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| Mission Bay, Mission Beach, and the Pacific, viewed from my room in the Hyatt Regency |
My first visit to the west coast since I was six months old brings me to San Diego, California, where I am attending the Caring for the Human Spirit conference, a gathering of health care chaplains from around the world. While in town, I wanted to get some miles under my feet as further training for my upcoming hikes back home.
During this trip, I am staying at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay, which puts me across a bridge from Mission Beach. Each evening, thus far, I have spent time out at the beach, but my plan today is more ambitious - I intend to walk from the hotel to the jetty at the south end of Mission Beach. All told, this will be about a 3 mile walk each way. One could say it is not a true hike, but I am counting it, because the miles are going to be helpful in building endurance.
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| The bridge over Mission Bay, as seen from the south. |
Fortunately, being the final day of the conference, things came to a close a bit earlier than usual, and so I had changed into swim trunks (crashing waves and all!) for the walk. Leaving the hotel at 3:45 PM, I began walking westbound over the bridge and out to the beach proper. There, I ditched my shoes and made the decision to do the beach walk barefoot and out on the (cold) water-line where the Pacific would occasionally inspire me to move a touch faster.
This wasn't an exceptionally long walk, but I am not used to walking significant distances without a break. At work, I walk from patient room to patient room, meeting to meeting... it's not really difficult. This required a bit more stamina, and, given that I was going barefoot, I figured it might present more pacing challenges.
All in all, it was a beautiful walk... I made it to the jetty in just over an hour, and started trying to walk the jagged rocks, but realized that the shoes I had on hand were not up to such a task - at least, not for me. I did not feel that my trail runners had adequate ankle support for the frequent high stepping that walking the jetty would require. A lack of trekking poles also led me to feel unstable on the rocky jetty, so I elected to stop quickly.
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| The sun sets beneath the Pacific at the end of a spiritually uplifting hike. |
I have to say, this was also one of the most spiritual hikes I have had in quite some time. I spent a lot of time as I walked pondering and praying, inspired by the rolling waves and the sands on the beach. A deep realization overcame me that this moment had been prepared for me... where I was, as I was standing there, nobody else saw the exact sight I was seeing. Nobody ever had, and nobody ever would. I truly felt the presence of God as I walked, and pondered. I also lamented our lack of care and concern for our creation as I walked, and asked for guidance on how I can alter my relationship to the earth to be a faithful steward of creation.
I returned to my beach walk starting point around 6:30 and had a seat on the seawall to watch the sunset. I then caught dinner by the beach before walking back to the hotel after dusk.
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| Me at Mission Beach |
Things I learned:
1) When I get lost in prayer and reflection, the distance melts by. Time becomes less of an issue in those moments.
2) From Monday through Wednesday, I probably walked about 10 miles total... after a full day of conferencing. The setting was inspiring enough that I could have walked more if time had not been a factor.
Questions about the trip? Feel free to ask in the comments section.
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