- Joined
- May 17, 2006
- Messages
- 4,290
Friendship, over 29 miles on the Trail
Summer is the perfect time for some preparation hikes that are creeping up on me. Before I get too into the place and reasons why, let me just say that there isn’t much gear or knife content in this. There are some things that may arguably be just as important.
I don’t post many hikes anymore for two reasons. The main reason would be that I am of the Ultralight variety. Even though it works for me, and has for years, I always tend to provoke others by simply enjoying my preferred way of travel in the outdoors. The second reason….I hike too much to post every trip. There are some times when I will endure the punches from the bullet proof gear crowd to share some trail experiences.
The Student
This past weekend was a good opportunity for testing many things out. Shoes, packs, knives, legs, and gravity were all on the menu. I almost forgot friendship. Over the course of 29 miles up to 9,000 feet almost every theory on gear, skills and endurance could be questioned. Hiking with different people as well as observing hundreds of people on the trail could be a learning experience also. Whenever I go out for a day hike or any extended trip outside, I know many things could throw the trip right off the tracks. I use the word “outside” because I can’t realistically say “the wild” since that would imply that I am coming from a tame environment and entering a hostile one. When I hear this expression I always think people fell they are working against nature instead of just walking in it. I know I felt the same way not too long ago. In learning to get past my own preconceived ideas of what really happens when the light goes out, snow falls, or I overshoot the trail, I learned a few things. The sun will burn my neck, one little slip on the trail is ok, water won’t kill me on contact, and gravity will always win. My gear, however much there is plays a small role in the scheme of things, merely another tool. The bottom line is if it works for you, gets you home safely, and makes you smile, don’t change a thing.
Twilight Zone
Time on the trail with a friend is time well spent. I like getting out with people that enjoy the scenery, and wildlife. There is always the good and the bad times too. Then there are those times that can seem like, a good deed, if you talk about them they kind of loose their meaning. Those are the moments I look forward to the most.
On our way up to summit Delamar Mountain I had a chance to catch up with a long time friend, fellow musician, and hiking partner. We have tackled some pretty rough mountains and deserts together in some horrible weather, in which most of the time we were just laughing. What else can you do when his hammock breaks and he falls on his back….in the snow? Well as for this hike, there was that other moment, I will try to describe it, not exactly how it happened but how I remember it.
Pacific Crest Trail was the place and the hike was great, 17 miles the day before and 12 today. As we made the 8,376-foot summit up some steep excuse of a trail, we had that feeling of a small accomplishment. Then a funny thing happened to us on the way down, we lost the trail. It could happen. For the next few minutes we retraced our steps and found nothing. It was a wide, rocky trail that was easy to see on the way up. We were hiking toward the sun when we were going up and that made it a little easier to see the trail. On the way down, the sun was behind us that made it harder to see the trail. Just like looking for tracks they are easier to see when you look toward the source of illumination. So after a while of this monkey business, we got wise and starting looking for our shoe tracks. Once we identified our tracks we just looked for them pointing up the mountain, followed them down a bit and turned around as if we were heading back up and there was the trail. Keep in mind that we were both actively figuring this out but most importantly we kept our sense of humor. After all, we were not lost nor did we feel lost, just looking for a missplaced trail. It really seemed like we entered the Twilight Zone for a few minutes as if someone erased the trail and moved all the trees around. Yes, we did have a compass but that would have made things too easy. Like the strange creatures we are, a little suffering is alright.
All in all, a good trip filled with wildlife, laughter and learning. For me it’s the little things, there's nothing bigger, is there?
Avalanche zone
Summer is the perfect time for some preparation hikes that are creeping up on me. Before I get too into the place and reasons why, let me just say that there isn’t much gear or knife content in this. There are some things that may arguably be just as important.
I don’t post many hikes anymore for two reasons. The main reason would be that I am of the Ultralight variety. Even though it works for me, and has for years, I always tend to provoke others by simply enjoying my preferred way of travel in the outdoors. The second reason….I hike too much to post every trip. There are some times when I will endure the punches from the bullet proof gear crowd to share some trail experiences.
The Student
This past weekend was a good opportunity for testing many things out. Shoes, packs, knives, legs, and gravity were all on the menu. I almost forgot friendship. Over the course of 29 miles up to 9,000 feet almost every theory on gear, skills and endurance could be questioned. Hiking with different people as well as observing hundreds of people on the trail could be a learning experience also. Whenever I go out for a day hike or any extended trip outside, I know many things could throw the trip right off the tracks. I use the word “outside” because I can’t realistically say “the wild” since that would imply that I am coming from a tame environment and entering a hostile one. When I hear this expression I always think people fell they are working against nature instead of just walking in it. I know I felt the same way not too long ago. In learning to get past my own preconceived ideas of what really happens when the light goes out, snow falls, or I overshoot the trail, I learned a few things. The sun will burn my neck, one little slip on the trail is ok, water won’t kill me on contact, and gravity will always win. My gear, however much there is plays a small role in the scheme of things, merely another tool. The bottom line is if it works for you, gets you home safely, and makes you smile, don’t change a thing.
Twilight Zone
Time on the trail with a friend is time well spent. I like getting out with people that enjoy the scenery, and wildlife. There is always the good and the bad times too. Then there are those times that can seem like, a good deed, if you talk about them they kind of loose their meaning. Those are the moments I look forward to the most.
On our way up to summit Delamar Mountain I had a chance to catch up with a long time friend, fellow musician, and hiking partner. We have tackled some pretty rough mountains and deserts together in some horrible weather, in which most of the time we were just laughing. What else can you do when his hammock breaks and he falls on his back….in the snow? Well as for this hike, there was that other moment, I will try to describe it, not exactly how it happened but how I remember it.
Pacific Crest Trail was the place and the hike was great, 17 miles the day before and 12 today. As we made the 8,376-foot summit up some steep excuse of a trail, we had that feeling of a small accomplishment. Then a funny thing happened to us on the way down, we lost the trail. It could happen. For the next few minutes we retraced our steps and found nothing. It was a wide, rocky trail that was easy to see on the way up. We were hiking toward the sun when we were going up and that made it a little easier to see the trail. On the way down, the sun was behind us that made it harder to see the trail. Just like looking for tracks they are easier to see when you look toward the source of illumination. So after a while of this monkey business, we got wise and starting looking for our shoe tracks. Once we identified our tracks we just looked for them pointing up the mountain, followed them down a bit and turned around as if we were heading back up and there was the trail. Keep in mind that we were both actively figuring this out but most importantly we kept our sense of humor. After all, we were not lost nor did we feel lost, just looking for a missplaced trail. It really seemed like we entered the Twilight Zone for a few minutes as if someone erased the trail and moved all the trees around. Yes, we did have a compass but that would have made things too easy. Like the strange creatures we are, a little suffering is alright.
All in all, a good trip filled with wildlife, laughter and learning. For me it’s the little things, there's nothing bigger, is there?
Avalanche zone
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