July 13 -15. Leave Them Wanting More. Day 17 and after-words. Part 2

Continued from: Leave Them Wanting More. July 13-15. Day 17 and after-words. Part 1

As I made my way toward the cape, happily dodging tide ponds and streams, or finding ways to skip or leap across them without getting my feet wet, I came to a stream I could not cross (photo 6). I looked back and forward but saw no potential place to cross without wet feet. 

 

Seeing another walker, I said "Excuse me, do you know if there is anywhere I can cross this stream without getting my feet wet?" He told me there was a bridge about a quarter mile back, if I didn't mind climbing over some rocks. So back I went. If you look closely at photo 7 you will see a man in an orange jacket sitting in a chair (left side of photo) and above and to the right, my bridge. 

 

 

I walked up to the man in the orange jacket and said "Excuse me, may I ask you for some advice?" He said sure. "Do you know any way I can get up to the bridge without trespassing or breaking my neck?" He pointed out a path I had not seen and told me to go to the right, then the left. "You will go right by our house," he told me. So I found an easy way up to the road and the bridge.  As it turned out it passed through private property - but with his implicit permission. 

I walked across the bridge and then faced my next challenge - to clamber down the boulder-size rocks to the beach. I so appreciate the calm methodical way my hiker-self approaches a challenge by just taking the next indicated step. She really doesn't indulge much in fear (what if I can't? What if I get hurt?) or anger (why is my path so hard? Why hasn't anyone smoothed the way for me?). If only I could import her practical hiker attitude into my everyday non-hiker life. 

Photo 8 is my satisfied glance back at the rocks, after having successfully negotiating them. 

 

As I walked the south side of the river (it really was a river, I think, and not just a stream) back toward the beach (photo 9) I could see the man in the orange jacket across the river from me. I wanted to thank him (realizing he had directed me through his own private property to the bridge).

 

As I approached, the man in orange joined a woman and child playing in the sand. They were all three building a sand castle together by the time I was within shouting distance. I called to them across the river, offering my thanks and telling them how much I enjoyed seeing a family play together - "families that play together stay together" I quipped, then added "and I am a retired Marriage and Family Therapist" - as if by calling on my former role I added heft and authority to my blessing. It may have been the first time since retiring that I have laid claim to the relinquished sense of self that crystallized around my therapist role. 

Meanwhile, I was coming closer to the cape and wondering when and if I would discover the way up off the beach to the bluff trail called "Yachats 804 trail" (named for thr county road right-of-way on which it was built). The beach was getting pretty rough going (photo 10), and I finally found a way to clamber up rocks to a picnic table and viewpoint, which turned out to be on the 804 trail, confirming that I had walked beyond the "exit" I was looking for. 

 

To be continued in: July 13-15. Day 27 and after-words. Part 3.