Mount Wilson Hike

We hit the trail around 9:00 on Saturday morning: not as early as the hardcore hikers but certainly early enough considering that we had three people in the car, each from a different part of town, before driving out the 210 to Arcadia. The sun was already bright and Geoff, Lindsey, and I warmed up very quickly. As we looked out through the haze over the Pasadena area, trying to guess at landmarks that we truly had no idea what they could be, we happily realized that the hike up to Mount Wilson would be spotted with one spectacular view after another.

In the early parts of the hike we passed a lot of people going both up and down; we hadn't a clue how far up the "down-folks" had made it, but later we guessed that many had gone to a pretty stream just over a mile into the trail. By the time we arrived there, my shirt was drenched through with sweat, so splashing my face felt fantastic.

Continuing up the trail we passed through areas of dry brush and of green forest.

The whole climb was hard, but I hit a wall around mile 5 of 7. Maybe it was the heat (probably around 90 degrees), or the steepness (4500 feet difference from parking to peak), or the poor sleep the night prior (around 4 hours). But it was tough. By the time we reached the top, I had finished my 2 liter Camelback and a Nalgene and a half. But the top of the mountain was worth it. Wilson boasts an interesting Antenna Farm and an observatory, as well as a shelter where we took lunch and refilled our water. After nearly an hour of relaxing, eating, and drinking, we were feeling refreshed and ready to head back down.

Of note on the descent were locating three Geocaches, one of which had been "archived" because it was misplaced (I've contacted the cache owner and we're trying to help him re-find it), and seeing a good-sized rattlesnake in the middle of the trail (darn my camera for taking so long to turn on--the snake was already slithering back into the brush by the time I got a picture). Only one or two other parties went all the way to the top that day, that we were aware of. We saw one of the couples at the base again, unloading their gear into their pickup as we headed toward our car for some cold Powerade and fruit.

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Meet me at the bottom

Last weekend I went canoeing with K and her old friends on the Current River in downstate "Mizurrah." After a late flight into STL and a two-hour drive beyond that, we hadn't had much sleep before heading to the canoe rental place. They bussed the nine of us with some other folks down to the river, and we put in near Montauk State Park around 9:00am. By 9:30, Kristin and I were wet.

The river was pretty low most of the way due to the dry season the whole country seems to have been having. We were scraping the bottom frequently, having to push hard with our paddles at times to keep moving, though the river was moving pretty steady just over 2 mph. In one spot, we got caught in some downed branches while taking a turn a bit too wide. After about a minute of lunging and mad paddling to try without success to dislodge our vessel, I decided to simply step into the water and push the canoe free. This would be a quick little task, and I didn't even need to mention it to K because by the time she saw me get out we'd have our canoe unstuck. So I thought.

Turns out that the deepest part we had passed yet was the exact spot that we were stuck. So with my right leg in the boat and my left leg searching for a shallow river bottom, the canoe started tipping. The bottom must have been about five and a half feet, because we turned completely before I felt ground. Thankfully, our belongings were all strapped in. I could see Kristin getting mad, until, once we got ashore, she realized that our lunch had stayed dry inside the cooler. We dumped our extra water and had a good laugh, then got back on the water to face the rest of our trip with wet clothes.

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