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Corona Virus – Take a Hike

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BOLSA CHICA ECOLOGICAL RESERVE

Huntington Beach, California

Activity: Day Hike

Date: 3-22-20

Last year at this same time I took this same hike in Huntington Beach’s Bolsa Chica Wetlands. That was a glorious day, blue skies, bright sunshine, and lots of flowers and birds. I invite you to check out that special day, Chasing the Super Bloom.

Today was a much different day than that sunny California day a year ago. The feel was much different, a sense of gloom hung over the hike. The clouds had rolled in and a storm was brewing. Not unlike what we are all experiencing in these unprecedented times… Headlines and live News Media fill us with fear and dread, the Corona Virus- Global Sickness, Stock Markets Falling, and Death occupy our thoughts. There was a run on the grocery stores, shelves-no entire aisles barren. The Governor gave the order for all Schools to close, Gyms, Theaters, Sports all to shut down. Then the order to Shelter in Place, Stay at Home, all Non Essential Business to close. Fear, Dread, worry… for our families, for friends, for our economy, for our country, indeed for our world.

Until today I had not left the house since the order, except to walk the dog, because the Governor made it clear multiple times that we could walk the dog, and that we could go to the grocery store, but to use social distancing. But today after feeling a little stir crazy and missing my outdoor activities I looked up on the website and investigated the do’s and the don’t and it mentioned that hiking was good, that the exercise was not only important for our body and mind, but in particular to keep our immune system strong. It went on to say that many of the Visitor Centers at our National and State Parks would be closed and many services we are used to at the areas would not be available, but that we certainly could hike just to do so with social distancing in mind.

So I hit the trail, and I certainly was not the only one. In fact, the trail was quite busy, so was the beach bike path. People were out, families were out stretching their legs, breathing some fresh air, taking a load off their mind for at least a bit. There were smiles on the trails. People seemed to adhere to the social distancing. Lol, I know I did… Whenever there was a tight spot I moved off the trail to let the other people go by. I did not want it to be too awkward, so I usually occupied that time to take a picture of a bird or a flower. When there was a choice I tried to take the path less traveled. It was good to see people enjoying hiking.

Besides the obvious clearing of the mind, and moving of the muscles, I enjoyed being in nature. Even though busy PCH is never far away and this hike is not the wilderness that I thrive on, but it was still very nice.

There were squirrels, ducks, sea gulls, humming birds and storks that one is used to seeing on this hike, but what was amazing was there were hundreds upon hundreds of what I will call Terns just having the best time ever. Be sure to checkout the video clips below.

It was nice to be on the trail even if it was just a little urban hike.

Looks and sounds like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie ‘The Birds’.
Renew, recharge, refresh, rejoice. 

Thanks for accompanying me ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’ in these unusual and scary times. Remember to take a little break from it all once in awhile during this time of crisis, just like it is important to do all of the time, it is certainly important now more than ever. We will find that Balance again and Adventure- be it big or small can help us through. We need to all say Corona Virus – Take a Hike! Please FOLLOW, LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE.

Here is to finding some balance in these strange times that seems more like a bad movie, then our new reality. Take Care-

Roger Jenkins, Pursuing Balance Through Adventure

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park

Little Sycamore Canyon/Serrano Ridge/West Canyon Loop

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LAGUNA COAST WILDERNESS PARK

ALISO VIEJO, CALIFORNIA

Activity: Day Hike

Date: 9-25-19

Distance: 4.2 miles, 665’ elevation change, 2 hour duration, rated Moderate.

I have hiked in this area multiple times and it is a super place to hike. The only problem I have with it is the park borders busy freeways and roadways. As a Wilderness lover, a peace and quiet lover, a tranquil and natural lover- the further I get away from the noise of the outside world the better. So this particular hike was an attempt to improve upon an earlier hike I posted. That earlier outing I loved the interior portions of the hike, but was disappointed in the parts that had vehicles visible or even within earshot. The route of this hike covered more of the good parts of the previous hike and less of what I did not enjoy. It was a little shorter, and being where this park is located, did as I have stated, have sights and sounds that were not conducive to my ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’ zen like moments I was craving, however it was an improvement so with that goal in mind it was a success. Once again the interior was really nice.

There is a $3 Parking fee and a nice Visitor Center to checkout. Great hike.

“When life gets you down, tell it to go take a hike.” -Roger Jenkins
Pursuing Balance Through Adventure 

I would like to thank you very much for following me as together we are ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’. As I write this post we are in the mist of a world wide crises, the Corona Virus Crisis. The news coverage brings home fear, stress, apprehension, sadness, but it also bring thoughts of thankfulness for the medical community and first responders that are on the front line of this war on a germ. The strange thing is to get through this we need to stand as a community, as together we must all be more vigilant about sanitation and hygiene , but on the other hand we must stand alone with social distancing so as not to propagate this danger further. So what can we do besides prepare with sanitary chemicals, stock up, (not hoard), on essentials like food, medicine, toilet paper (I think everyone as gone a bit overboard on that as I have not seen a store yet that is not sold out and the entire paper isle bare), this seems to be the era of instead of Y2K, YTP lol. We can do our social distancing, we have all given up on going out to eat, or the gym, or the movies, sporting events from youth all the way through to professional. At this time we have closed all institutions of learning for online education, and places of faith for online church, or just praying on our own. So in a matter of a little more than a week the whole world has turned upside down. I don’t know about you, but I am certainly feeling the stress worrying about my family, my friends, my world… The stock market has in a short amount of time lost so much of what took so long to gain. Stress, apprehension, fear, sadness seems to be the new norm. The opposite of what I try to promote with ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’ . If you follow my different PBTA blogs you know that I like to quote an Adventurer, Naturalist, Poet, or other lover of nature, and adventure under the PBTA logo slide, but today I have posted a Roger Jenkins PBTA orginal that I take to heart “When life gets you down, tell it to go take a hike.” Doctors are saying that we need exercise to keep our immune system up, that sunlight provides not only vitamin D, but I saw one place that said that the Corona Virus is killed by it, (not sure if that was from a reputable source or not, but certainly a little vitamin D is good for us.), so I say, if you are not on ‘Shelter in Place‘ or ‘Lockdown‘ of course, that going for a hike can do a body good, is good for the psyche, and has always been good for the soul.

Happy Trails,

Roger Jenkins, Pursuing Balance Through Adventure