Oh, the joys of beginning a new year. Joining a gym, filing taxes, and realizing just how much you overspent on Christmas. But with the new year also comes a refreshingly blank slate—the promise of 12 new months that could be filled with life-changing opportunities, new faces and friends, and exhilarating travels near and far. As for me, I begin 2015 in a very different place—quite literally—than I was this time last year.
In mountain years, they are the picture of youth. Some ten million years ago, as the Rocky Mountains approached their 60 millionth birthday, the Earth’s crust began to stretch along the Teton fault in modern-day Wyoming. As the crust quaked and ruptured, the land east of the fault collapsed to form the valley of Jackson Hole. But west of the fault the land rose skyward, eventually forming a new range of mountains to tower over the sunken basin.
“If in the making of the West, Nature had what we call parks in mind—places for rest, inspiration, and prayers—this Rainier region must surely be one of them.”
On February 14, 1912, the S.S. Awa Maru departed the shores of Yokohama, Japan, bound for the United States. Among the ship’s cargo was a gift of friendship from the Japanese to the American people—3,020 flowering cherry trees to symbolize life, death, reproduction, and rebirth.
It’s hardly a secret that Northern California has some of the most beautiful coastline in the world. With its hairpin curves, blankets of spring wildflowers, and hills that shine golden in the sun, coastal Highway One is a showcase of natural wonder. Lesser known, however, is the quiet allure of the Sea Ranch, a 5,200-acre refuge of private homes, oceanfront trails, and some of the state’s most dramatic, unspoiled scenery.
The Long Weekender 