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.