Big Deal

 

Life along the Big Sur River Gorge

Big Sur, Calfornia. Few sensory pleasures compare to dipping into a cool mountain river on a scorching hot summer day. During my past four years in California, this has been my ultimate indulgence. To get away from the hustle and bustle of life for a day, bake in California's warm interior on a scenic hike or bike ride, and then spend the rest of the day drifting in pure bliss within crystal clear mountain waters - is a pleasure hard to put words to. A favorite spot in the past has been the Russian River of Sonoma Valley, but the Big Sur River in July does the job just fine. Recently, my buddy "Rabbit" Schaffer and I made our way to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and did a few hours of hiking on the dramatic - but terribly exposed - Mount Manuel trail. After a few hours baking in the Big Sur July heat along windless canyons of the Ventana Wilderness, we made our way back to the Park, scrambled down into the Big Sur River gorge and rock-hopped upstream until we found a swimming hole to our liking. Crystal clear, these waters are important for steelhead and were all too recently a favorite haunt for California's now extinct grizzly bear population. For us, it was summertime at its best. A swim beneath waterfalls, followed by sipping a few rounds of Argentine mate upon massive boulders, and then more swimming. Before long, all of the biting flies, snakes, poison oak and scorching sun of the Ventana backcountry had been washed from our souls. Heaven must be a little like this.

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Big Sur River swimming hole

Arlo sipping mate in the Big Sur River Gorge

Rabbit runs down the Mount Manuel Trail

Rabbit sipping mate in the Big Sur River Gorge

Arlo & Rabbit relax in the Big Sur River - post excursion

I am Wilderness

Pico Blanco, Ventana Wilderness, California.  July 2009.

Words describe my connection to wild places, my symbiosis with the wilderness.  I am wilderness.  My soul is those wild, lonely places - windswept mountain passes, the rocky crags, and wandering herds upon endless grasslands.  There is no difference between those things and what is found within me.  This is true too of the sea.  The vibrant blue of tropical waters.  I am but a damselfish in an ocean of coralline hues. The schools of great fish swim through my heart and onto the deserts of my mind - those Forgotten Lands, bone dry - but bright and welcoming.  Bring your own water, for I have none to give.  I am wilderness.

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Melbourne, Florida. For the past week, I've been traveling around coastal California. First stop was Monterey, followed by Los Angeles and then returning north to San Francisco. Despite the trip back west and the momentum from the recent television appearances, it looks like I'm going to spend at least another month here in Florida. Life has been good on the sleepy Space Coast and I'm getting a lot of writing done. So, I'm going to stay put for a bit.

Recently, I was considering changing the name of this blog and reformatting it for a wilderness theme. I've always enjoyed posting about my travels as well as sharing thoughts on conservation, exploration and why wilderness is so important. My time here in Florida has really brought this back to the forefront and I thought it might make more sense to streamline the theme for a particular audience (sorry, I don't mean to offend any of you Arlo Hemphill acting/wildlife enthusiasts, but the two are generally distinct interests - lol!). However, Where is Arlo Now?? has also been a great place to share performance clips on my acting and update you on my life in general. Now how could I do away with that?

I couldn't, so I've compromised. I've created a brand new blog dedicated to discussing wilderness exploration and conservation:

Walk on the Wild Side

You can find this at http://walkwildside.blogspot.com or you can follow it via Facebook.

My camera has been busted for the past couple weeks, so at the moment the new blog is primarily story and newsfeed-oriented. However, I do intend to employ more of a vlog or vlog/blog format once the camera is repaired. Also, just as a heads up, there may be posts that I put on both Where is Arlo Now?? and Walk on the Wild Side. In particular, postings that focus on my personal explorations through wilderness areas might be relevant to both sites. Either way, I invite you to check the new site out!

Before I wrap this post up, I do want to comment on the above cheetah photo. I took this picture at the Nairobi Animal Orphanage in 2000. I had been visiting Kenya for a conference on mangroves, held in the coastal city of Mombasa. On the return trip, I spent a day in Nairobi and took the opportunity to visit Nairobi National Park. The orphanage is just outside the park boundaries and I was the only visitor that day. A friendly conversation started up with the facility's director and he invited me for a "special treat". The treat turned out to be a personal visit inside one of the cages where three cheetah cubs were being kept. Their mother had been shot on a local farm the week before and the orphans were brought here for care before hopefully being released back into the wild someday. I was able to spend some time playing with the cubs and this picture was my favorite from the experience.