ours is a weird and crazy kind of fun that doesn’t hit the spot for everyone.

Hard to imagine, but not everyone wants to skip rope down the beach with a length of bull kelp or hop on a random swing in someone’s front yard or take a catnap in the bucket of a tractor.