Hidden deep within the sprawling expanse of the Henry Cowell State park, a sunbathed river cuts through a small canyon along a railroad track. After a steep hike down a hillside, aided only by knobby root footholds buried beneath towering redwoods, our plucky group comes to the main attraction of the Daily Explorer’s ultimate visit. On some idle warm Tuesday in May, after all our college SIRs have been submitted and all our AP tests have been suffered through, journalism students Wesley Adams, Gio Arteaga, Averi Halbert, Mia Hanuska, Logan Mendelson, and Logan Whiteson join me as we wind through the Santa Cruz forests, follow railroad tracks through the redwoods, and wade through the calm waters of the San Lorenzo river. For the very last time, the Daily Explorers pack their rucksacks and traverse the mean streets of San Jose in search for adventure. What better way to complete the 19-issue series of The Daily Explorer than returning to the beginning: the proverbial “Garden of Eden” itself?
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Welcome back, travelers, to the finale of The Daily Explorer. In this series, I travel (often with Journalism guests) to interesting places within the Bay Area. With these accounts, I hope to inspire the readers of The Shield to explore their hometown and demonstrate that there’s always something new to explore.
Without further ado, buckle up and enjoy the blog-style ride of The Daily Explorer!
WEDNESDAY, May 19
1:32 pm, Ditching Decision Day
After a long and sunny photoshoot with our prospective college pennants, we gathered up our bags and piled into our cars, ready to hit the road. Since Gio and Averi had to leave early, they drove separately. After a short McDonald’s run for coffee (and a very stressful phone call to try and get Gio and Averi on the right freeway, since directions were basically a treasure map:“85 NORTH OR SOUTH? ARE YOU TAKING 9?”), my small red Prius shot off into the Santa Cruz mountains, blasting Jack Johnson through the open windows.
The drive was anything but peaceful, despite my faithful adherence to the posted speed limit. From my car’s broken audio system to the car passing around a rather suspect purple “Demon Sauce” from McDonald’s, the 45-minute drive passed by very quickly. We even pulled up right alongside Gio and Averi while chugging through Scott’s Valley to Felton.
Despite our prayers that the Garden would be completely empty (given the random Tuesday afternoon), the parking lot was pretty well-occupied. But no matter how crowded the water and rocks were, we decided that nothing would come between us and our final adventure with The Daily Explorer.
2:21 pm, Follow the Railroad Tracks
We trekked down a well-trodden path past the North Gate, hands laden with half-melted watermelon and Safeway cookies. I personally felt like the kids from Stand By Me as our little group’s chatter echoed brashly through the trees. Eventually, after rounding our umpteenth bend in the railroad track, we reached the “NO DOGS” warning sign that basically served as the Garden’s entranceway. Despite being colloquially known throughout Santa Cruz as “The Garden of Eden,” the park itself doesn’t recognize the moniker with signage. In my opinion, its unofficial community-given name makes it even more of a whimsical “secret.”
When we finally reached the rocky riverbank, there were already a fair number of UCSC college students present, their blankets spread over the rocks. A blond man with a mustache was wrestling with a bright yellow slackline, another with a durag wondering whether he should jump from the highest cliff into the water below. While we found our spot, we noticed an inordinate amount of beer cans and discarded trash left to rot on the sand or between rocks. Since the Garden did not have bathrooms or trash cans (being a “secret,” after all), all visitors were required to clean up after themselves. Evidently, some visitors did not get the memo.
Mild pollution aside, we slathered on sunscreen to combat the 91-degree Fahrenheit sun, and jumped feet-first into the cool water.
2:49 pm, Fun and Games
For the ensuing couple of hours, we jumped from the various cliffs surrounding the deepest part of the watering hole, tried to balance on the slackline, and talked on our towels for hours about our high school experiences and our favorite memories of The Daily Explorer specifically. Read until the end for our writers’ favorite moments over the years.
While the watering hole itself wasn’t as empty as I had hoped it would be, we had a lot of fun between the glaring sun and refreshingly cold water. Wes went so far as to say he felt “baptized” and “made anew.” We watched UCSC students jump from irresponsible heights into the water below, even talked to a couple of them. The one complaint we had was that it did smell like smoke; and indeed, we spied some cigarette butts hidden in the sand.
When we finally tired, the sun was already hiding behind the towering redwoods and cast shade over the creek. It was around 4:50 at this point, and many of the visitors were long gone. But everywhere we looked—between rocks, hidden in the sand, even in the shallows—were discarded beer cans, bottles, snack tupperwares, and trash of various types. Being one of the more “hidden” gems in Henry Cowell, there were no restrooms or trash cans within a convenient distance. Therefore, evidently, many of its visitors had decided to leave their trash discarded, apparently expecting it to be cleaned up by a gruff ranger or some other good Samaritan with a trashbag.
We, unfortunately, did not bring a trash bag with us. But in typical Daily Explorer fashion, we made do with what we had, fashioning a sling to gather the waste. Logan and I stood on each end, holding the trash hammock tight as we collected. I remarked that I felt like a pair of ants, dutifully trotting around for our purpose.
Eventually, we collected as much as we could carry (which, thankfully, was all of the trash we could find) and made our way back up to the trailhead. I particularly enjoyed placing everything into the unusual metal wastebins. Felt like I was feeding a trash-eating beast.
6:01 pm, Highway 9 and Jack Johnson have a Pizza My Heart
The fact that we were leaving the site of our last ever Daily Explorer—not to mention the irony of that site’s name—was not lost on us. As we wound through the remaining three miles of Highway 9 towards Santa Cruz, listening to the sweet sounds of Jack Johnson’s Between Dreams, I reflected upon my personal relationship to this column: I’ll refrain for now, but it’s coming.
We arrived in Santa Cruz just in time to eat before golden hour. There was a Pizza My Heart downtown, and after a rather taxing search for free parking, we walked towards a scaffolding-masked Pizza My Heart, vying for something substantial to eat, other than Safeway cookies and lukewarm watermelon.
Seated around the trademark Pizza My Heart semicircle table, we worked through a couple of questions from the famous 36 Questions To Fall in Love, which I’ve learned are just a collection of increasingly more personal, thought-provoking questions. Our conversation meandered from historical figures we would like to host at dinner to our ideal “perfect days.” Touchingly, several of us said that an outing like this one would be part of their “perfect day.”
7:40pm, Sunset on The Daily Explorer
I was quite insistent that we catch the sunset on a Santa Cruzian pier—any pier would do. As it turned out, the closest nearby was the Wharf, directly adjacent to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The sun was quickly sinking below the horizon, so needless to say, I was anxious that we reach the end in a timely manner.
To our relief, we made it with about 10 minutes to spare. A lot of this time was spent taking photos with one another in the fading orange light, but we were lucky enough to catch a couple of fleeting moments for reflection in the most romantic setting possible.
The irony of The Daily Explorer’s final activity being a sunset viewing is not lost on me. I might even go so far as to say that it was intentional. But a chill was coming on very quickly, and my parents were adamant that I get home soon and avoid traversing Highway 17 in the dark. By some miracle, we were in Los Gatos when the sky was a darkening navy blue, and in the Westmont parking lot moments before the campus supervisors locked the gates. I dropped off Mia first, then Logan M., then Logan W., and finally Wes. Only when my Toyota Prius was completely quiet—save for Elton John’s silky smooth voice and the sound of my own breathing—did Nostalgic Contemplation finally rear its head.
9:01pm, My Final (Final) Verdict: Ridden With Self-Indulgent Reflection
The Daily Explorer is my baby. If I’m being honest, I never expected this column to survive this long, nor open so many doors and opportunities for myself and my fellow journalists. With 19 issues (18 that I’ve actually written, since Kathryn wrote #11 at the Obon Festival), I feel as if I’ve watched my child grow up and blossom into something greater than I could have imagined. Much greater than I imagined. That being said, I’m under no impression that The Daily Explorer has amassed any sort of following. The Shield’s readership is actually quite small, despite being one of the more robust school newspapers throughout the Bay Area. And I don’t pretend that this column has had a viable, measurable, and notable impact on Westmont, The Shield, or its readers.
But as I scroll through the archive, and each month tack on the most recent adventure, I can’t help but wonder how I would have been different without it. Would I have gotten into the same colleges without those Daily Explorer-themed essays and PIQs? Would I have enjoyed the class as much if I didn’t push myself beyond my comfort zone each month? Would I have been comfortable talking to adults in interviews if I had not practiced so much?
Each answer to the questions above would be purely speculative, of course. There’s no way to know. All I can say for certain is that The Daily Explorer changed me, in more ways than I can count. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to.
Thank you to every team that opened their doors to welcome student journalism, especially considering my lack of experience and undeveloped writing skills in the very beginning. Thank you to the advisor of the journalism class, whose encouragement greatly influenced the column’s development. And finally: Thank you to each of my fellow journalists who featured in my adventures: Mia Hanuska (9), Gio Arteaga (6), Laura Lipcsei (6), Averi Halbert (4), Logan Mendelson (4), Logan Whiteson (4), Kathryn Tanaka (3), Wesley Adams (3), Max Hesterman (2), Faith Gonia, Carter Cormier, Hailey Kearns, Aliyah Miramontes, Roman Soto, Cami Yee, Isa Hunter-Quintero, Sergio Macian-Rojas, and Sarah Ruebenson.
To round out the last Daily Explorer, our journalism guests have given their opinions on their favorite experiences with The Daily Explorer.
“My favorite moment was [during the Gatsby Picnic] when my shoe fell apart and everyone banded together to repair it with a janky temporary fix. It was the most vintage-feeling experience during a 1920s party. Also it was really funny.” – Logan Mendelson
“My favorite moment from The Daily Explorer is when I almost projectile vomited on the way to San Francisco when we went to the Cal Academy of Sciences!” – Gio Arteaga
“My favorite was probably the Great Gatsby picnic because I loved getting to dress up! The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is a close second; I loved the talking animatronic guy. And, of course, going to In-N-Out after all the Daily Explorers has been a fun way to tie so many of them together. It’s so hard to pick just one favorite when all of them have been so fun and with such amazing people.” – Mia Hanuska
“My favorite moment was probably the Great Gatsby picnic which was so fun and immersive or the last one at the Garden of Eden because I genuinely just got to spend time with the people who made the last 3 years of journalism so much fun.” – Averi Halbert
“One of my favorites was getting to host it for the San Jose Japantown Obon. Very grateful Emi entrusted me with her baby LOL and I’m always excited to share my culture/traditions with people.” – Kathryn Tanaka
“My fav was also the Cal Academy. I loved how we were able to go in the backrooms and see all the preserved fish and specimens! I also really liked going inside the butterfly and bird enclosure cause it was so pretty!” – Laura Lipcsei
PHOTO ALBUM:
THE VERDICT:
- It’s a good idea to visit the Garden on a random weekday. Though it was a little crowded, I can only imagine what the site would look like on a day when the general populace is free to visit.
- Bring sunscreen and bug spray!
- It’s much more enjoyable to swim on a very hot day. I’m talking high-80s and hotter. The water is not cool—it’s cold—and if the water on your skin doesn’t naturally evaporate within a few minutes, you’re outta luck.
- Please, for the love of god, pick up your trash.
- Your ambitious ideas are good ideas. You’d be surprised how far you can go with an email.
And for the final time, I want to thank you, the reader, for joining us in our adventures.
Signing off,
The Daily Explorer
P.S. Go Bruins!