let's see how far we've come

i am exhausted! most of this blog entry will probably be missspelled and out of order, but hopefully you can make some sense of it.

today was so much fun. we began with another breakfast from mike. he made me possibly the most delicious egg scramble i've ever had. he mixes strange things but they turn out great. it contained mushrooms, tomatoes, chard, whole garlic, and asiago cheese. yum! we then met with a biologist about turtle conservation. he told us all about his efforts to conserve a beach in costa rica that is the last leatherback turtle breeding ground in the pacific. it's rediculous the environmental impact humans are having on other species!

about 11:30 we set out for our hike. i have no clue why we decided to hike in the sun during the hottest part of the day, but with three coats of sunscreen i managed to come out only a little pink. we ate lunch across the road from our trailhead on a gorgeous cliff overlooking the bay. then we started our journy up the "elevator" trail. it's called that for a reason! the beginning wasn't bad with some creek hopping and breaks among the redwoods. before long we started climbing the golden grassy hills. fortunatly the piles of poison oak decided to stay back with the shade. the lizards kept us company though. we hiked up and up and up. every time we got to the top of a huge hill there was a bigger one waiting for us. it was very tiring, but in the end totally worth it. standing on top of that mountain we could see a long stretch of ocean to our left and the salinas valley to our right. after a nice long break for water and snacks we ran back down the mountain. i have never run down a mountain before, at least not one that big. it was really fun. jen's ankles would have been miserable, and even mine needed a break toward the end. i was able to keep up with stuart for a while though. and i was actually the first girl down :) it was a beautiful and fun run/fall.

after rest and a shower i rejoined the group for a delicious dinner from mike. he was light on the vegetarian food, but there was still plenty. he and kyle made a savory mushroom sauce with cream and white wine. we poured it over red rice and seeds. mike also made an interesting salad with tomatoes, basil, olive oil, croutons, and watermellon. it was a strange mix of flavors, but good (as always). of course we were all pretty starving. he started us off with my favorite - french bread and gooey brie. yum!

finally we curled up on the couches for a discussion with another stanford bio professor about conservation. he specializes in evolution and ecology - my thing! i brought up the question of why humans are so interested in environementalism. i'm trying to figure out a way it can become more mainstream, so i played devil's advocate and asked why it was so important. sometimes it seems like we are "fighting nature" and it would be more natural to just let things happen. my classmate had some interesting suggestions, but they still didn't resolve the issue of what is "natural". finally the professor suggested an answer that i loved - it actually is in our evolutionary interest. even if humans don't care about preserving nature for it's own sake or because it's beautiful, we still need to care for it. it still comes down to the idea that species do what they need to to survive. for example, if the oceans die, where will we get oxygen? we don't want to have to work or pay to produce it, so it is in our best interest to let it be produced naturally and therefore keep the oceans alive. that answer makes sense to me on even the most basic level. it's very self-centered, but nature often is.

after that i managed to stay up and chat for a little while, but now i can barely keep my eyes open. i hear the sea lions barking. how are they awake to bark at midnight and then again to wake me up at 7am? pictures from the hike are on facebook :) enjoy!