Saturday, November 17, 2007

11/17/07 - Green Gulch Farm Zen Center


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Below is a trip summary and pics (end of email) of Saturday's day trip to the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center near Muir Beach, CA. Feel free to skip the narrative stuff and scroll to the bottom if you just want to see the pics.

Trip Summary
I've wanted to check this place out for about a year now, after finding it on the web. I had originally planned to get a hotel in Inverness and spend the weekend here and hiking Pt. Reyes. However, the threat of rain and the dense fog made me decide to make it a day trip. I'm glad I did, as hiking Pt. Reyes would have been about as scenic as hiking in cloud bank (and many of the beaches were closed due to the oil spill).

Green Gulch Farm Zen Center is located near Mur Beach, CA (along Highway 1, north of the Golden Gate). It's a small Zen temple and organic farm. The web site (http://www.sfzc.org/ggf/) describes it as "a Buddhist practice center in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition offering training in Zen meditation and ordinary work. It is one of three centers that make up San Francisco Zen Center, which was founded by Shunryu Suzuki-roshi."

It is made up living quarters, a guest house for visitors, a zendo (or meditation house), a conference center, and an extensive organic farm. Everyone is welcome to wander around the facility. One can stay overnight in the Guest House. The nice practitioner at the office likened it to a Buddhist Bed and Breakfast (just with very small, simple rooms). They do have a public program every Sunday morning, which includes meditation instruction, meditation, a lecture, tea and a vegetarian lunch ($8 donation requested). I'm definitely planning to go back in the near future to stay overnight and attend the Sunday program.

Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy the photos below!

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Note: The slideshow can run automatically(1-4 sec/pic) or manually. You can stop it by moving your mouse and clicking on the back arrow.

Photo Album (47 photos): http://picasaweb.google.com/michaelmacintosh/GreenGulch111707
Note: To use any photo as a screen background: 1) Go to that individual photo, 2) Click on the magnifying glass in upper right corner, then 3) Right-click and set as your background.

Route: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=Davis,+CA&daddr=1601+Shoreline+Highway,+Muir+Beach,+CA&sll=37.979928,-122.394562&sspn=0.43515,0.920105&ie=UTF8&z=9&om=1

Green Gulch Farm Zen Center Web Site: http://www.sfzc.org/ggf/
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Friday, September 7, 2007

9/7/07 - Crater Lake/Oregon Coast Trip


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Below is a trip summary and pics (end of email) to my recent camping trip up to Crater Lake, OR and along the Oregon Coast. Feel free to skip the narrative stuff and scroll to the bottom if you just want to see the pics. I won't be hurt, honest!

Trip Summary
I'd originally planned to head to Montana/Wyoming and visit Glacier NP and/or Yellowstone NP. However, after looking at the distances on Google maps, I decided it was a bit further than I wanted to travel. So I decide to go to Crater Lake National Park instead.

I left Friday (9/7) and arrived at Crater Lake that evening. I got a camp site at Mazuma Campground and stayed for tow nights. Crater Lake is absolutely beautiful. It was formed when a volcano (Mt. Mazuma) erupted 7,700 years ago, emptying it's huge magma chamber and causing the top of the mountain to collapse in on itself. This created the 1,943 ft deep lake we see today. It is made up entirely of rain and snow run-off, which sounds shocking until you hear that the average snowfall is 44 ft. The extreme blue color of the lake (no, I did not Photoshop these pics!) is caused by it's depth, as light is absorbed color by color as it pass through clear water and the last color absorbed are the blues. The sky is blue for the same reason.

On Saturday, I drove the entire road around the lake. It takes 2-3 hours, more if you stop and hike like I did. The views from each area is different, as you'll see in the photos. You need at least one full day to appreciate the park fully. One thing I didn't get to do was take the boat tour. This requires getting tickets the day of and a long, steep hike down into the crater. It looks neat, but it's a half day excursion.

On Sunday, I headed west to the coast via the Umpqua/Rogue Scenic Highway (138). Beautiful, but very curvy and tiring to drive. Would've loved to fish, but didn't have room for fishing gear in the ol' Accord. I got to the coast around 6:00 and camped at Bullards Beach State Park that night (9/9). I didn't get to take a photo of the camp site, but we were packed in like sardines. One plus was that it encouraged me to meet my neighbors (one of whom, Chuck, I got to ask about his jet boat and crab pots).

On Monday, I headed down the coast on 101 to Crescent City. By the time I got there, I was tired, dirty and didn't feel like setting up the tent a 3rd time (only to have it get soaked by the fog, which makes packing up difficult). So I wimped out and got a hotel room. After a shower and a meal of Cajun ling cod at the local seafood place, I watched the 49er's on Monday Night Football and sleep in a comfy bed. It was nice.

On Tuesday, I headed home. According to Matt-Matt (similar to a Tom-Tom, only less expensive and consists of me on the phone with my brother sitting at his computer on Google Maps), the drive home was 6.5 hours. With a half hour lunch and occasional stops for pics, I was home in 9 hours. I did spend 45 minutes at Sundial Bridge in Redding. It's a 700 ft. pedestrian bridge that is supported by cables stemming from one massive column. It's a beautiful work of architectural art and well worth the short stop.

All in all a great trip that I'd recommend to everyone. Let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, just enjoy the photos below!

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Note: To use any photo as a screen background, go to that photo, click on the magnifying glass in upper right, then right-click and set as your background.

Photo Slideshow: http://picasaweb.google.com/michaelmacintosh/OregonRoadTripSept2007/photo#s5109548227766919090

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