The climb up Moro rock left lungs aching and faces red, well all except Dylan the more mountain goat of course. Occasionally the metal balustrade disappeared leaving only knee high race rocks like a row of black teeth, its open maw revealing a dizzying slope of smooth rock.

It was amazing to see flowers thriving in tiny rock crevices and further up even a tree taking root in a crack. Small and exposed at the top the wind was gentle. In the distance a snow storm raged on the navy mountains. Ravens called mournfully and span in slow circles over the miniature trees below.

This was our last glimpse of the american wilderness before our journey to civilisation: lax then jfk.

We took the only section of highway 1 I imagine everyone skips. It skirts inland through the food bowl of California. Fields ripped by tractors and when you reach a town it feels like you’ve Ben teleports to mexico. Every sign in Spanish, poverty and tired eyes. Then we passed through a farm where, like machines on a production line, fifteen or more median labourers processed cabbages crammed into beaten up truck. A thought that when labels read made in the USA the workers nay be no better off than in a third world country. How much would these men be paid? How many were illegal immigrants. Perhaps this is a kind of modern day slavery, desperation taken advantage of. This image would burn in out minds as we passed the mansions of the super rich that line the hills of the coast, the contrast taking the gloss off the scene.

As we neared the coast our plans of camping began to waver. The campgrounds we passed were packed, bursting with weekenders. Full, full, full…would web have anywhere to sleep? Frantically searching for a hostel in Santa Barbara, we received an email that dwarfed our concerns to trivial, it was from Mount Tamalpais Mark, another woman’s body had been found on the mountain. Were the minor tracks so dangerous, or was something more sinister afoot. We drove on in solemn silence, appreciating how lucky we were to be safe. There was the Santa Barbara beach, blue skies and a hostel room.