On Sunday my girl and I went down to a spot we found a bit south of Half Moon Bay. Before getting into my rant, I want to take a moment to explain one of the many reasons I love where I live. This place is just a tiny turn-off on Route 1, one that I'm sure gets driven past every single day by thousands of cars without even an idea of its existence. You park in the dirt and wander down a hidden path amongst the bushes. You journey down, down some more, and down a little more until you hit a clearing and are welcomed with an awe-inspiring view of the ocean. You're still about 100 yards or more above the beach, on a pretty damn sheer cliff, but you have to stop to soak it all in. To your right is about a half mile of abandoned beach with massive cliffs in the distance with waves crashing off the rocks. To the left, well, the same. Then you look around the clearing and you notice a rope to you right, and another to your left, both leading down and around a worn and loose-textured trail. You really need those ropes to get down or else you'd just stumble and slip your way to the bottom (I experienced about 50 feet of that on this particular adventure). But when you get to the bottom, man; you have officially entered into another world. I'll leave you to your imaginations here; the place is almost perfect.
Rant time. The only thing making it not one of the most perfect places in my life is that fact that it was trashed. Along the cliffs edge in whatever type of growth that is there, there is just every sort of trash. Rappers, bottles, cans, paper, and so on. Then, strewn along the beach was even more. Some of it clearly drift-stuff come in from high tide, but clearly plenty of it left there by visitors to the beach. At one moment there I honestly felt like crying, another I was filled with anger. I was reminded of that awesome Calvin and Hobbes comic:
How can people be so disrespectful? How can people come out to use nature, in all its glory, and then leave the remains of their enjoyment lying around to ruin its beauty? This world sits here, powerful, spacious, and welcoming, and who the hell are these people who think they are special enough to do whatever they want with it. I guess they think it's not their house, once they leave they'll never have to see the heap of crap they left in the sand, so why would they care? Perhaps they think that if trash is washed out to see, or blown away in the wind, it just vanishes from existence? Well, whatever they think, they are freaking stupid. There is absolutely no reason I could even consider thinking that would give any person the right to trash any area that is not their own screwed up house. You don't eat your Pringles in the woods and then throw your empty container into the bushes, you don't smoke a cigarette while driving and then throw it out the window into the grass, you don;t walk into someone elses' house, or gym, or store and not put away what you took out to use. You do not spill something and then walk away. If you don't have any idea what it means to be a respectful person, you don't deserve anything in this world.
Calvin had it in his mind that us humans are clearly the stupidest beings in the Universe. There are tons of really interesting and thought-provoking movies, shoes, and books that touch on our complete misunderstanding and respect for nature and others as our inevitable downfall. And what's funny about all this is it just comes down to having a little respect. It's really not that hard. So what type of person are you?
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
All right everyone, time to break it down for you all! After much deliberation I have decided to shift he way this thing is going to go down. I am stripping away a good deal for how it will be run so that it’ll be a good bit cheaper and a more accessible by a greater number of people. This does not mean you won’t be getting a crazy awesome experience! In fact, it may just turn out to be even more fun! The first thing to put out there is that I’m capping the whole adventure at 15 people. So, if you want in, get registered ASAP or you may not be able to get in!
Into The Wild Basic Facts:
Cost - $150
What you get: · Into the wild t-shirt · Free snack before first throwdown (Courage Bars, Core Bars) · 3 separate organized throwdowns in three different outdoor locations · Prizes from our awesome sponsors for winners, along with a few giveaways and other surprises throughout the weekend! · Top of the line instruction throughout the weekend from world-class coaches and experts (Josh Courage, Brendon Mahony, Corey Rennell) · Basics to survival instruction (how to start a fire, how to navigate, and so much more!) · Organized, structured and discounted access to wooded workouts, exploration, beach camping and cookout, and of course, surfing the famous Pacifica ocean · A good collection of food supplied for dinner and breakfast
Schedule (basic look here, a more detailed one, with times and such will be posted in the coming week): · Meet at San Mateo Team Elite, Saturday Oct. 15th @ 11am · Carpool to first location down Skyline in the woods! · 2+ hours of instruction and training in the woods · Break, food, nutrition talk with Corey Rennell, owner of CORE Foods · First throwdown, “The Woods” · Carpool/hike to the beach · Set up camp, start fires for cook out · Enjoy the evening, eating good food, drinking good drink, singing songs and more! · Second throwdown, “Midnight Madness” · Camp out · Wake up for an early morning instruction and training session on the beach · Third throwdown, “Storming The Beach” · Breakfast! · Carpool to Pacifica for some bad ass surfing · Carpool over to Gorilla BBQ for a feast!
What To Bring: Because this is turning into a little more of a bare-bones adventure, I am taking out the vans, the food and the hugely detailed guidebook. Everything else will stay the same! So, I’ll have some meat and veggies and water along for the weekend, if you want food, bring some, potluck style for the whole group. As stated before, alcohol is more than welcome, just bring a bunch! Be prepared to help out with driving, loading and unloading and so on. You will still be taken care of a TON, just toning it back a little to make it a little more accessible for the first run-through of it all. · Food (bring anything and everything you want, be prepared to share!) · Drink (same thing!) · A couple changes of clothes · A tent and any other camping gear you may want · Money for surfing, BBQ and extra goodies (Courage Performance apparel, Courage Bars, Core Warrior Bars)
Again, I am capping this weekend adventure at 15 select people so, if you want in, get signed up STAT! This is the only adventure of its kind and you will be part of a prestigious group who get to experience the first ever! I am super stocked to get this rolling and have all the confidence in the world that this is going to end up being one of the most exciting weekends of the year. So jump on board and join the fun!
So, that’s what I got for you all, let me know if you have any questions of course! Also, I will rolling into town on Wednesday before this even, so if anyone wants to get some personal training in while I’m around, let me know ASAP (I’ve heard from a couple of you, we’ll get it set up soon!). And that’s that. I cannot wait to get back out West and hang with everyone, it’s gonna be a blast!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
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