It’s not often that I get to return to nature as I did recently and coincidentally on the release date of our new album. Being a native of Monterey, it is inevitable that I’m tied to nature, so I decided my sister and I had to go on an adventure. An adventure into “Terra Incognita”, unknown territory, lost land… or Los Padres National Forest in Big Sur, California. :)

Big Sur has one of those stunning coast lines that almost everyone has seen, but might not know where it is from. When I was growing up, Big Sur was a constant getaway where hippies smelled like patchouli, celebrated summer solstice, baked their own bread, made most of their clothes and left their children to name themselves. My summer music festivals held outdoor chamber music concerts for the campers, had us hiking as quartets through the rivers and one always came home with campfire in one’s hair.

It has now been discovered by the masses and Highway 1 is a constant stream of rental cars and families hoping to catch a glimpse of the breathtaking cliffs that drop to the Pacific ocean. Sometimes the fog likes to come and park itself like a blanket leaving much to the imagination of what is coming around a sharp corner. My sister and I have been hiking the mountains along the Pacific for the better part of 3 decades now and it’s nice to see that they, at least, remain unchanged.

In our quest to find the perfect campsite, we managed to swoop in on a perfect spot right on the ocean cliff just as another family departed. We set up camp and planned our excursion into the mountains for the next day. At night we were woken by what seemed at first like a flashlight beaming on our tent - but it was only the brightest, whitest full moon! I could see across the campsite clearly - just in time to watch the raccoons make another desperate attempt at our giant Tupperware container…

Unbeknown to us, the next day was to be the hottest yet in the summer-of-no-summer in California. We packed our day packs, slabbed on some sunscreen and began the forage to ‘Terra Incogita’. The mountains there are a steady combination of dry exposed trails followed by bends of lush green with the smell of wild sage, rosemary, wild mint and the occasional wildflower painting the senses.
After 3 hours of creative bushwacking (thank you California budget crisis), we were low on water and the sun seemed directly above us still, the whole time marveling in its ability to burn the fog off as well as our sunscreen. As we climbed mountain after mountain, the ocean gleamed below getting smaller and smaller with every switchback. Being the the one who always has to hike in front, I’m also blessed with “the stick” because spiders insist on trying to catch humans by spinning webs across the trail paths early in the day. Therefore I was clearing the trail for the upteenth time when I heard it…almost like a thunder, almost like the whir of a highway, but alas - a waterfall!! As we turned into the bend, the smell in the air suddenly changed to that of pine needles, wet moss and evergreens. The roar got louder as we approached what totally looked like “Terra Incognita”, Rousseau’s jungle snapshot, Big Sur at it’s best. My sister and I looked at each other in delight and started hiking faster.

We soon reached the waterfall. All of a sudden the dry mountainside turned into green overgrown, lush vegetation. The water was running down the mountain in a fast stream and immediately we started filling our water bottles, always a risky endeavor. “I’m prepared to get sick, you?”. “Totally. Drink up”. But the water was the truest spring water, the tastiest humans can have. I took out the disposable camera and snapped away, what a true pocket of beautiful earth, what a destination. THIS is worth fighting for.

We reveled in the wild greenery, the lush ferns, the babbling water and soon started our trek back to camp. Half way through,still with a silly grin on my face, I slid on a degenerated portion of the trail.  I regained my balance but heard a large item fall into the hill below, ricocheting off of the trees, disappearing from sight.

“What was that??” 
“I don’t know”
“You’re pack is open”
“Shooooooooo-oooooot……… that was the camera…..”

Well. So much for living proof of this excursion.

The story ends with us locking the keys in the car I think out of heat exposure (and excessive clean air - eat THAT New York City). We subsequently met two nice gentlemen who helped us get our keys out and proceeded to share our campsite.

We were blessed with two new friends - and all their food - and two new fans of Imani Winds’ new album!

Just a gentle reminder that one needs to ALWAYS pursue ‘Terra Incognita’. How else would we have discovered waterfalls AND s’mores??

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Discover ‘Terra Incognita’ here!