Unfortunately the free pancake breakfast at the hostel was "serve-yourself," and I didn't want to take the time to make my own pancakes, plus, I figured they likely were not vegan anyway. So I headed out, and stopped at a gas station for some vegan bars and coffee.
I ran along the beach, after a few miles coming to an unexpected restaurant, where I stopped to charge my phone and order french fries. I spotted a CCT symbol on a post leading to the ocean. I ran on, hitting a few patches with thin beaches and I worried about the incoming tide, luckily I made it alright, but I was running scared. I went on down the coast, but when I made it to More Mesa Beach I was unable to get around the point, the waves were too high. I could have perhaps climbed some rocks but doing so looked dangerous, and I didn't know whether I would be able to get farther once around that part of the protrusion. Per precedent, I retraced my steps and looked for a way off the beach so that I could take an alternate route. It cost me some ground, backtracking, and I was running out of water in the hot sun. I spotted a group of boys who looked like they were having a surfing lesson, which led to a path up to the bluffs above. Once there, I located a trail along the bluffs, and followed it. I saw a few trail runners along the way and smiled. The picture below, right before I had to turn back at More Mesa Beach. That tar was on various beaches throughout southern California and it was difficult to remove from my socks.
The trail skirted the UC Santa Barbara campus. An alumna of the UC system (I was in a PhD program in computer science at UC San Diego though left with a Master's, and was admitted to UCLA's PhD program in computer science), I felt at home this close to a UC campus. I hadn't applied but had heard they had a quantum computing program at UCSB. A girl I had met at MIT's Quantum Information Science for Undergraduates summer program had gone to UCSB for her PhD. I had pictured the UCSB campus as nicer than UCSD's and had wondered in the past how my life might have been different if I had gone to UC Santa Barbara, maybe I could have studied quantum computing, maybe my relationship wouldn't have ended, maybe I would have gotten a PhD. But I was grateful to be where I was too, on a magical journey, running the California Coastal Trail. And all my previous experiences had somehow led to this moment.
I saw a sign that seemed to prohibit non-school affiliated people and asked nearby surf instructor about it. She said the beach was open to the public and that I should go ahead and follow the trail. Not long after I spotted CCT markers. The trail led to the outskirts of Santa Barbara's downtown. The woman at the beach had said I should make a stop at her favorite coffee shop, Coffee Collaborative, so I took a quarter mile detour to stop, I needed to get food anyway.
The owner of Coffee Collaborative happened to be filling in for an employee that day. She had apparently bumped into him while he was holding a hot cup of coffee, and got burned. She quit immediately. The owner felt terrible about the girl, her boyfriend rode over on a bike to talk to the owner while I was there. I charged my phone and had a latte made with tea, then a regular latte as the the sun went down and I realized I would need to run through the night to get in my miles, I might as well run at night -- low tide was approaching, the best time to do the upcoming beach section. The owner was so impressed with my quest, and so inspired -- he had wanted to travel himself, maybe this is what would make him take the leap!, that he didn't charge me for anything thereafter and gave me a bag full of free bagels to take with me. We had fun posing for pictures in the shop. The photographer, another young woman, was biking down a segment of the coast.
A young man offered to let me stay in his yard, it was filled with couches, but I had to decline, Robert Frost's poetry (modified) stuck in my mind:
"The waves are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep."
I ran on, into the night, eating my bagels as I went -- carrying them in my stomach was easier than carrying them with in my hand! The trail went by some large architectural features that a man at the coffee shop had said I shouldn't miss, unfortunately they were difficult to see at night. The old men playing chess at the coffee shop had thought my story was interesting, one insisted on giving me lengthy directions while another told him I needed to be on my way. They were all very nice, and the owner had given me his phone number in case I ran into problems. This actually became a recurring theme, people would offer me their phone numbers and I would take them down, knowing full well that there was a 1% chance I would have cell service.
The ocean looked high despite it being low tide and I navigated over some rocks, and under a pier. I ran along the beach, finding it necessary to climb over a set of slippery rocks. A wave rushed in, taking my shoes, flashlight, and food, which I had set down beside me as I helped myself over a rock. With a rush of adrenaline I grabbed my gear and bounded over the rocks to the beach, running again as fast as I could.
Far off in the distance, I could see a lone light on the beach. I ran toward it, probably for a mile or two. As I approached, I could make out figures around a fire, their shadows made it look like a cult gathering. I stopped to say hello, it was a group of three young men, drinking. One of them stepped up to talk to me, and I told him about my trek. Everything he said seemed profound, there in the middle of the night on the deserted beach. "What devil possessed you to do this?" he asked. I told him that for some reason, unlike other people, I wasn't content not doing things like this. I wasn't sure why, it's just the way I'm built. He ended the conversation with, "I hope you find what you're looking for."
I headed down the beach, eventually coming to an official beach campsite. I headed a quarter mile inland to the proper camp where I met two women, it was roughly 4am. They walked with me to the bathroom, where they were headed. They told me at this hour I shouldn't need to pay for a site and told me to camp across from them in an empty lot. I followed them out, and set up my bivy. I slept soundly for a few hours until the sun woke me, knowing I was in a safe place, and that those women were nearby.
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