It was a bright and sunny friday evening ..Gaurav and myself, headed for home early from office, bought some donuts along the way, packed our bags with some warm clothings.. and carried some water-packs...and were all set for the moon-light hike. It was a hour and a half drive from Sunnyvale.
We read on the net that a group of enthusiastic hikers had planned for a moon-light hike on the wilds of the Marin HeadLands near Sausalito,north of the famous Golden Gate at SFO. We liked the idea and since anybody could join the group ..we jumped right in. The time set was 7:00pm.
It was already 7pm when we crossed Golden Gate, the marvel of human engineering, the sun shining strong over the horizon spreading a mix of red,orange and yellow over the bright blue sky.
We checked the time guessed that we would be late to the spot by 30-35 minutes .We were worried cuz we didn't know any member of the hiking group as it was our first time. We reached the starting point of the Coyote Ridge Trail (Coyote are wild wolves) at 7:35pm. Just our luck, there was a group of about 7 people near the parking lot and the group leader was introducing himself to the assembled group as Richard. We too joined the group.
And began our hike against the hilly backdrop and the city lights in the dusk on one side and the vast blue pacific with the sun setting on the other.
The Coyote ridge trail snaked around the wilds. Lots of green bushes with colorful wild flowers. We were enjoying the scenic beauty of the trail with the sun setting and creating an array of colors, making the sky look like a painting. The trail climbed higher, and we slowed down our pace to avoid getting exhausted. It was getting dark with time. You could see shades of grey and black in the silhouttes of the hills in the valley. There were beetles crawling on the path and we were careful not to trample it.
The group was enthusiatic and we could hear them discuss a wine-fest under the moonlight. As the climb got steep, I was a bit exhausted and stopped for a sip of water. We let the group go ahead and looked around admiring the beauty. We stopped for quite some time cause we were left far behind the group. Gaurav informed me that Coyote rigde has not been named so for nothing. Also there were reports of people sighting cougars (mountain lions). I thought it would be fun to sight them as long as they are at a safe distance. There was also a cemetery near the trail. We paced to catch up with the group.
It was around 8:30pm. We came to a fork where one road let to the Tennessee valley beach and the other was the middle Green Gulch trail. We could now see the glittering San Francisco from far, glowing in a orange haze and covered with a blanket of fog. On the other side you could see the ships in he vast pacific, hooting now and then, the sky had a purplish-pinkish color. We took some snaps and since we had lost the group we took a calculated guess headed for the Green Gulch.
It was completely dark by then. The moon was yet to rise. The trail had thick bushes on either side and the visibilty had become poor. We picked up some stones just to be prepared in case some wild animal attacks. Doubts started to creep in as the group was still not visible. Did we make an error of judgement? Had we taken the right path?. All doubts soon vanished when we heard the voices.
We quickly reached the place, where the group had mats spread out and had all foods and wine laid out. We also offered the Donuts to the group.
Around 9:15pm on the far south side of the horizon, we saw a huge orange colored umbrella. It was the rising moon. From the top it was a beautiful sight to watch. Within few minutes the full moon rose completely looking like a bright orange sphere. It was beautiful. We could see the busy streets way down and were happy to enjoy the peaceful nature , far from the madding crowd.
It was also a starry night as the sky was clear. There were lots of flights owing to the proximity of the SFO international airport.
We sat down gazing the stars, eating donuts and saw the round moon's color change from orange to a shade of yellow. We sure did the right thing by coming. Minutes passed by. The group was conversing within themselves, having wine and enjoying.
At around 10:15pm, Gaurav and I decided to return to the base. The entire group also started packing. We took a headstart and walked slowly. We didn't need lights as the moon was providing sufficient light and we could see the vastness of the valley. We walked down to the point where one route would take us back to the parkig area and the other to the Tennessee valley beach. We could not see the group behind and thought probably they were coming at a leisurely pace.
We waited for a few minutes and the entire place was now creating a sense of eerie. The vast valley flooded with silvery light, with no other living soul visible as far as one could see, was scary as well as overwhelming.
We heard some noises in the bush, like that of some animal or bird and decided to walk. Since it was downhill the group would soon be visible and will catch up with us. This gave us some assurance that we weren't entirely alone. Even after 10 minutes we could neither see the group nor could we hear any voices. This was very strange. Now the fear actually began to creep in. I though I heard some thing creep in the bushes alongside the trail. We tried to look but nothing was visible. The sound from the bushes kept coming near.
Gaurav advised that it might not be safe and we should keep walking. He also warned me not to run, cause if it was a wild animal, its natural instinct would be to attack the running prey. He said that Coyotes and mountain lions attack in the night and we need to walk slowly and appear big. I thought to myself, "why didn't you tell me earlier? where the hell did the group go?"
We reached a place where the trail was cut across the hill, so it was like walking between a path that was at a level lower than the sides. Perfect for animals to corner their prey. I said to Gaurav that we need to walk past this patch as soon as possible. We assumed that the group had probably taken a different route which was strange as it was pretty late in the night. The hustling in the bushes was getting clearer and louder. I though of picking up stones but Gaurav warned me not to bow down at any point of time. Made sense. So we started talking loud and making noise.
I thought I saw something in the bush. Gaurav was also sure that he to spotted something moving. Now here we were, alone in the vast Coyote Ridge late in the night, with the moon shining bright. We started taking quick short steps, lest we fall down as there was a bit of a slope. Gaurav had his water bottle and I had my office badge. So we started making sounds by beating the bottle with the badge.
I realised how vunerable we were at that moment. The vast darkness, the stillness, the thought of the nocturnal wild creature had created fear in our minds. The owls were screeching and that wasn't helping us overcome our fear. We ought to have stayed with the group, I thought.We were completely on our own to reach the parking lot.
And then we heard the spine chilling howling of the coyotes. We froze. It was coming from the direction where we were heading to. What do we do now. Gaurav switched on the torch. I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. (Had just seen a re-run of the Jurassic Park the other day where movement and light atracted the dino) . Tried to assure myself thinking that was a movie and the dino was a reptile. We both were pretty much shaken and prayed that we reached the parking lot safely. Gaurav suggested we sing loudly and thats what we did to scare off the mountain lions/coyotes if at all they were crouching.
Finally we reached the road and felt much safer. We sprinted to the parking lot. I thought it took longer for us to reach the ground, than it took to climb.
It was almost 11:30pm. It was a completely desolate parking place with one light glowing. We quickly got inside the car and turned on the music. Gaurav said lets wait for the group to return. We waited for about 20 minutes and thought it wise to leave as we both were hungry as well. We went to Denys, had dinner and by the time we reached home it was already 2 am.
The next day while surfing the net about the headlands we came across articles that stated that 9pm to 11pm is the time when people have spotted mountain lions and coyotes. And its always advisable to go in groups. We were lucky.
And then we came across another article which gave us goosebumps. The articles stated said that around 12-15 years ago a group went hiking to the Headlands and met with a tragic accident. No one survived. The incident had taken place on a fullmoon night and leader was one "Richard" and was buried in the cemetery on the headlands. We immediately checked the site where we first read of the hike plan. There was no person named "Richard". The updates on the site said that the group had started off at 7pm itself and from the coyote ridge they went down to the Tennessee valley beach.
We were not sure what to make out of it and we went back to the cemetery the same day. There was a grave which read "Richard , The Moonlight Hiker 1967-1998"
We said our prayers and returned back immersed in thoughts, "Who were those people, where did they vanish?. We also realised that we had not spoken to any one in the group. We are not sure if we can get an explanation to this but we will never forget this hike. Ever.
And yes we are planning for another hike, the next full moon night!!
This is inspired by our true experience and some figment of imagination. Names changed to protect the identity of individuals. Disclaimer:Some photos...courtesy the internet
