Back from Turlock
Greetings all. I’m back from Turlock with a correction to make. In fairness to Turlock I need to mention one of its best points that I forgot in my previous post – the Lewis family. Big Mike and his folks did time in Turlock and they are just downright good people who I am proud to know and who Turlock should be proud to have had.
Great trip all around. My work went well and quickly which is all I could ask. I got to hang out with my friends Randy and Beth and their two great kids. I got to hang out and watch a ton of football with my brothers Caleb and Enoch and Caleb’s wife and kids. And the 49ers won their home opener against the hated Rams. Good times. For more on the Niners victory and a recap of this weekend’s sports offerings, check out my sportsblog.
Also, assuming I get the time to write it, be on the watch on my entertainment blog for reviews of Little Miss Sunshine and Invincible. Both movies were very good, but I’ll lay it out there later.
The best part of my trip though, by far, was coming home to my family. What a blessing they are. For any of you who travel away from your family, here’s a suggestion that might make things easier. When Enoch moved to Sacramento, he hooked us up with a webcam to help him stay in touch with his nephews. That has been fun, but even better for me is that it allows my lovely and mactastic wife to record and email short videos of her and the boys, usually saying “hello” singing some silly song or just basically being kookie. I now have a small library of these small cinematic gems. Nothing eases the stress of travel like getting to see your wife and kids be silly on camera just to cheer you up. Give it a try.
I don’t like leaving things unfinished. I do, because I suffer from lack of self-discipline, sudden onset laziness and the occasional lack of focus, but I don’t like it. So, when I’m aware enough to avoid it, I try. With that in mind, I’m going to now return to my Summer backpacking trip to 3 Sisters with my lovely wife and brother Enoch in hopes that some day, I will finish it.
Day 2 – The Death March.
I’m sure there are some people who go out into the wilderness to camp without any real plan. They just pick a spot and say “let’s go there and then we’ll ‘hike around’” Well, not me and especially not me when my lovely wife is involved. My wife is a bit of a conundrum in situations like this. In other situations she is a major conundrum (to me at least, but as you no doubt have realized, I’m a little off), but in this situation she’s just a “bit” of a mystery. My wife loves to have a plan. If she could she would plan every major holiday and vacation from now through the next 50 years. But, she is also very giving, flexible and can be quite spontaneous. My point is that she doesn’t need a plan, but she prefers one. On this backpacking trip, she was excited to be a part of the planning process which was made somewhat difficult by my general desire to only make a plan moments before the event is happening (or perhaps a few minutes after it has started), but she powered through. And so, we made a plan. She would have been happy to go without one, but even happier with one and when it comes to wives, happier is always better than happy.
Our plan was to set up camp the first night and then go on day hikes the next two days before hiking out on day 4. For Day 2, the plan was to find this very cool spring/falls that my Dad had discovered when he had been to this area before. He had described this as basically a jet of water that comes shooting out of a stone face. That sounded like something to see so we decided that would be our hike for Day 2. As we were leaving, Tanya, trying to figure out what was ahead for her and her injured calf asked how long the hike would be. After studying the map, turning the map right side up and studying it again, I assured her that it was only 3-5 miles round trip and while it would be uphill coming back, it should be a fairly modest climb. This proved to be bad information. While you might think I would only have myself to blame for our impending predicament, in fact I can always find someone else to blame. This time, I blame Bud Selig. Darn that Selig and his campaign of misinformation about the 3 Sisters Wilderness area. Ok, I’m done.
Anyway, we headed down the path in search of a stream that we would follow off the trail until we found it’s beginning at the unusual spring. The path and grade were as expected, a relatively gentle down hill. When we got to the stream, there was no stream. Just a dried up stream bed. This was a problem for a number of reasons. First, our destination had lost considerable appeal since finding a spring that is no longer creating a stream is really just finding a hole and those are everywhere. I mean , look around you right now, I bet you can see like 10 of them.
Second, while we were carrying water, it was really just enough to get us to the stream and not nearly enough to eat lunch. If you will recall from prior posts, the food we brought for lunch requires something like a fire hose to be shooting a constant stream of water into your mouth for you to have enough moisture in your body to swallow your food. In other words, we were going to need water and had none. In hindsight, (which as we’ve discussed in prior posts is never 20/20), it would have been better to just head back up to camp. Tanya could have rested her leg and we could have just enjoyed the campsite and plenty of good available water.
Instead, because of Bud Selig, we decided to continue down the trail in search of water. The trail we were on led to something called Racetrack Meadows. Before leaving for this trip, my Dad had explained that this was a giant meadow in the middle of the forest where long ago Indian tribes had come from miles around to race horses in something they called the “Nextel Cup Challenge” The top point leaders from racetracks in meadows all over the northwest would get together, cover their horses in the names of sponsors like “Home Depot” (which is actually Navajo for “giant store where you will spend much money on never ending projects), and race around the meadow to the delight of tens of thousands of their Indian brethren that lived to see people going fast and turning left over and over. In other words, it seemed like something pretty cool to see.
Also, on the plus side was that the map showed several streams going through Racetrack Meadows which would provide us with much needed water. It was only a mile or so away, so we headed down there. When we got there, it was amazing. A beautiful giant meadow that immediately brought with it mental pictures of its ancient past. It was very cool. Unfortunately, it was also very dry. No streams. None. Now we were even further from camp and while we still had a bit of water, we didn’t have enough for the trip back and not nearly enough for lunch.
We consulted the map and saw that just another mile or so away was a series of lakes. Lakes sounded like paradise. We were hot and dry and mountain lakes are neither of those things. Plus, they promised beautiful scenery and perhaps even swimming during the lunch break. So, despite the fact that we were now heading even further away from camp, we kept on toward the lakes.
The lakes were spectacular. Small mountain lakes that perfectly reflected the beautiful forest around them. The sun-sparkled surface was so alluring it was all we could do to not immediately jump in….so we did. It was actually not all that cold, but cold enough that we weren’t going to hang out long. Plus, I don’t really swim per se, so after wading around a bit, I was refreshed and ready to be done. With a lake full of water we were able to consume our bagels and protein bars and we were ready for the trip back. Before we left Enoch made sure to wash his hands, face and hair in the lake near where we were eating. After he had just finished he glanced to his left to notice that his entire bath had been shared by a large dead lizard floating there in the lake beside him. He was not pleased by this discovery. That was good humor…not for Enoch…but for us. Good stuff.
We discovered from looking at the map that we could continue on the trail we were on and it would be a loop that would connect us back to our original trail and lead us back to camp. That way we could see some areas we hadn’t seen yet and go by some more cool stuff like lakes and whatnot. This would also allow us the opportunity to add several miles to our hike and tackle a very long steep climb of switch backs up a ridge back to our original path. See where I’m going with this? We didn’t really appreciate all that at the time of course, so we just continued on as if we didn’t have the benefit of a map and GPS. Admit it, you are dying to go camping with me aren’t you?
In addition to the trail back being much steeper and longer it was also new which meant that we couldn’t be quite sure how much further we had. This proved to be a difficult psychological hurdle especially for those of us who had injured our calf muscle. What the map did not show us was that the new trail was designed by MC Escher and even though we had only walked about 6 miles away from camp, we had to walk approximately 85 miles to get back to camp. How is that possible? How is it possible that Two and Half Men is still on the air and Arrested Development is not? I don’t know. But it’s true.
We ended up hiking about 13 miles before we got back to camp. The last 4 miles or so was quite steep and my asbestosis (see early posts for explanation) was kicking in big time. My lovely wife’s leg was barely useable and no one was happy. But stopping was not an option. We had to get back to camp. It was at that time that I was reminded that my estimate for the day was a 3-5 mile gentle hike, and also reminded that if my wife could use both her legs she would run up the trail to me and kick me back down the hill side. Ok, she never said that and in fact did almost no complaining even though she could have, but the look in her eye suggested that staying out of arm’s reach wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Finally, after blood, sweat and tears we made it back to camp. We got Tanya some cold water for her leg and generally tried to take care of her for the rest of the evening. Not that she asked for it, but after that hike, her leg needed the rest. The evening was uneventful. The mosquitoes that had been so bad the night before were blown away by a soft breeze. The campsite was still beautiful and my wife’s leg slowly began to recover enough to toss the Frisbee around. The death march had led us past some beautiful scenery and given us all a sense of accomplishment.
We went to bed with promises that the next day would be much more relaxed.
In the interest of finishing this report, here’s an abbreviated version of the rest of the trip:
Day 3
· We took a very short hike up to obsidian falls and then just above it to some great little ponds and meadows
· Everyone was more relaxed and we spent the day bouldering and skipping rocks on the pond. You wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I am an expert rock skipper by the way. Just thought you should know.
· We played some more Frisbee that night and spent another great evening in camp
Day 4
· We hiked out which was almost all down hill and spoke frequently about how good real food was going to taste.
· We got to our car, remembered that we had no gas, I lied and told everyone I’m sure it would be fine and then we did our best to coast as much as we could down away from the trailhead until we found a gas station.
· We ate massive hamburgers (Tanya didn’t, but I can’t remember what she ate, something not as good as a massive hamburger I think)
· We got home and had the kind of splendid shower that can only exist after a backpacking trip.
All in all, it was a great trip. My tough as nails wife had a good time in spite of her injury and boneheaded guide and we all enjoyed ourselves. I can’t wait to do it again. Hopefully next time, the recap will take less time than the trip to write and read.
Great trip all around. My work went well and quickly which is all I could ask. I got to hang out with my friends Randy and Beth and their two great kids. I got to hang out and watch a ton of football with my brothers Caleb and Enoch and Caleb’s wife and kids. And the 49ers won their home opener against the hated Rams. Good times. For more on the Niners victory and a recap of this weekend’s sports offerings, check out my sportsblog.
Also, assuming I get the time to write it, be on the watch on my entertainment blog for reviews of Little Miss Sunshine and Invincible. Both movies were very good, but I’ll lay it out there later.
The best part of my trip though, by far, was coming home to my family. What a blessing they are. For any of you who travel away from your family, here’s a suggestion that might make things easier. When Enoch moved to Sacramento, he hooked us up with a webcam to help him stay in touch with his nephews. That has been fun, but even better for me is that it allows my lovely and mactastic wife to record and email short videos of her and the boys, usually saying “hello” singing some silly song or just basically being kookie. I now have a small library of these small cinematic gems. Nothing eases the stress of travel like getting to see your wife and kids be silly on camera just to cheer you up. Give it a try.
I don’t like leaving things unfinished. I do, because I suffer from lack of self-discipline, sudden onset laziness and the occasional lack of focus, but I don’t like it. So, when I’m aware enough to avoid it, I try. With that in mind, I’m going to now return to my Summer backpacking trip to 3 Sisters with my lovely wife and brother Enoch in hopes that some day, I will finish it.
Day 2 – The Death March.
I’m sure there are some people who go out into the wilderness to camp without any real plan. They just pick a spot and say “let’s go there and then we’ll ‘hike around’” Well, not me and especially not me when my lovely wife is involved. My wife is a bit of a conundrum in situations like this. In other situations she is a major conundrum (to me at least, but as you no doubt have realized, I’m a little off), but in this situation she’s just a “bit” of a mystery. My wife loves to have a plan. If she could she would plan every major holiday and vacation from now through the next 50 years. But, she is also very giving, flexible and can be quite spontaneous. My point is that she doesn’t need a plan, but she prefers one. On this backpacking trip, she was excited to be a part of the planning process which was made somewhat difficult by my general desire to only make a plan moments before the event is happening (or perhaps a few minutes after it has started), but she powered through. And so, we made a plan. She would have been happy to go without one, but even happier with one and when it comes to wives, happier is always better than happy.
Our plan was to set up camp the first night and then go on day hikes the next two days before hiking out on day 4. For Day 2, the plan was to find this very cool spring/falls that my Dad had discovered when he had been to this area before. He had described this as basically a jet of water that comes shooting out of a stone face. That sounded like something to see so we decided that would be our hike for Day 2. As we were leaving, Tanya, trying to figure out what was ahead for her and her injured calf asked how long the hike would be. After studying the map, turning the map right side up and studying it again, I assured her that it was only 3-5 miles round trip and while it would be uphill coming back, it should be a fairly modest climb. This proved to be bad information. While you might think I would only have myself to blame for our impending predicament, in fact I can always find someone else to blame. This time, I blame Bud Selig. Darn that Selig and his campaign of misinformation about the 3 Sisters Wilderness area. Ok, I’m done.
Anyway, we headed down the path in search of a stream that we would follow off the trail until we found it’s beginning at the unusual spring. The path and grade were as expected, a relatively gentle down hill. When we got to the stream, there was no stream. Just a dried up stream bed. This was a problem for a number of reasons. First, our destination had lost considerable appeal since finding a spring that is no longer creating a stream is really just finding a hole and those are everywhere. I mean , look around you right now, I bet you can see like 10 of them.
Second, while we were carrying water, it was really just enough to get us to the stream and not nearly enough to eat lunch. If you will recall from prior posts, the food we brought for lunch requires something like a fire hose to be shooting a constant stream of water into your mouth for you to have enough moisture in your body to swallow your food. In other words, we were going to need water and had none. In hindsight, (which as we’ve discussed in prior posts is never 20/20), it would have been better to just head back up to camp. Tanya could have rested her leg and we could have just enjoyed the campsite and plenty of good available water.
Instead, because of Bud Selig, we decided to continue down the trail in search of water. The trail we were on led to something called Racetrack Meadows. Before leaving for this trip, my Dad had explained that this was a giant meadow in the middle of the forest where long ago Indian tribes had come from miles around to race horses in something they called the “Nextel Cup Challenge” The top point leaders from racetracks in meadows all over the northwest would get together, cover their horses in the names of sponsors like “Home Depot” (which is actually Navajo for “giant store where you will spend much money on never ending projects), and race around the meadow to the delight of tens of thousands of their Indian brethren that lived to see people going fast and turning left over and over. In other words, it seemed like something pretty cool to see.
Also, on the plus side was that the map showed several streams going through Racetrack Meadows which would provide us with much needed water. It was only a mile or so away, so we headed down there. When we got there, it was amazing. A beautiful giant meadow that immediately brought with it mental pictures of its ancient past. It was very cool. Unfortunately, it was also very dry. No streams. None. Now we were even further from camp and while we still had a bit of water, we didn’t have enough for the trip back and not nearly enough for lunch.
We consulted the map and saw that just another mile or so away was a series of lakes. Lakes sounded like paradise. We were hot and dry and mountain lakes are neither of those things. Plus, they promised beautiful scenery and perhaps even swimming during the lunch break. So, despite the fact that we were now heading even further away from camp, we kept on toward the lakes.
The lakes were spectacular. Small mountain lakes that perfectly reflected the beautiful forest around them. The sun-sparkled surface was so alluring it was all we could do to not immediately jump in….so we did. It was actually not all that cold, but cold enough that we weren’t going to hang out long. Plus, I don’t really swim per se, so after wading around a bit, I was refreshed and ready to be done. With a lake full of water we were able to consume our bagels and protein bars and we were ready for the trip back. Before we left Enoch made sure to wash his hands, face and hair in the lake near where we were eating. After he had just finished he glanced to his left to notice that his entire bath had been shared by a large dead lizard floating there in the lake beside him. He was not pleased by this discovery. That was good humor…not for Enoch…but for us. Good stuff.
We discovered from looking at the map that we could continue on the trail we were on and it would be a loop that would connect us back to our original trail and lead us back to camp. That way we could see some areas we hadn’t seen yet and go by some more cool stuff like lakes and whatnot. This would also allow us the opportunity to add several miles to our hike and tackle a very long steep climb of switch backs up a ridge back to our original path. See where I’m going with this? We didn’t really appreciate all that at the time of course, so we just continued on as if we didn’t have the benefit of a map and GPS. Admit it, you are dying to go camping with me aren’t you?
In addition to the trail back being much steeper and longer it was also new which meant that we couldn’t be quite sure how much further we had. This proved to be a difficult psychological hurdle especially for those of us who had injured our calf muscle. What the map did not show us was that the new trail was designed by MC Escher and even though we had only walked about 6 miles away from camp, we had to walk approximately 85 miles to get back to camp. How is that possible? How is it possible that Two and Half Men is still on the air and Arrested Development is not? I don’t know. But it’s true.
We ended up hiking about 13 miles before we got back to camp. The last 4 miles or so was quite steep and my asbestosis (see early posts for explanation) was kicking in big time. My lovely wife’s leg was barely useable and no one was happy. But stopping was not an option. We had to get back to camp. It was at that time that I was reminded that my estimate for the day was a 3-5 mile gentle hike, and also reminded that if my wife could use both her legs she would run up the trail to me and kick me back down the hill side. Ok, she never said that and in fact did almost no complaining even though she could have, but the look in her eye suggested that staying out of arm’s reach wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Finally, after blood, sweat and tears we made it back to camp. We got Tanya some cold water for her leg and generally tried to take care of her for the rest of the evening. Not that she asked for it, but after that hike, her leg needed the rest. The evening was uneventful. The mosquitoes that had been so bad the night before were blown away by a soft breeze. The campsite was still beautiful and my wife’s leg slowly began to recover enough to toss the Frisbee around. The death march had led us past some beautiful scenery and given us all a sense of accomplishment.
We went to bed with promises that the next day would be much more relaxed.
In the interest of finishing this report, here’s an abbreviated version of the rest of the trip:
Day 3
· We took a very short hike up to obsidian falls and then just above it to some great little ponds and meadows
· Everyone was more relaxed and we spent the day bouldering and skipping rocks on the pond. You wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I am an expert rock skipper by the way. Just thought you should know.
· We played some more Frisbee that night and spent another great evening in camp
Day 4
· We hiked out which was almost all down hill and spoke frequently about how good real food was going to taste.
· We got to our car, remembered that we had no gas, I lied and told everyone I’m sure it would be fine and then we did our best to coast as much as we could down away from the trailhead until we found a gas station.
· We ate massive hamburgers (Tanya didn’t, but I can’t remember what she ate, something not as good as a massive hamburger I think)
· We got home and had the kind of splendid shower that can only exist after a backpacking trip.
All in all, it was a great trip. My tough as nails wife had a good time in spite of her injury and boneheaded guide and we all enjoyed ourselves. I can’t wait to do it again. Hopefully next time, the recap will take less time than the trip to write and read.
Comments
And since you asked, 21 days till Jury Duty.
Any way, welcome back.
Ok, so here's my prediction about jury duty. I predict that if there is a case in need of a jury and if you are on the panel, you will be selected. In other words, I do not expect that a lawyer will bump you off the jury. I think they will assume you are a completely sane person with ideas generally shared by the general public. In other words, they won't know what hit them.
Cwinwc, Thanks. My wife could not agree with you more....except maybe for the fond memories part.
Mactastic, No doubt your best name so far even if it does run off the page. I had a plan. I knew our route. it was just the execution that was in question.