The
crown jewel of our vacation was three nights backpacking in the Silver Peak
Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest, about an hour south of Big
Sur. It was the most amazing thing
truly a gift from the universe
to
find beauty, serenity, and solitude only 2 miles into the backcountry off
the Coast Highway! In the peak of vacation season, with no reservations
or advance planning! We hiked straight up with the reward for our efforts
being panoramic ocean vistas, and then in and out of folds in the mountain
resulting in lush riparian vegetation one step, and arid chapparal the next.
Our campsite was along lovely boulder strewn Salmon Creek which, not far
upstream, flowed over rocks to form a noisy waterfall dropping into a magical
pool ringed by a forest of four-foot tall native panther lilies. Wow!
It was incredible. The water was frigid but worth the goosebumps after Steve
told me how beautiful I looked standing under the falls. Three days of healing,
intimacy, fun and beauty
just what the doctor ordered.
Coming
home might have been harder if our own mountain was less beautiful and
our life less rich. Westi and Michael had done a super job taking care
of things and the next few days at home were sweet. Returning to work
was hard. The reality of our situation hit home and melancholy set in.
Steve hung in there with me through it and I'm back, feeling like myself.
A highlight
of the last couple of weeks was meeting Ponne, the dog pictured at left
with me and Tony Pony, and again, at right. She followed us home one night
and thank goodness we found her owner because I need another dog like
I need a hole in my head! But it was love at first sight. And she liked
me too. She turned out to be half pit-bull (I can't believe I fell in
love with a pit-bull!) but she was the sweetest, most submissive dog I
have ever met. We could have been great friends.