I was flipping through the free On Demand movie options at home the other day and came across the 2005 documentary Grizzly Man.  I had heard of it before, and knew the basic premise, but had never actually seen it. I’m a huge fan of documentaries so I figured I would give it a chance. It follows bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzlies in Alaska. It’s something Treadwill did every year for more than a decade, and most of the documentary is footage shot by Treadwell himself. The backdrop for the story is incredible, providing the viewer with breathtaking Alaskan landscapes, and up close encounters with some of mother nature’s largest, and most aggressive, creatures. To imagine someone spending their life, living among these wild creatures for months at a time, all alone, is fascinating in itself. It is probably the ultimate, most extreme outdoor adventure.

However, there is also sadness in the story. It’s obvious that Treadwell has issues with himself, and other people, so he looks to these grizzly bears to be his friends and family.  He lives with them, speaks to them, tries to control them, even touches them. It’s the ultimate tragic irony that one of the animals he loved so much, and worked so hard to protect, would ultimately take his life. But in the end, wild animals are simply that, wild. I found it very interesting, slightly disturbing at some points, but overall well worth the time.  I’ve posted the trailer below so you can have a sneak peek!

If you were watching KSBY News Tuesday and Wednesday, you may have noticed Nancy Chen’s story on a mountain lion that was shot and killed in a backyard on Jeffrey Drive near Foothill Boulevard. It’s rare, but it isn’t the first time a mountain lion has wandered into the city, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind when we go wandering into THEIR territory. I was hiking Madonna Mountain the other day and I found myself thinking about this very possibility.

View from Madonna

As wide and open as the trail is, you just never know what animals are lurking behind the brush. I was running scenarios in my head, trying to remember what I’m supposed to do if I come face to face with a wild cat. Am I supposed to stand still? Do I make myself bigger and make noise or do I slowly walk away? Needless to say I brushed up on my mountain lion defense skills when I returned home. Here’s a nice little tip sheet from the Department of Fish and Game. I also carry my cell phone and a small backpack when I hike, equipped with a first aid kit, just in case I run into any other unforseen emergencies. Until next time, have some happy and SAFE outdoor adventuring!

Kovu, Gizmo and Gizmo's Toy

For those of you who have been following my blog for a while you are already very familiar with Gizmo, one of the dogs from the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society. My roomie and I took him in for the weekend back in January, and we pretty much fell in love with him. I try not to have favorites at the shelter, but every once in a while there is a special dog, or even a cat, that just tugs at your heart strings.

Gizmo, and his brother Kovu, were my special “boys,” and as happy as they were playing with the volunteers and going for walks, it killed me to see them in a cage. I blogged about them constantly and showed them to everyone who would listen at last week’s Wild West BBQ Bash in Santa Maria. Every week I would hope NOT to see them, because that would mean they were home with a family like they deserved. I was tempted to adopt them myself, but I knew I would not be able to spoil them rotten like they deserve.

All those worries disappeared yesterday, when I got an email from the shelter’s director, telling me the wonderful news that both Gizmo and Kovu were adopted TOGETHER! I was browsing in a store and nearly jumped up and down, I was so ecstatic! We’re talking bursting with joy here. From what I hear, their new family is a fantastic bunch, and I hope they know how lucky they are to add these two little guys to their group.

Smiling for the camera

I will definitely miss seeing their smiling faces every week (yes, believe it or not, they smile) but there are still lots more dogs and cats who need some TLC before they too find their forever families.

The Humane Society Volunteers!

So believe it or not, not EVERYONE in the U.S. was watching the World Cup this afternoon Before work I headed out to the Family Care Network’s Wild Wild West BBQ Bash at Preisker Park in Santa Maria. The organization is devoted to helping foster, and high-needs youth in both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. There were tons of local vendors, live music, delicious BBQ and lots of family fun!

I was actually there with the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society. It had a booth there as well and we had four of our adoptable dogs out for all to see! Kovu, Gizmo, Grover and Billy Jack spent the day playing in the sun and turning on the charm for potential adopters. It was a lot of fun and all for a great cause!

Watching the Diamondbacks lose to the Yankees!

I just got back from a quick 4-day trip back home to Arizona. My family moved to Scottsdale when I was a freshman in high school, and as fate would have it, they are in the process of moving back to southern California. I returned home to visit, but also to go through dozens of boxes to help them downsize before the big move. They contained everything from my first pair of dance shoes to my graduation gowns. It was quite the trip down memory lane.

Me with my sister, rooting for the Diamondbacks

Aside from the massive downsize operation, I also got the chance to watch the Diamondbacks lose to the Yankees at Chase Field. A disappointing loss but still lots of fun. Oh yeah, and did I mention it was 109 degrees at 9p.m.????

Poolside!

There were several moment during my trip, when we were just driving around town, where I couldn’t help but ask myself, “How on earth did I ever live here??” If you read my previous Weather Wuss post, you probably get where I’m going with this. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time by the pool! It was fun to be home, but I am happy to be back in the milder temperatures of the Central Coast!

Just a quick post on my day off today. I wanted to share another Web site I came across the other day while looking for a new place to hike. It’s called  Trails.com and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. You simply type in your zip code, or city and state, and then you can filter by activity (everything from birding, to kayaking, to horseback riding trails). Now there are some features of the site that require you to register and/or pay, but I was able to get around that. I would simply look up the trails on the Trails.com map, get a quick description, and then Google that location seperately if I needed more information. I’m always looking for new places to see and new things to do, and this is just one more resource for that. Happy outdoor adventuring!

Halfway up the mountain

To continue my recent hiking kick I decided to tackle Cerro San Luis last week. It was a blast and a great workout! I met up with a friend at the Lincoln Market in SLO, right off Lincoln and Broad Streets. There’s a path that takes you up through a residential neighborhood and then on to the trail head. The weather was perfect, not too hot but not too cool, just enough to make you sweat.

There are certainly some steep points on the trail where you can really feel your legs, hamstrings and calves working. I really enjoyed this hike because the paths were much wider and not quite as steep as the bluffs trail in Shell Beach. We hiked all the way to the top, which gave way to some spectacular views of SLO, Laguna Lake and the surrounding areas. I think what I enjoyed the most was that I really felt myself “working,” you know the heavy breathing and sore legs feeling? I LOVE that! Not to mention the downhill portion was pretty rewarding too. Overall it took us about 2 hours roundtrip. To cap off the adventure, we enjoyed some amazing sandwiches and fruit from the Lincoln Market, highly recommend it!

View from the Top

I went on one of the hardest, but one of the most rewarding hikes I’ve ever been on Tuesday afternoon. I’ve been dying to go lately so I called a friend and hit the trail. We hiked the bluff trail that goes from Shell Beach all the way to Pirate’s Cove. I’ve seen it a million times and always see people looking super tiny, like ants, at the top. You may have seen the “mountain” I scaled when driving on Highway 101, either right before or right after the Avila Beach Dr. exit. It is literally a straight-up climb in the beginning. The loose gravel and narrow trail made me pretty nervous at first, but my friend had hiked the trail a few times before so I felt much more comfortable with her leading the way. I decided I was a bit too nervous to go down the same way we went up, so we decided to follow the trail all the way to Pirate’s Cove. It was a pretty long distance, but worth it.

The way down

I couldn’t escape a steep descent completely, the way down we chose was still pretty much straight down, but it was much wider and didn’t drop off on either side. As weird as it sounds, it was pretty comforting to know that if I fell, I wouldn’t go careening off the side of a cliff. I would at least roll for a bit.

We made it to Pirate’s Cove, hiked down to the beach and hiked back up one of the bluffs before returning to the car (of course we had some interesting run-ins with nude people along the way, but hey more power to them!). It was a two-hour round trip and my calves, hamstrings and thighs were on fire. But it was so worth it! Such a feeling of accomplishment too! I actually can’t wait to do it again… but I also have my sights set on Bishop Peak and Cerro San Luis. I’m sure there will be more “tails from the trail” in the coming weeks so stay tuned!

It’s true, I admit it, I’m definitely a weather wuss. I used to be so tough, braving the 117-degree summers of Scottsdale, AZ without a problem. Sure it was slightly uncomfortable to be dripping in sweat during the walk from the car to the grocery story, but I was living by the state’s unoffocial motto, “it’s a dry heat.” Now, after five years in the midwest and two on the Central Coast, I can barely handle the 80’s!

This was extremly apparant to me during my morning run today. It was probably high 70’s and I was chugging along, feeling like my tank top was forever burned into my body (I did wear sunscreen!). Then we took a trip to the beach. Thank goodness it felt so much cooler with the nice breeze, but it was still pretty toasty.

I talk to my family about the heat here and while they agree it’s a bit toasty, it’s still nothing compared to the scorching summers they live through every year. Then again, I did survive five snow-storm filled winters in South Bend, IN and Chicago, so maybe I’m not so wussy after all (They don’t call it the Windy Cinty for nothing!)

I guess my pay off after about a decade of extreme weather, has been finding the middle ground of the Central Coast!

… when walking an overly-excited, overly-energized dog at the humane society that is! I’m talking about Naia, a 4-year-old black Lab who is very sweet, but has tons and tons of energy! It’s hard to get the dogs out for long periods of time, so she often gets pretty anxious when she’s in her kennel for too long.

Ms. Naia

One of the ways the shelter has found to maximize her walks is to put a little doggie backpack on her, that has weighted sandbags on both sides. The total weight comes out to about 10% of her body weight, so close to 4 pounds overall. I know at first it may sound a bit mean, strapping a weighted pack on her and telling her to go out and exhaust herself, but it really is good for her. I took her out for a walk with her backpack on Thursday and what a difference! She was still out on the trail, walking pretty fast, but she wasn’t pulling nearly as bad as she usually does and when we got back to her kennel, she plopped down and took a nice little snooze.

An example of a dogpack, Naia's is a bit smaller

The bottom line is the dogs NEED to expend their energy, that’s why we play with them in the yard and take them for walks as often as we can. If they don’t get it out, it can make them very anxious and quite frankly, drive them crazy. I’m just happy the shelter has found a way to help Naia in that way, because the improvement in her behavior is already starting to show!