Battling fear

You would have thought that a visit to Carmel River State Beach would have been enough for me on Saturday. It wasn't. I hopped back into the car and continued heading south to Point Lobos State Reserve. Unfortunately the park was closing early for a special event so I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have wanted to.



I started off on a part of the North Shore trail. Along the way a little brown bunny hopped across the trail in front of me. He was too quick for me to photograph though.




And then I headed back to walk the Cypress Grove trail. By the time I took the above photo, my old childhood fear of heights had returned for the first time in many years. I thought I was over it since I had just walked a rooftop a few months ago -- commplete with climbing a 30-foot or so ladder up and down to said roof. But the trail narrowed and was very close to the edge. And I froze. So alone on the trail, I did everything in my power to calm the anxiety that was quickly rising. It took me a few minutes before I was able to move once more. I did complete the trail though. And upon reaching the car, I discovered that I was sweating perspiring glowing. See, I tend to walk at a pretty brisk pace. According to the trail map, the loop takes 30 minutes to complete. I finished it in less time.

Then it was back into the car to head over to the Bird Island trail. This trail leads to Gibson Beach. And according to legend, it is the view of this area that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write Treasure Island. Being an avid reader, I had to see this -- fear be damned. On the drive over, a deer suddenly appeared in front of me, jogging down the road a bit before heading off into the brush.








When I had been walking the Cypress Grove trail, I could hear the barking of sea lions but could never see them. Finally on returning to my car after the Bird Island trail, I was able spot a group sunning themselves.


Don't know if I'll ever do the Cypress Grove trail in it's entirety ever again but I'll definitely do the Bird Island trail. And I would kind of like to do the Sea Lion Point trail as well.