Day 2 of the Last Camping Trip of Summer 2012 began with coffee,breakfast, and agitating for the rope swing to be set up, like, now. I declined. It isn't too early to learn anticipation...
And, plus, in the meantime the kids come up with entertainment on
their own. They brought out a couple chestnuts: Little Sally Walker ( a musical chairsesque dance party), and
the new to me Good Day Bruce (an Australian accented word game). Hilarity ensued. Way better than everyone off in their own private virtual world.
For those who wondered what I'd forgotten this time, it was the tent poles for the 2 person tent that the girls would use. No problem, we drank a couple a Hamm's and pulled out some Surly Junk Straps and a pair of bungees and it was all of a sudden ultralight! Worked...
Children who sleep in tents deserve to be hassled.
Bike pile!
The water was way too low for grown-up rope swangin. It was fine for the kids. I gave it a shot, and alls I got in return was a banged up foot.
Floats.
Beers.
Low hanging cliff jumps.
Lounging.
We gained some company for the day, and then lost them plus 2 of our own. Camping in shifts, if that's what it takes. E____ told us we were "core", but I think it's just doing it. Your kids are subject to your whims...make them toe the line. They will (maybe) thank you for it later.
You know we're Black and we're Evil. Evil as a clan can be.
It's a whole lotta camping to reach Day 3. Lots of laying about, lots of chores that somehow seem less a chore where it is harder to accomplish than at home (ex. cooking, dishes, etc.), lots of buggy flies (no biting, but a lot of buzzing eyes/ears/arms/legs), lots of shooting empty beer cans (with the requisite emptying of said cans- er, targets), lots of messing about in the river.
We got around to setting the rope swang up after breakfast. After the "can we just read books for a while". No one was in any hurry. The shoes were still drying on the boulder in the meadow from Day2's hike to the narrows. There were plenty of things to shoot out with a Red Rider BB rifle. There was pancakes, there was coffee. There was birdsong and river mumbling.
We caught a garter snake who'd made the mistake of curling up in the warm sun where kids could see him. He knows better now. That was one glad-handed snake.
Speaking of, N eyeballed a snake of indeterminate species on the hike upriver on Day 2. It was in the water when we came upon it, and in fleeing us it swam (well) to the bottom where it briefly stopped among some rocks before continuing on and up into a thicket. According to this computer, there are no water snakes native to CA, so I am at a loss as to it's provenance. It was dark with black patterning. NO rattle.
Guess who else showed up? Ski_, whom we had seen roughly a year prior at the very same spot, and some more horsey folk. One of the gals' horses rolled an ankle on the round river stones and took her for a tumble. That was exciting.
Eventually we built another camp____ at water's edge and roasted ears of corn. J loves mac'n'cheese, so we soaked some pasta until it was hydrated- covered it with cheese, fresh garlic and onions, wrapped it in foil and buried it amongst the coals. Then we got down to some serious crawdad hassling to pass the time...
Dinner was right on time. If you already didn't know, marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate make s'mores. I don't like those, but the kids more than make up for that. We balance by them not liking corn liquor solo in a camp chair 'neath the Full Hunter's Moon.
...bony fingers, Brothers and Sisters. Bony fingers.
A Happy Labor Day to all my friends!
This is a blue belly workin man's lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis). After submitting himself to several catches and releases on D_____'s part, he graciously became the 1st ever lizard catch for J______. Maybe he was just tired.
Studies have shown that Lyme disease is lower in areas where the lizards occur. When ticks carrying Lyme disease feed on these lizards blood (which they commonly do, especially around their ears), a protein in their blood kills the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The ticks' blood is therefore cleansed and no longer carries Lyme disease.- Wikipedia says _uck yeah.
Though, it could have been that J was up to speed on account of his new cockpit parts...we all know how fast carbon fibre makes one. J needed a new saddle. And his old post is clamp-style. It was in the parts bin. He only weighs 63lbs. Sorry.
Ruling it on Mudhen Express.
Chasing him on foot.
He catches up to his brother,
...and they both ride off and ditch me.
Taught them well, I guess. Since Cross Season starts next Sunday(!) we talked race techniques. And how it is OK (and encouraged) to stick it to the other racers- but never hurt anyone.
Picking up longtime leftover empties from the cache in the Caprock.
Sizing up the competition.
Right before I pipped him at the line.
Old age, treachery, etc. And speaking of, my arms are feeling on the mend. Thanks to RestIceCompressionElevation, soft tissue work and some acupuncture. Riding was on hold. Frowny face. Now, I am feeling happy again. Smiley face.
Welcome to your future. I hope it has gainful employment, bicycles, checking for snakes under plyboard, secret hide-outs, rope swings, and beers in the woods with your bros.
image courtesy of Golden Age Comic Book stories. Happy Independence Day, America! I don't care what they say- you're alright.
J______ and meself celebrated with some Secret Boys action.
Plan 1 details heading straight for the New Stairs and rope swang- GO! We were feeling so good, we decided to head for the Caprock and see if these rumors are true...
Yes. There is a bench there now. I'm torn between hating any changes (and certainly any "progress") and appreciating the assumption that this bench legitimizes the spot enough to guarantee no more surprise bulldozerings. I mean, it's chained to the rock!
It is a nice place for a pause for the cause.
BACK!...so here it is again. I hope you understand. J riding the singletrack. He rode the whole of Mudhen Express with no help from me whatsoever. Out and back. Whoopdedoos and rutted entrance.
POW!
We took Barloy over to Blair Witch and down. There was a small, pencil thickness California Gopher Snake impersonating a stick on the fire road. We checked it out. Then we took Henniken's Ranch Road up to the old used to be trail end for the Rattlesnake Trail. We don't ride that anymore, and there's a good reason why not. It became epidemically poison oaked 3/4 of the way up. Of course, we pushed through- how are you gonna turn back then?! Throw good hike-a-biking after bad? Not on the 4th. Not on the 4th.
Our reward for persevering?
Horny Toad.
Then we checked under every piece of plywood we came across. And some we went well out of our way to reach, too. No good rattlers, but under the notorious piece that housed them there was a 4foot(!) gopher snake. I don't know how to say it, but seeing those snakes straight up pretend to be rattlers- to the point of pulling their head in to mimic the deadly triangular shape, and wiggling their tail- is a tough evolutionary pill to swallow. That ish is amazing.
J wanted to hit the stairs/rope swang again.
So we did. Look at that oak. Mighty, mighty. I don't understand how these can be on the table for developing a fucking bus depot when there are literally acres of blighted concrete parking lots cracking and filling up with weeds near the MPC end of Fort Ord. These county supervisors we got are dooooooooouchebags.
We can't use a tower full of bees for kickass adventures, after all. Barring a successful convo with a beetrapper/keeper, I will be getting all covered up and sneaking up after dark to tape cardboard over the holes. I realize this is mass murder, and will attempt to avoid it, but I think the bottom line is them or us. I'm choosing us.
Who wants a piece of this? 20 feet in the air, after dark, facing potentially Africanized bees? What could possibly go wrong?
The goal of the day was adventure. Bicycles. New Stairs. Shady oaks. Brown Lunch.
My favorite one liner ever? "Hold my beer and watch this..."
Prior to firing up the Esbit for some doctored split-pea soup, I handed D my beer and shimmied up the oak until my ribs wouldn't allow anymore and tied up the pirate rope we been using at Arroyo Seco. It worked out well enough that this may be it's permanent home.
The rope swang was enough of a thrill ride, that the boys weren't bothered by waiting for the twig fueled cookout.
Then it was my turn.
Graceful!
J is riding SO well!
First ride for D on the new bike.
26" Rockhopper. I think it's over-the-top, he likes the flash. Whatever gets him stoked. Since I'm back in the shop, this is a good use of my resources. He needed a new bike. The 24" is just too small. He likes the paddle shifters. I like the disc brakes. It's too big (17.5"!), but he's got to use it for several years and he juuust fits it. I will shorten the stem and replace the bars with some swept backs; Mary or the like. Then he will be faster than you.
Hey Lord Hayden, we found your stash in the manzanita, and we tucked it up under the caprock where it'll keep cool.
This has been an example of how to trick your children into a longish bike ride.
