After hiking a while in the pitch black night, we realized the trail
was wrong. How could we be on a different trail? There is only one trail.
We backtracked and found where we went wrong. In the fading light of my
headlamp, I had led them down a wrong turn. We backtracked a while and found
our way onto the correct route, and quickly we arrived at the horsebridge.
We found Angie, and Jenn sleeping quietly in their tent and noisily invaded
their camp and set up our sleeping bags on the slanted surface of the beach.
The temperature was perfect as it would stay all weekend long.
The dogs kept many of us up that night. Mojo protected the camp with
loud, viscious sounding barks several times in the night. When Dave and
Ferd arrived at 4am, Mojo and Odog didn't hesitate to wake the entire western
hemisphere with their relentless barking, and running, and sand-in-the-face
antics. No one was pleased.
The next day we headed out to Emerald Beach to find our hangout spot
for the day. We loaded up the inflateable rafts and swam and hiked to the
best spot in the gorge. Once we made ourselves comfy, we made ourselves
even more comfortable, by swimming, and lounging in the water on the rafts
all morning. Being away from reality was quite a treat, and we all savored
each minute of it.
As the sun hit the center of the sky, the heat became more intense. So
we lathered up with SPF and rallied to make the riverhike upstream to the
waterfall. Much to their dismay, we tied the dogs up at an adjacent campsite
where a rope looked to be a perfect dogleader. We ditched our mutts there,
leaving them whining loudly for us. I tried my best to ignore them. Eventually
their whines disappeared behind the canyon, and they were out of sight,
out of mind.
We arrived at where the gorge tightens and sheer cliffs rise on either
side over 50 feet. Some of us climbed up one side to jump off the other
side, perhaps a 25-30 foot drop. We continued through the gorge, it tightens
to the point where you can literally touch both sides with your palms, and
is as deep as 50 feet. The waterfall just beyond there was the highlight
of the trip. We took turns climbing up the rope to the top of the slippery
waterfall. Suddenly Ferd dislocated his shoulder climbing up, and Sam slipped
nearly sending him off the waterfall. We decided to head back.
I arrived back at camp famished. We all ate some food and spent the rest
of the afternoon power lounging in the sun, playing cards, napping on the
rafts in the water, and swimming.
As night fell, we decided to make our fire in the living room (on the
rocks next to the beach) and brought our sleeping pads up to make ourselves
comfortable. Ferd produced some marshmellows and we all happily devoured
too many marshmellows each. We struggled to keep the fire burning small,
because the night was so damn warm, and eventually, we all began to doze
where we sat. The cocktails had done their work, and we were all feeling
pretty exhausted.
We all slept under the stars that night. No tent required, the night's
temperature was toasty. Joe O'Brien didn't even bother to use his sleeping
bag at all.
The next morning, we weren't even awakened by the yapping of dogs. They
were all too tired from the activities of the day. We packed and headed
back to civilization reluctantly.
Outback was closed...
Applebee's had a 45 minute wait. We opted for Chevy's and ate heartily.
Too heartily! After I ate a ridiculous amount of food; I stuffed myself
back into the car and we headed home feeling complete.
Ferd pumps water.
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Hiking in pitch black night has its own challenges. |
Rauser climbing the rope at the waterfall |
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So white it hurts! |
Ferd smiling despite having dislocated his shoulder. |
Angie, Chelsea, and Ryan
Mike and a bowl of Scotch and water
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Nuggy for Mojo
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Ferd mixes cocktails. |
Otis and Mojo exhaust themselves.
Joe O'brien
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Ferd and Joe on a woodrun. |
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Roman Candles on the beach. |
 Amy, Odog, Sam, JoeH, Dave, Natty, Jenn, Chealsea, JoeO, Angie, Ryan,
Brian, Mojo, Mike and Ferd. |
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