Getting Lost at Bean Hollow

By Kent Taylor

The place is Bean Hollow State Beach on the California coast, close to Pescadero, a few miles south of Half Moon Bay.

Exploring tidal pools
The author and his kids explore tidal pools © Kent Taylor

The picture shows me and our two grown children, engrossed in a tidal pool of tiny crabs that bubbled just below the surface, tightly tucked away in niche and crevice. There is some sentiment to the picture taken a couple of days after Father’s Day. The fact that both kids still seem to like us and want to be with us is a bonus. Seeing us lost in a moment of exploration, wonder, and discovery is, for me, “worth a thousand words”, as they say.

In his book, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, writer Edward Abbey asserts that “wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit and as vital to our lives as water and good bread.” At some level, RMOWP has always stayed close to that vitality in its long history of gathering to explore and experience wilderness places; expanding the craft of communicating the natural world as well. If you haven’t already, we hope you’ll join us.

As the summer unfolds, I wish you well and safe travels. And maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll get lost somewhere along the way.