My tribute to John Ford.
The view from our camper around six a.m. Wow, are we glad we took off last night. There's no water or electricity at the campsites, but the refrigerator actually can run on gas so our yogurt was fine.
Gorgeous morning and we're here for it! See the moon over the rock?
Don't worry, no encounters of the third kind were in the offing.
We decided to take a different approach to this cliff than we did last year at this time. There's a photo on this post that shows Hyrda at the top of this cliff.
Yeah, okay, I'll admit it. There was a point shortly after Hydra scaled this rock and jumped over a two-foot gap between boulders when I froze up for a little bit. I had gotten us into this, but I couldn't quite hoist myself up to the next level (which would still require me to leap a veritable gorge of some 24 inches.)
My legs are not as long as Hydra's. I couldn't quite get a knee under myself to move up his route. And there was a nasty space between the rocks on my optional path that really looked like a great place to break an ankle.
Mind you, I had a hiking stick in one hand and a water bottle and a camera hanging from a strap slung over my shoulder as I was attempting this. Hydra came my way and took the stick and the strap and sort of talked me through it. "You can do it!"
Yes. I can.
We really pushed our boundaries on this hike, both of us. Big rock climbing, thinking our way through the tumble of boulders, pushing past fear.
Heh... Hydra was a little shocked when he saw the photo above... "That's not me!?"
We took a nice calm dry creek bed back toward the campsite. I think we deserved it!
This was the view from our campsite at Boulder Creek. We had a nice day of walking around nearby Lone Pine, CA, reading and relaxing. Bought some groceries at Joseph's Market (established 1895!)
