At the Edge of the World...

We finally arrived in Shelter Cove yesterday.  Wow, that is a very long, hard trip down.  I thought my mom was going to lose her shit; it was a treacherous adventure.  It didn’t help that I thought it would be a great idea to go check out Sinkyone State Park, looked cool on the map, and although I knew it would be a trek down...I didn’t know exactly what I was up against.  Let me clarify for all of you intrepid adventurers:  Sinkyone State Park should only be attempted in a 4 wheel drive vehicle, not a fucking sports car.  

Despite me seeing that this was likely the case, I was determined to see what must be a most incredible vista upon arrival.  I mean, long walk, part of gift, right?  Anyway, despite all my best judgment and my mother’s white knuckles, I proceeded (partly because I did not have a choice - turning around was more precarious than continuing) only to get to a certain point where I was unsure I could even make it back up the trail (it was really more of a trail than a road, to be clear).  My mom’s anxiety was quickly giving way to panic so finally, when afforded an opportunity to turn around without risking imminent death, I did so and we made the trek back up the trail, in my sports car...(sometimes I am just a fucking idiot!)

We made it out, only getting stuck once but I was able to get us unstuck, thankfully, because if I hadn’t been I don’t know what the fuck would have happened...we had no cell service and it wasn’t like there was a service station or tow truck nearby...reminded me of that time I just HAD to see this amazing sunrise in New Zealand and got my camper stuck in the mud at 5 am on Father’s Day, 40 kilometers from a town or tow.  Interesting side story...for another time.

Anyway, we made it out and back on a paved road which felt like an answered prayer, right up until I spoke those very same words out loud, and magically, the road turned to dirt and gravel for another few miles!  Once we finally hit pavement again, I was relieved and had learned my lesson about speaking such shit out loud.

As is usual, long, harrowing journeys often end in some of the best out of the way places.  Ones that are filled with flora and fauna and not very many people!  And Shelter Cove delivered on all fronts.  As we sat in our house, positioned on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, we watched the sun set with a young buck who was making a meal of the ice plants that littered the cliff’s edge.

The anchovies were running so there was much sea life active all evening.  Sea lions, pelicans, and seagulls were feasting as the sun set for another day.  I watched from the deck in quiet resplendency.  Amazed that I am privileged enough to live this life I have right here, right now.  All that is in front of me is vast ocean that seems to have no end.  The next land mass from where I am is Tokyo. Think about that for a moment, fucking Japan.  So even if the world doesn’t end right where I am, my world does.  The world that is familiar and certain to me, this life I live in this country and place, ends right where I stand.  It was both comforting to feel like I am at the edge of my world and a bit unsettling.  I tried very hard not to think about earthquakes and things like that...thanks to someone mentioning that to me earlier.  Thanks for that.

I was tired after my long haul of a day driving precarious trails that led, at least in our case, to required about-faces that proved to be harder than one thought.  So I literally had to keep myself awake to watch the sunset complete itself.  I was not going to miss watching the sunset into the Pacific.  I mean that is the whole point in coming to a place like this, to watch the orange blaze settle into the deep blue ocean.  And last night, it did not disappoint, in fact, I saw for the very first time, the legendary green flash. I was very cool and I felt so privileged to be selected for a viewing.

I climbed into bed after catching a few more photos of the day’s adieu.  And fell asleep to seabirds squawking their goodnights to each other and the waves crashing relentlessly into the shore.  I slept well and peacefully until about midnight when I awoke to a star filled sky that just begged me to rise and spend a few minutes with the pin dotted night time landscape.

It was a moment.  Just me, the ocean on the edge of the world...and it was fucking amazing.