Cool Confusion

Maureen and Clarence pix.

Many grim faces as drivers turned around and Burma Road closed right in front of us due to further power line work (before the next snowy onslaught). But we made it to the meeting area just in time anyway.

Considering all our problems, we had a great 6.5 mile hike today. Things didn't look too auspicious when we stopped at the agreed upon parking area to use the portapotty. One car was missing: the one that suggested it in the first place. We would NEVER actually use that parking lot as the charge was a mighty $10 - just outrageous! After hoping for the best, we headed to the Cool Pointed Rock Ranch parking lot only to find out they charged the same! Priscilla, a little more comfortable with the area from having waited for us because we were waiting for her (got that? oh well it's not important), turned around to use the little shopping mall lot a short distance behind the adjacent fire house. The rest of us ponied up the bucks, although a good deal of grumbling was heard throughout the beginning of the hike.

The hike was not obvious, the map was definitely not useful and the GPS's fairly useless as well. We would go one way on a muddy trail, get to a treacherous water crossing. Having crossed, we would hike for a while and get to an impassable one. This happened repeatedly making the hike very up and down and turning around to repeat. Finally we got off into a good area, kept hiking down the path we hoped (GPS) would give us a good view, which petered out so that it appeared we were hiking on a lawn among manzanita and the like. Lovely, but that became impassable at the overgrown cliff in a clearing. By that point hunger overtook us and we plopped down for a leisurely lunch in the lovely sunlight.

It was our return that was the highlight of the hike. The ranch land was lovely: brambles above the road, tombstone schist (but not the red kind), a pond and stream...sunny and beautiful small cumulus clouds starting to appear. (Yeah, we know what's predicted.) Miner's Lettuce was growing among the green grasses.

What a way to welcome Peter: our new hiker.

Tombstone Schist

Top 5 pictures from Elly.

Middle 5 pictures by Clarence.

5 bottom pictues by Maureen

Another beautiful February day...not quite as sparkling clear as last week, but pretty wonderful...lured 8 of us back to Spenceville, where we met up with Karen. This time we did the trail where you have to climb over the gate and head to the red rocks, "tombstone schist". Clarence told us it used to lie at the bottom of an ocean and then was tilted up to their dramatic formations...they exist in the foothills from about where we were seeing them south to west of Yosemite.

The winter light makes for beautiful undulating shadows under the oaks. We discovered many other old trees - a complete old olive orchard...Akiko harvested one and she tried to spit out the taste for the next few minutes...fig trees and a dramatic thorn tree of some kind. Like last week, we shared the trail with groups of cattle. They would get separated from each other and trot along worriedly wondering if we were friend or foe. Their heavy hooves have compressed trails and left hammocks so the going can be a bit rough.

Leader, Clarence, led us around and about on canal paths and cross-country - it was like wandering through paradise. At lunch we sat by a lovely spring while enjoying the frog music. We even saw our first wild flower: a brodaia of some kind. By the time we got back to the cars, Karen was ready to go home. She dispersed a bucket of oranges from her trees (very delicious) and the rest of us went back over the gate for more hike. We wanted to see Clarence's geocaches because one of them had something called a "Japanese Peso". Akiko had certainly never heard of that and it was peaking our curiosity. The first one was in a group of rocks and Clarence hadn't been able to find it the last time he tried. John found it: a large painted plastic bottle with the usual instructions and a place to sign in. It contained a million dollar bill, plastic toys, and some rocks. We donated a packet of emergency-C and were on our way to number two. That one was a small plastic container. But it was number 3 that held the Japanese Peso. We found it and marvelled but were clueless. Well, mystery is solved: Wikipedia says they were issued by the Japanese during their WWII occupation of the Philippines. They were pretty worthless then: you needed 75 of them to buy one duck egg. In 1944, 100 of them bought a box of matches.

Spenceville Horseshoe Flat Pond

5 more from Clarence

from Maureen

(I hope I have that name correct) Beautiful clear and sunny day with visibility all the way to the snow-coated peaks of the Coast Range. While the weather started fairly nippy, the sun warmed us to shirt sleeves as we hiked up the hills. Right out of the gate, Clarence cut his finger while gallantly holding the barbed wire open so that the ladies could pass through the opening. After some first aide, we proceeded into the lovely landscaping courtesy of quite a few herds of large cattle. It was calving season and small ones lay in the grass or nursed while one or two very pregnant females moaned - in labor? - and the rest of the herd would low in response. At the homestead a couple of good sized stands of Narcissus blessed the landscape with their distinctive aroma and flocks of birds flew around in the meadows. A catch-and-release fisherman floated around in a raft with legs so that he could propel and steer the craft. Lunch was on the cement picnic tables and then we headed back. A few hikers got so far ahead that they missed the cactus gardens and the turn-off. Way ahead, they didn't hear Jo's whistle and blithely headed toward the road. Frank Harpold went after them while the rest of us went up the hill on the trail. After a while, we all 11 of us met back at the cars, having walked 8.5 miles.

Next week will be the red rocks...Karen coming.