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Lately I’ve been starving for the outdoors so I finally committed and made plans to do a solo hike on the 4th of July (pardon the delayed writeup). What better way to celebrate our country than to explore its wild outdoors, right? So I looked through Weekend Sherpa for some hiking inspiration and decided on Sandstone Peak. If you aren’t familiar, Weekend Sherpa is an awesome outdoors resource for Northern and Southern California, and they’re also hosting an Adventure Challenge until September. So check it out!
Sandstone Peak. Holy shiz. I actually started drafting this post right after I finished the hike, so the throbbing in my thighs was still quite present at the time. I consider myself to be in fairly good shape and I’m not a stranger to hiking but it definitely gave me the kick I was looking for. The direct hike from the parking lot to Sandstone Peak is roughly 3 miles but there is another route that is much more scenic and also takes you to Sandstone peak. However, it’s more than twice the distance of the direct route. So thank goodness for Casey (Modern Hiker), Yelp and Google in helping me successfully navigate the trail!
I’ve gotten so used to constantly being around people that it made me forget how to be on my own and be okay with that. I wanted Sandstone Peak to be a day of zen with just me and my thoughts. No social media, no partying, no distractions. Ten minutes into the hike and it was more apparent than ever how comfortable I had become in relying on others to fill the void. The complete silence almost hurt my ears and the lack of human presence made me anxious and paranoid.
I won’t lie and say I had a huge revelation or epiphany of any kind, but it did help me realize how dependent I had become on others. I spent 80% of the hike feeling nervous that at any given moment some animal or deranged psychopath would drag me away into the bushes. It made me sad after when I realized what a bubble I had been living in, but it was a first step in the right direction to push myself outside of comfort. I want to be independent and adventurous, but confident in knowing how to take care of myself. What’s life if you’re constantly living in fear or waiting on others?
Overall it was a challenging but beautiful hike. You will stand in awe at the tops of Inspiration Point and Sandstone Peak and forget all your thoughts and worries in that split second, and I assure you it is all worth it. I would definitely come back again but probably earlier so I could enjoy the views alone (Sandstone Peak is the only part of the hike where I actually saw people. Noisy people -_-). If you are interested in the hike and want more details on how to get there and conquer it, leave a comment or email me and I’ll be happy to help!
