Tuesday, October 2, 2012
We arrived at Henry Coe State Park late in the afternoon without a reservation. I had not worried about finding a camp site on a Tuesday in October, until we slowly ascended the long winding road to the park. What if it were full and we had to retrace our journey back down and find another place for the night?  After all, this is California, near the Bay Area, where almost everything must be reserved months in advance. But I needn’t have been concerned, as we circled the campground we realized we were the only ones there.

It was still very hot and we took a stroll to watch the sun set over mountain ridges to the west. Walking back, we have our first sighting of a wandering tarantula on the road. I am without my camera – a grievous mistake – and when I return with it, he has disappeared. But before I leave him for my camera, I walk along side, joining this arachnid on his autumn mating march, his 8-legged gate persistent and resolute, undeterred by a huge hominid towering above.