First Steps on the California Coast

The fog doesn't lift until ten. I've learned to stop waiting for it and start walking anyway.

This is the first post from the trail. I'm hiking the California coast — not the Pacific Crest Trail, not any named route. Just south from Carmel, following whatever path keeps the ocean on my right. The 101 hums somewhere inland. Out here, it's just the sound of waves and wind through cypress.

The plan (or lack of one)

I have a rough direction but no itinerary. I'll post when I feel like it — no schedule, no pressure. The map on this site updates from my check-ins. Each dot is a place I stopped, took a breath, and decided to mark. There's no live tracking because there's nothing to track. I am where I am.

What I'm carrying

Too much, probably. The pack weight is a lesson that won't stick until I've walked another fifty miles. I brought a physical journal too — this blog is the public version. Some things stay in the notebook.

Why

A friend asked me this before I left. I didn't have a good answer then and I don't have one now. Something about moving slowly through a place, earning each mile, watching the landscape change at walking speed. The coast made sense — follow the edge, you can't get lost.

More soon.