Talk About A Hike With A View!
In the distance is downtown Los Angeles – and there are so many great ways to get a spectacular view like this…so I wanted to share some of my favorite hikes in the world! These hikes are made even better because of who I get to take them with – my wife Alex:
Let’s Go “Hitch Hiking!”
Alex came up with the title “Hitch Hiking” – a series of hikes we’ve done together, and classic Hitchcock films that these hikes reminded us of…let’s begin “hitch hike #3” with a trip to Northern California, one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world…
Welcome To Bodega Bay!
Located 67 miles north of San Francisco, Bodega Bay is a gorgeous, wind-swept beach snuggled along beautiful sand dunes that are kissed by ice cold Pacific Ocean water…
Just south of Bodega Bay is Dillon Beach, miles and miles of sand and sea – with beautiful views in both directions…and we explored it for hours…
You can walk for miles in either direction, and you can also head fairly far out into the water based on whether the tide is out or not – bring a picnic and blanket as well, so you can sit down and watch some very aggressive waves – and windsurfing – because as you will see, there is a LOT of wind – but it’s also a beautiful beach to take a long long hike:
When we arrived, there were dozens of windsurfers battling the high wind and waves – the combination of heavy seas and high winds makes this a real endurance test – take a look!
We ended up “beach hiking” more than five miles that afternoon…in some very aggressive winds – but the beach was filled with families having picnics, swimming, and enjoying this spectacular coastline…
The End Of The Day…
It was so windy that we finally called it a day – after close to ten miles of walking the coastline – and we headed a few miles south to Nick’s Cove – a terrific restaurant with an equally impressive sunset view:
So there’s your hike, and if some of this incredible scenery looks familiar, it could be because one of Hitchcock’s great shockers was filmed here:
“The Birds” – 1963
Yes, Bodega Bay was home to much of the filming of this classic shocker. Everyone remembers the terrifying moment when “the birds” decide to go after people!
The plot of this Alfred Hitchcock shocker was simple: a wealthy San Francisco socialite decides to pursue a potential boyfriend, and follows him to a small Northern California town – Bodega Bay – where the local birds suddenly begin to act very strangely…
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Alfred Hitchcock
This film, coming right after Hitchcock’s “Psycho”, firmly established him as the master of the shocker!
Here is a very long but funny movie trailer, hosted by Hitchcock himself:
Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren starred in the film, which was a huge box office hit…
The schoolhouse, in Bodega, California, has also been known to be haunted, even back during the filming. According to Tippi Hedren, the entire cast was spooked to be there. She also mentioned how she had the feeling, while there, that “the building was immensely populated… but there was nobody there.”
And that classic building is still there!
Hope you enjoyed this “Hitch Hike” – classic Alfred Hitchcock movies combined with a hike through some of the world’s most beautiful places – like this one:
Yes, my first “Hitch hike” was high above the pacific ocean near Malibu – see more here:
More “Hitch Hiking” to come!
