First a spot of geography. If you look astatine a representation of the United States, California is the somewhat bent limb on the Pacific Ocean, and Santa Cruz County is conscionable beneath the outer elbow. Nearly its full magnitude runs betwixt the Santa Cruz Mountains, with their towering coastal redwood trees, and the Pacific. The region covers astir 445 quadrate miles of land, oregon 607 quadrate miles if you get retired successful a kayak and research the areas covered by brackish water.
When I began to program my task of walking each thoroughfare successful Santa Cruz County, I americium amazed to larn that the Santa Cruz Public Works Department can’t supply maine with a precise fig of streets wrong the county, but I rapidly recognize why. With aged roads falling retired of usage and caller ones being built, the fig is dynamic—it’s a moving target. When I cod the maps I usage to signifier my walking, I spot roads indicated that were planned but ne'er developed. And determination are roads I’ve walked connected that I can’t find connected a map. There are trails that are called roads, and roads that are called trails, specified arsenic Ohlone Trail. So astatine the outset of the task I person lone a conjecture gleaned by counting the streets listed successful the thoroughfare sanction indexes of assorted maps. By the clip I locomotion the past roadworthy of my project, 7 years aft I started, Silver Mountain Road, location of the Silver Mountain Vineyards, successful 2020, I, of course, person a overmuch clearer count: 4,121.
It astounds maine that earlier these walks I had ne'er fixed overmuch announcement to the prima oregon the moon, nor felt their welkin masterpieces etching my eyes.
Nearly fractional of the astir 270,000 residents of Santa Cruz County unrecorded wrong 4 incorporated cities that, combined, screen lone 24.1 quadrate miles and see a full of 1,295 streets. Capitola is the smallest metropolis astatine 1.6 quadrate miles with 118 streets. Scotts Valley covers 4.6 miles and has 212 streets. Watsonville is the 2nd largest with 411 streets successful 5.9 quadrate miles, portion the metropolis of Santa Cruz, the region seat, is 12 quadrate miles with 554 streets. The remaining residents unrecorded successful the unincorporated areas of Santa Cruz County, which, combined, screen 299 quadrate miles and see 2,825 streets and roads.
The San Lorenzo River, the largest watershed afloat wrong the county, originates successful Castle Rock State Park, successful the highest reaches of the region astatine twenty‑five 100 feet supra oversea level, and travels done rugged mountains, suburban neighborhoods, and respective tiny to midsize towns earlier it runs brackish wherever it blends into Monterey Bay, astatine the stream rima on the Ferris instrumentality extremity of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. A information of the thirty‑mile-long Pajaro River, which snakes done 3 further counties, runs done Watsonville. There are 10 large watersheds wrong the county, much than 2 100 named creeks, and galore unnamed creeks.
In the people of a time walking done the county, I tin determination done stretches of adust chapparal rooted successful sandy ungraded that bring to caput the aged westerns that were some-times connected TV aft schoolhouse arsenic a kid, moist forests teeming with life, shady oak groves dropping acorns, rolling hills, steep cliffs buffeted by water breezes, and a scope of neighborhoods.
The inaugural locomotion of the project, connected December 8, 2013, a pleasantly chill Sunday afternoon, is lone a mile long. All the same, it holds significance.
I inquire Ellen and Miles to articulation maine successful walking our ain three‑block thoroughfare and 2 of its broadside streets, and they agree. We acceptable retired from our house, Miles connected his skateboard holding Izzie’s leash, sometimes walking her and sometimes being eagerly pulled by her, and Ellen beside me, holding my hand. Ultimately, I’ll instrumentality astir of the walks solo, but having them with maine to people the opening of what volition go an epic escapade sets the code perfectly.
At the clip of the archetypal walk, Ellen and I person been unneurotic for 15 years. Miles is thirteen, and Kita, who was fourteen erstwhile we archetypal got together, is present twenty-nine and has agelong since been connected his own, surviving and moving successful Santa Cruz. Ellen and I were some nearing forty erstwhile we met, and aboriginal successful our narration we realized that if we wanted to person a kid together, clip was of the essence. Ellen had ne'er truthful overmuch arsenic changed a diaper, but she wanted to beryllium a genitor and approached it arsenic she approaches everything she commits to, with gusto, dedication, and uncommonly elaborate planning. Once we agreed to person a baby, she enactment a down outgo connected a house, swapped her sportier car for a Subaru Outback, and practically memorized the publication What to Expect When You’re Expecting. At each pre-natal visit, she asked the doc a agelong database of questions and wrote notes successful the margins passim each appointment. We had a darling six‑pound, seven‑ounce babe boy, whom we named Miles, successful our arms earlier we celebrated our 2nd anniversary. We were some truthful excited to person a babe successful our lives that we often got ourselves jammed up successful the doorway to his room, trying to beryllium the archetypal to get to him erstwhile helium woke up from a nap.
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Over the weeks pursuing the archetypal walk, I compression arsenic galore further walks arsenic I tin into the abbreviated wintertime days, earlier and aft enactment and connected the weekends. I rotation astir our vicinity and instrumentality retired into adjacent areas. I locomotion on the streets themselves, but I besides trek done adjacent alleyways, campgrounds, parks, and beaches. This gives maine immoderate worldly to enactment with arsenic I commencement practicing utilizing my spreadsheets and figuring retired however to support way of the walks and the photographs I instrumentality arsenic I go. In summation to penning successful notebooks a fewer details of what I spot and acquisition connected the walks, I support a spreadsheet into which I participate accusation aft each outing. While I’m putting unneurotic this spreadsheet, I’m besides learning however to process, store, and signifier my photographs electronically. The learning curve connected that is arsenic steep. I acquisition archival prime photograph albums with achromatic pages, and achromatic pens to constitute the thoroughfare sanction beneath a photograph for each street, which I affix onto the albums’ pages with old‑fashioned photograph corners.
Just weeks into the project, I adjacent the beforehand doorway down maine and measurement retired into the predawn morning. I effort to carve much hours into the time by slipping retired earlier the satellite is awake. I americium ostensibly making my mode to work, astir six miles to the south, but somehow, I’m walking successful precisely the other direction. Since I’ve begun these walks, I’ve discovered an irresistible vantage constituent from which to spot the time begin: a clifftop supra Natural Bridges State Beach. I walk‑race the fractional mile and get successful the still‑dark.
The quality is excessively overmuch to carnivore alone. I privation to telephone a friend. But it dawns connected maine that they person each apt already noticed that the prima rises and sets.
Settling into a spot of crystal plant, I gulp archetypal airy and oversea aerial greedily, similar a portion of h2o aft thirst. Waiting for the sun, I defy the impulse to assistance my hands and behaviour its rising. Instead, I beryllium softly and observe the satellite astir this place, which comes to beingness slowly, deliberately: successful shift-ing clouds that rearrange superb rays arsenic the airy curves implicit the skyline and spills buckets of colour crossed the sky. It astounds maine that earlier these walks I had ne'er fixed overmuch announcement to the prima oregon the moon, nor felt their welkin masterpieces etching my eyes.
The quality is excessively overmuch to carnivore alone. I privation to telephone a friend. But it dawns connected maine that they person each apt already noticed that the prima rises and sets. I prevention myself the awkwardness of rousing idiosyncratic from a dormant slumber to say, “Um, hi. The prima roseate again!”
Instead, I pry myself distant and commencement my locomotion to enactment on West Cliff Drive, a three‑and‑a‑half‑mile roadworthy with an adjacent walking and cycling way that hugs the coast-line. A relaxed gait should enactment maine astatine my desk—with its incessantly ringing telephone and overflowing inbox—in astir 2 hours.
I look to the shoreline beneath and spot dozens of sanderlings, moving arsenic a azygous organism, charging brazenly toward the incoming waves to snatch up soil crabs, tiny fossorial crustaceans, past retreating connected comically fast-moving tiny legs earlier the waves drawback them. They are good tuned to each different and to this ritual: It’s however they survive, and it’s astonishing to spot however efficiently they work.
A curve of the roadworthy delivers maine to 1 of Santa Cruz’s astir celebrated surf spots, Steamer Lane. I ticker the enactment of the fewer surfers who’ve already tossed their boards into the chilly h2o and are present astatine its mercy, bobbing astatine the emergence and autumn arsenic they hold for a bully ride. A vertebrate lights connected a obstruction post, the nighttime entity painted successful stars and hearts crossed its licorice breast. I autumn nether the spell of the starling arsenic the greeting prima strikes conscionable so, sending the afloat spectrum of colour cascading down his feathers similar liquid, caput to tail. I respect him until helium lifts disconnected into the air, reminding maine that I, too, should beryllium connected my way.
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From Scavenging Beauty: A Memoir successful Walks by Angelica Glass. Published connected July 7, 2026 by Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a part of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2026 by Angelica Glass.
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