Syke(!)s: Night One

Night 1/25

I had the opportunity to go on a backpack this month!

My friend Skye had also never been to Sykes Hot Springs in Big Sur and so we went. Both of us have spent a good chunk of our lives living in Santa Cruz, and I have been backpacking in Big Sur twice, so never having been there felt a little strange.

And we hiked in, and then we hiked out the next day. And I never need to go back.

It is a ten mile hike with quite a bit of elevation gain and some trail obstacles. A giant felled tree for one. Falling the wrong way getting over that log would suck. A lot. Before we left we knew it was Spring Break for at least one of the major local universities, but it was the time we had so we went.

i don't think i am exaggerating if i say we saw over 100 people in the two days of hiking. It seemed like something of a pilgrimage for college students. There were folks hiking in all manner of preparedness and dress and gear and lack there of. One girl was carrying a plastic grocery sack and she was wearing a black eyelet romper with fashion boots. The man she was with seemed to be hefting the gear, etc. load for the both of them. Another man I saw hiking was carrying two duffel bags each slung across his chest in a different direction and he was carrying a guitar in his hands. It was kind of stunning. In 29 years of backpacking I had never seen anything like it.

Parts of the trail are steep, very steep. There is poison oak everywhere, there are many stream crossings.

The site of the hot springs itself is trashed. There is trash around, between where we chose to camp and the river was a pile of human shit, thoughtfully covered in toilet paper. And since there is nowhere to poop, it's not all that surprising. Although I assume the perpetrator did the deed under the cover of darkness. There are too many people around to get away with that in the daylight. According to what I read on the internet there is a wilderness toilet one should use. However, although I looked for it, I never found the sign. The signs for the toilets were obvious at the other campsites we passed. When we asked around we were told it was gross, and smelled. But nobody could describe very well where it was actually located. The hot springs are better described as a tepid trickle that has been dammed by previous visitor's. We hiked in on a Monday. It was getting more crowded as we were hiking out.

But, that was my first night out!! 24 more to go. For what it's worth, I slept remarkably well.

And, it was not without its moment of tranquility. Really. For all those people there it was somewhat quiet. Furthermore, there were a ton of dogs and still it seemed pretty quiet.

My daughter is asking if we can get to our/her blog now. Today is going to be our first post and we decided on the name: The Xochitl Mommy Blog.

Not so much nights out...

I am not camping or backpacking, but I am in Utah. I am looking out at red rocks. I was hiking on cross-beds this morning. And I will again tomorrow morning.

I couldn't wait for April, or even next week to get out. I needed to get away. And I could. So I did.

I needed to get out and be calm, and walk, and get a lot of exercise and be away from some things. I arrived yesterday evening, i booked my trip less than 24 hours before i arrived. I wish I was camping or backpacking, but I will take just being here and getting out and sitting in quiet places looking at these rocks. I am lucky as fuck to have this.

And maybe I'll do a big hike in Zion later this week? I don't have to decide now, that is great.

Book Review: Wilderness

Written by: Lance Weller

I bought this book at the Portland Airport outpost of Powell's on my way to Alaska, for a backpack in the Wilderness (Gates of the Arctic National Park). I didn't have a lot of time at the airport after my glass of wine. I saw the title, the cover photo, and that it was a staff pick, grabbed it, paid, and boarded my flight for Fairbanks.

That was in 2013.

I don't remember if I knew it was historical fiction, I think I thought it was about something wildernessy, like hiking. Or about a family somewhere homesteading. But it is about a man who fought in (for the South despite being a northerner)and survived the Civil War then settled in the Pacific Northwest.

It reads as though it is written by someone who loves the wilderness and describing it (and who does that well) and is a Civil War buff. I previously would not have described this as an interesting combination, which is good since i don't have to take that back. It is a fantastic book that starts slow. The description in the beginning moves like the Grapes of Wrath but the war action helps it pick up. It is Wallace Stegner sad, and manages to conjure family tragedy when family in the traditional blood relative sense is distinctly lacking.

I finished the book this weekend and I don't remember when I started reading it. However, it was long enough ago that i forgot what i read in the prologue. That made the last 20 pages or so far more suspenseful than if I had remembered the prologue. So...I think it was actually a good thing for me. I reread the prologue right after I finished the book and I liked that order of operations.

http://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Novel-Lance-Weller/dp/1620400626/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425531999&sr=8-1&keywords=lance+weller+wilderness

Breakfast Chocolate

Breakfast chocolate is something I invented on the trail. It's pretty simple. Once breakfast is technically over, but packing up hasn't started, or packing is finished and we are waiting to move, there is breakfast chocolate. Breakfast chocolate has the power to set the tone for the day. Much like "Bedtime Whiskey" has the power to set the tone for your sleep and dreams.

Is it going to be a fun morning of hiking with lighthearted conversation and even lighter feet or a drudge through boot and sock soaking hummocky tundra? Of course, I am talking about the same hike. Did chocolate love poetry inspire tales of true love with happy endings or is it all you can do to not tell the most annoying member of your hiking party to stop filling you in on his bowel movements?

Furthermore, the planned hike for the day, can determine your choice of melt in your mouth and possibly your hand sustenance. Are you hitting the big pass that takes you up to the continental divide or just making your way to the trailhead on the last day out. The former requires something special, say Poco Dolce. The latter, should you have any chocolate left, celebrate and eat whatever it is, probably the milk chocolate M&Ms.