In the morning I had multiple oatmeal packets at the hotel's continental breakfast before heading out. I followed the online CCT map, which differed from the route the two women who had done the trail the previous year had taken. Perhaps it was high tide. The trail was right next to the ocean, a small ledge of rocks that went on and on. I saw a couple other people out on the rocks and then CCT trail markers! So knew I was on the right track.
Eventually I came to a high end golf course. I bought a few snacks at a small shop and the boy working there told me I should check out the coffee shop on the golf course grounds. I made my way there, it was a little further out of the way that I had anticipated, but I could see why he said I should make a stop. They had a make your own trail mix bar and smoothies with hiking related names. After ordering a few expensive vegan side dishes while charging my phone I decided to grab some of the trail mix, mostly nuts. Though Reinhold had told me nuts are the best fuel to carry, aside from pure oil, as they are mostly fat, and fat has the most calories per gram.
I filled up a bag with various kinds of nuts and brought it to the counter. The checkout person asked if I'd like it charged to my room -- wasn't it obvious I wasn't staying there? I said no... He didn't weigh the nuts and charged me only $3. I think I should have paid $40, they were going for something like $20 a pound. Thank you kind barista!!
I ran on through Palos Verdes, where the trail turns were extremely well marked, though sometimes different from the online trail map.
I ran on... night fell and I scared a group of teenagers who were hanging out beside the trail, in a residential part of Palos Verdes. I apologized for startling them and kept running. I saw a police officer who asked if it was my car parked up ahead, no, it wasn't. I saw the police detain someone for having the car parked there. The trail marked on the map led to a locked gate at a swimming pool, right next to the police scene. I sat down on a bench to figure out another way down to the beach. I found a path that wasn't too much of a detour, though navigating with my cheap flashlight would be tricky, I started to realize.
In the first beach section of the day I had been looking for a special shell, I found a small turban. As soon as I set foot on the new segment of beach that night I spotted a giant turban shell, bigger than I had ever seen before. Amazed, I picked it up, determined to carry it to the nearest post office and mail it home, or to my family. We have a tradition of looking for shells on the beaches of Florida, where we would often go for vacations. A few years ago my parents got a condo in south Florida, near our regular vacation spot -- Sanibel and Captiva Islands. I had not had much luck looking for shells in California and was overjoyed with such a find. It again seemed like a good omen for the trip.
That night I ran through Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and El Segundo. A young guy on a bike offered me a beer, I said no... I didn't feel completely safe running through these beach towns at night. I passed a motel and considered staying, but wanted to get in a few more miles, so ran on. By the time I made it to LAX I was exhausted and looking for a place to crash. There were a few homeless staying on the beach there. I ran on, until I saw a set of fire pits, Dockweiler Beach, I figured it might be okay to camp there, or at least safer than camping in the open, so laid down my bivy bag and got a couple hours of sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment