Self Archives - Maggie InkMaggie Ink

A celebration for a life well-lived

October 15, 2023

The other day my 9-year-old son asked what exactly people celebrate during a “celebration of life.”

I thought it was a great question — something I hadn’t thought about, even though I’ve attended many such celebrations before.

I explained that it varies depending on the situation. If the person believed in an afterlife, we’re celebrating their passage to a better place. If the person had been ill or injured, we can celebrate their freedom from pain. And if the person had cultivated a life full of loved ones, we celebrate the impact that person made in their world and what they meant to everyone in it. Sometimes it’s an amalgam of all these things.

That’s what was on my mind Saturday when I attended a celebration of life for my friend Steve Vericker, a desert radio host and local personality.

When I moved to the Coachella Valley in 2005, I worked for the daily newspaper. My job was in the features department, writing lifestyle stories and my own weekly column. I worked hard to make a good impression; this had been a big move across the country, and Palm Springs both awed and intimidated me. I desperately wanted to carve out my own little place in it.

However, there was a popular morning radio show that eviscerated my column every week. Absolutely ripped it to shreds. And the more I pushed myself to be cool or impress readers, the more it altered my voice. Months after my arrival, I was mocked, miserable, and wracked with self-doubt.

An email from a stranger

That’s when I received a message from Steve Vericker (known on the radio as Steve Kelly).

“I want to get you on my show,” he said. “Let’s talk about some stories you’re working on and show people who you really are.”

Keep in mind, I didn’t know Steve. I hadn’t yet met Steve. But somehow Steve knew everything. He understood I needed a life preserver, and he made a point to be one for me. So I went on his show. I chatted about who I am and what I write, and it restored a lot of my confidence.

To this day, I’m still touched by his gesture. It was a generous use of his platform and a real gesture of kindness at a time when I didn’t see much of it elsewhere. Not only was Steve great at helping out fellow journalists and creating valuable networks, he was very good at being kind.

Many years later, our friendship well established, Steve popped into my inbox again. This time it was to say he was proud of me for getting quitting alcohol. He told me that he’d been dry for decades, and he credited sobriety with saving his life.

“I promise you, life only gets better,” he wrote.

So that’s what I celebrated on Saturday during Steve’s celebration of life — the gifts he so freely gave, the way he reached out whenever life was hard, and the promise that things always get better.

•••

Steve’s ashes will be spread by his family and close friends in Ireland. If any of you are ever in the Emerald Isle, I hope you’ll think about his generosity of spirit, and it’ll inspire you to pass along a small kindness.

Songs to Summit Mount Kilimanjaro

April 4, 2023

To climb Mount Kilimanjaro, I needed a banger playlist. So I made one. What I didn’t anticipate was that summit night — a seven-hour strenuous hike through the dark to reach the peak — would be such a physical, emotional, and mental hellscape, and the music would take me places I didn’t expect.

I’ll share the full story of summit night soon. In the meantime, here are some of the tunes that played during the trek to 19,341 feet.

Born to Run • Bruce Springsteen

I intentionally made this the first song on my playlist, because I thought it would get me amped for hiking. But I’m not sure wtf I was doing, because I never heard it. Not once.

All I Do is Win • DJ Khaled

I’m not really a DJ Khaled listener. But every day when we reached camp, this song barged into my head uninvited and ran through my brain on a loop, so it was a given for summit night.

Sabotage • Beastie Boys

You know what does get me amped? Anything by the Beastie Boys. I should’ve made a whole Beastie Boys playlist. I guess there’s always the next mountain.

Give No Fucks • Drama

The entirety of summit night was a struggle, but particularly the first few hours. When I eventually found my groove, this song matched my cadence. So I remember hearing the beginning of this tune, but then I zoned out on the endless road to nowhere.

Take Me With U • Prince

This is when I began to hallucinate.

There were a lot of Prince songs on my playlist, and I loved them all. But this particular one reached into my brain and elevated me to another plane.

Listen to it. There’s something about the absolute chaos of the first 15 seconds and how it abruptly transforms into something sparkling and true. It was so stunning it almost took my breath away. (Almost. I couldn’t spare any breath at that point.)

Hearing this song at this particular moment felt like the first time I did psychedelic mushrooms and discovered God in the bark of a tree. Like how did I not see this vision before? Also glittery finger cymbals! Magic.

Spaceship • Kesha

Still on my mountain high, I was walloped upside the head by my favorite Kesha song. Even though I’ve listened to Spaceship numerous times, I’ve never paid attention to the spoken part where Kesha says, “I’m nothing more than recycled stardust and borrowed energy.”

Climbing a mountain of ash and ice, I felt that. I felt that I was recycled stardust, and space was calling me home. Just put me on a spaceship. Or a helicopter. Whatever. Take me away.

Help I’m Alive • Metric

When I’m not climbing a mountain, I love this song. I hated it on Kilimanjaro.

Every time they sang, “Can you hear my heart beating like a hammer? Beating like a hammer?” I was like YES, I HEAR MY HEART BEATING LIKE A HAMMER. I hear my heart in my ears, and I feel my heart in my eyeballs. Everything’s beating. Everything’s a hammer. Fuck.

Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) • Shakira

I cried. I can’t remember if this was the first time I cried on the climb or the 47th time I cried. The sun was rising, like an oil lamp flickering to life, illuminating the rocks and glaciers, and I was just reaching Stella Point, all of Africa below.

It would take another hour from that point to reach the peak, but damn it, Shakira believed in me: “This is your moment, no hesitation / Today’s your day, I feel it.” So I wiped the tears that had frozen to my cheeks, and I kept going.

Work It • Missy Elliott

The best. I thought I was depleted, but somehow this song summoned more energy from my bruised, battered body — and even inspired me to add a little dance to my steps. Proof that songs about peen can help me accomplish most anything.

American Girl • Tom Petty

“God, it’s so painful, something that is so close is still so far out of reach,” Tom Petty crooned as I made the final push to the peak.

“A little too on the nose, Tom Petty,” I muttered to myself. “Nobody will ever believe this.”

Training for a Mount Kilimanjaro trek

March 31, 2023

I’ve had a few people reach out to me about how I trained for the Mount Kilimanjaro trek, (and I also want to remind myself of what I’m capable of), so I’m pulling it all together here. It’s a blend of weightlifting, cardio, Peloton, outdoor activity, and Wim Hof method.

Here we go:

THE BASIC PLAN

I started ramping up my cardio and doing long hikes many months in advance. But as the date of my trip creeped closer, I got serious about training. This 12-week training plan was my basic outline, and my friends who summited used this too. Because I work, have a family, and juggle a freelance career, I did modify the plan on occasion, but I tried to stick to it as best I could.

CARDIO

For cardio, I rode my Peloton a lot. For my “fun” rides, I opted for Jess King’s sweat steady rides or HIIT classes from my favorite instructors. But I primarily focused on doing Power Zone challenges — these are 6-8 week challenges of Power Zone classes, which use your individual functional threshold power for a customized workout to improve endurance, performance, and strength. I think PZ classes are also particularly effective for improving VO₂ max, the amount of oxygen your body can take in and use during exercise, and that was a priority for me. I’ve struggled with asthma my entire life, and I was nervous about the thin air at Kilimanjaro’s extremely high altitudes.

WEIGHTS

I also knew I had to get stronger in order to carry a heavy pack for several hours each day, scramble up rocks, etc. I have a set of free weights that I use at home, and I used those to do the IRON series from Caroline Girvan on YouTube. I won’t lie — these classes are HARD. Some days my muscles trembled for hours afterward. But they’re great. It’s like having the world’s best personal trainer in your house.

YOGA

Power yoga was recommended by both my pulmonologist and a friend who has summited Mount Whitney, so I added that into the mix too. It was beneficial for keeping me flexible, but also for learning to regulate my breath with strenuous movement. I took Peloton’s yoga classes, but you could do classes from anywhere. (One thing about me and yoga: I always have to force myself to do it, even though I feel great afterward and love having done it. So if you feel the same way, you’re not alone.)

OUTDOORS

Outdoor workouts were also a huge part of my training. In addition to long hikes, I also walked up the steepest road in my neighborhood, sometimes wearing a backpack weighted with dumbbells, sometimes wearing my friend’s baby in a carrier on my back.

In my case, the steepest road around is Tramway Road, which climbs 1,800 feet in 3.7 miles, and I grew to love my sunrise walks there. (We just moved away, and I miss that road more than I expected, especially considering how many times I cursed at it.)

WIM HOF

Are you familiar with Wim Hof? He’s a Dutch madman who plunges himself into ice, performs extreme athletic feats, and can hold his breath for six minutes at a time. And I completely and wholly believe in his methods. I first learned about him in a wacky GOOP documentary, I’m embarrassed to admit. Then he led a breathwork session on my favorite meditation app, and I felt tingly and high just from breathing. (That was on Insight Timer, but sadly his session has been removed.)

To prepare for Kili, I knew that cold exposure and increasing my lung capacity would be helpful, so I cobbled together some Wim Hof training on my own. I read everything I could about the guy and his techniques. I downloaded Wim’s app, paid for some of the trainings, and practiced his breathing method. I don’t have an ice bath for cold plunges, so I did cold water for the last few minutes of every shower (I increased the cold water time over a period of months). You can also find instructors trained in the Wim Hof method all over the world.

Overall, I worked very hard long before I ever saw the mountain, and then I worked very hard to summit it. And I discovered that I’m stronger and more determined than I ever realized.

My ultimate California bucket list

December 19, 2022

I confess it’s taken me years to pull together my ultimate California bucket list — but that’s probably because there’s so much to do in the Golden State!

I’ve been chipping away at items ever since I moved here in 2005. Some things I did immediately (road trip along State Route 1), some fell off the list entirely (appear as a contestant on The Price is Right), and many I’d still like to do (bike the Golden Gate Bridge, hike in Yosemite, and so on). This post is a compilation of my top 50.

Keep in mind, this list is in no particular order. Also since I live in Southern California, it’s heavy on items in this part of the state.

What else would you add?

50 things you must do in California

Hike to the Hollywood sign
Stay at Madonna Inn
Watch a show at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
Summit Mount Whitney
See a Joshua Tree sunrise
Bike the Golden Gate bridge
Check out the mud pots in Lassen Volcanic National Park
Attend the Indigenous sunrise gathering on Alcatraz
Stay overnight in the haunted room at the Queen Mary
Tour Hearst Castle
Drive State Route 1
Visit General Sherman at Sequoia National Park
Whale watching at Dana Point
Disneyland
Visit La Brea Tar Pits
Sound bath at the Integratron
See Solvang during the holiday season
Go camping in Big Sur
Swim in Lake Tahoe
Drive around Catalina in a golf cart
Stay at Esalen
Order from the secret menu at In-N-Out (Actually I should do a separate list of California bucket-list foods)
Visit the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt County
Spend time in Channel Islands National Park
Visit Watts Towers
Ride in a San Francisco cable car
See a movie in Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Buy books at City Lights
Tour Winchester Mystery House
Watch the rocks at Death Valley racetrack
See the swallows at San Juan Capistrano Mission
Hike Half Dome in Yosemite
See the Antelope Valley poppies in full bloom
Attend Pageant of the Masters
Help build floats for the Tournament of Roses Parade
Drive (the CA portion of) Route 66
Look through the telescopes at Griffith Observatory
Visit a fire lookout
See a live taping of a TV show
Experience the Magic Castle
Climb Kelso Dunes in the Mojave Desert
See the Mono Lake Tufa towers
Watch the sunset from Sunset Cliffs in San Diego
See a show at the Hollywood Bowl
Hike to Potato Chip Rock
Put dimes on Frank Sinatra’s grave
Visit Golden Gate fortune cookie factory in San Francisco’s Chinatown
Stroll Rodeo Drive
Explore Salvation Mountain and East Jesus
Be an extra in a film

52 Hikes, Part 2: Covid-safe family hiking in Palm Springs (and beyond!)

February 28, 2021

This year I set a goal of taking 52 different hikes with my family. You can read Part 1 here, which is about our 11 hikes in January.

That brings us to February, one of the best hiking months in Palm Springs. It’s post-holidays, so the trails aren’t crawling with people, and it’s pre-summer, so the trails aren’t crawling with rattlesnakes. Perfection!

Here are the 8 hikes we did this month.

Keep in mind:
• These hikes are family-friendly, meaning they were good for my family. They are not necessarily stroller accessible or toddler-friendly.
• I’m strategic about when and where I hike. Some popular trails get heavy traffic throughout the day, and I don’t feel comfortable on narrow paths with people who might not be wearing masks. So I go early or late.
• Don’t take my distance as gospel. Hiking with a 6-year-old child involves a fair amount of wandering, so your mileage might vary.
• Do check check a website like AllTrails for current trail conditions. I always look the map to get an idea of the terrain, and I read the most recent comments for any relevant info.
• Please wear a mask when you encounter others on the trail.

North Lykken to Falls View, Palm Springs • 6 miles

We accessed this via the trailhead on Cielo Road, which is located in my favorite Palm Springs neighborhood. From here the journey appears so charming and not at all like the brutal killer it is.

I kid. Kind of.

After a quick but steep climb, the trail leads you through Chino Canyon, which is an isolated and tranquil part of Palm Springs. It’s particularly dreamy when wildflowers are in bloom and the whole canyon looks like a screensaver.

Okay, here’s the killer part: The hike was pleasant out through the canyon but surprisingly strenuous on the return. I partially attribute this to a lack of snacks and an unseasonably warm February day, but wow. Just watch out for that. We should have turned back long before I turned into a hangry goblin.

Lake Calavera Loop, Oceanside • 4.3 miles

We spent Presidents’ Day weekend in a remote yurt, which was wonderful and gave us new places to explore.

I really loved this trail system because it was a great mix of well-maintained, easy trails and wilderness with rock scrambling and overgrown parts. Also you can’t beat the excellent view from the top.

However, so few people were wearing masks that I wondered if Oceanside had defeated the virus and didn’t tell anyone.

The trail had heavy traffic at the beginning and end, but we were able to maintain good distance on offshoot trails in between.

Los Jilgueros Loop, Fallbrook • 1.2 miles

A quick loop around a sweet nature preserve. It seemed to be a popular place for birders.

Roadrunner/Chuckwalla Loop, Rancho Mirage • 3.1 miles

A picturesque trail system that ambles through the mountains around the Ritz Carlton — a five-star view for free!

Aside: We didn’t make that rock heart that you see in the photo, because I teach Everest to leave only footprints. But he was happy to stumble upon it!

Araby Trail, Palm Springs • 3 miles

This trail takes you past the Bob Hope home, a mushroomy modernist masterpiece, and into the hills beyond the residence. It’s so fun, especially in the spring when the hills are lush and verdant. Also it holds some surprises. I won’t spoil them for you.

Continue toward Berns Trail Lookout for a longer loop, which we did not do.

North Lykken Loop, Palm Springs • 1.4 miles

There are a lot of ways to access the Lykken in Palm Springs. For this hike, we used the trailhead on Ramon Road, and it was an entirely different experience than the North Lykken loop we hiked earlier in the month.

My son had such a great time here, because there were dozens of offshoot trails to explore, outcroppings to climb, and plenty of adventures to be had. Plus there are spectacular views of downtown Palm Springs throughout. We didn’t cover much distance, but we spent a few hours having the best time.

We could have continued this hike north, where it meets up with the Museum Trail. Instead we followed the map on AllTrails to make this a true loop, ascending via the steep dirt trail and returning on the stone “road.”

South Lykken, Palm Springs • 3.6 miles

I personally refer to this as Middle Lykken, because there’s another South Lykken trailhead at Oswit Canyon.

This is my very favorite trail in Palm Springs, because it’s both challenging but rewarding, and it’s always spectacular. Over the past few years, it’s rare to hike here and not see bighorn sheep, although you might have to keep your eyes peeled. (Other times, they walk right across the trail!)

Note: There’s no parking at the trailhead, so park on Mesquite close to Palm Canyon, near the Happy Traveler RV Park, and walk up the street until it dead-ends at the mountain.

Pushawalla Palms Loop, Coachella Valley Preserve • 4.6 miles

This trail is like traveling through an actual metaphor — you have to trudge through the desert to get to an oasis.

Multiple oases, to be accurate.

Follow a slender ridge along the top of a bluff before descending to the Pushawalla Palms grove on the desert floor. This is a cool oasis with water that has been brought to the surface from the San Andreas Fault.

Along the way back, you’ll pass through another collection of full-skirted palms and see even more water. Here we had a snack, lolled in the shade from the trees, and watched a flock of Gambel’s quail skitter about — a respite from the rest of the world.

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