our small comedy of errors
Caleb and I have "thrown our hats over the fence," so to speak, and gotten ourselves permits to hike Mt. Langley, a 14,000+ foot peak near Mt. Whitney. Our reservation is for Labor Day weekend, the first weekend in September. So we decided it was time to start stretching our hiking legs. So on Saturday we decided to go out and test our hiking legs. We went out to San Jacinto, near Palm Springs. But the day didn't go entirely as planned ...
First of all, we woke up an hour late. We'd planned on being out of the house by 7, at San Jacinto by 8 or so, with lots of time to hike. But we didn't leave the house until 8.
We planned on a one-hour drive, but it ended up taking us 2 hours to get up the mountain to Idyllwild, now putting us 2 hours behind our original plan. The first thing we had to do was fill out a day-hiker pass at the ranger station. We filled that out, grabbed the carbon copy for ourselves, then headed to the trail head, just 1/4 mile or so away. As we started grabbing our stuff, we had a small debate about the day-pass we'd just filled out. Do we take it with us? Or is it supposed to stay in the car? We couldn't remember what the sign said, and there were no instructions on the blue pass itself, so we decided to leave it in the car. Besides, the odds of actually running into a ranger on the trail were pretty slim.
Before we headed out, we decided to find a bathroom first, and there was a nature center just across the street. So we threw our bags in the cab, locked the doors, and headed across the street. Within about a minute Caleb suddenly realized he'd put his keys in his pack, and the pack was in the locked car. Yep, we'd locked ourselves out. NOW what?
Well, what's another hour behind, at this point? We still needed to go the bathroom, and there were probably rangers in the nature center who could help us out, so we kept walking. Inside the rangers loaned us a phone, and even the number for AAA (being as how our wallets were also locked inside the car). As we were arriving back at the truck, so was the mechanic.
I could have sworn our mechanic was the pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean who was always losing his wooden eye. He looked like him, AND he had the same accent! But he was a very nice man and had us in the truck in about 10 minutes. We filled out the information he needed, grabbed our packs, double checked the keys were inside, and finally headed out on our way. It was now 11:00, and we were 3 hours behind schedule.
But, we still had most of a beautiful day in which left to hike, so we headed off still in pretty high spirits. The trail was a nice one, littered with only pine needles and pine cones. It was a pretty steady climb, and right off the bat I could definitely feel that I hadn't been out hiking in a long time. But it was a perfect day to be out, so I ignored the tightness in my legs.
About an hour into our hike, the odds we'd played earlier about the day-hike pass finally played out, and we lost. As we were heading up the trail, a park ranger was making her way down the trail. She said hi, and then asked us for our pass. Of all the hikes we'd been on, we'd NEVER run into a ranger on the trail! Well, we managed to talk ourselves out of getting cited, PROMISING her it was in the dash of our black truck sitting in the parking area at the trail head. She believed us, and said she'd check. She let us go on our way (even though she had every right to not only cite us, but make us head back down the trail and get our pass). But the rules were very confusing.
The rest of the hike was beautiful. We stopped for lunch about an hour and a half later, sitting on a rock in the sun, enjoying having the packs off our backs for a few minutes. We made it four miles up the trail before turning back, at which time a storm came rolling in, dropping the temperatures quite a bit. We threw on jackets and started heading back down the mountain. I like going down, its faster. But sometimes you still wish for a respite from the jarring the downhill trek does to one's knees and feet. Mine were beginning to ache ... and the further downhill we went, the worse those aches got. I guess I wasn't as ready for an 8-mile hike as I'd originally thought I was. By the time we reached the truck, with the day-pass still staring at us knowingly from the dash board, I was already so sore I didn't know if I could climb in the truck.
And so we headed back home, not too much the worse for wear. There was a birthday party we were still trying to make, so we stopped by Taco Bell for a quick dinner and then headed over to the friend's house in La Habra ... only to THEN learn that the party was in a completely different location in Orange! Par for the course of this day. We left our card at the door, and headed home for long showers and an early night.
It was a long day, with its share of mishaps, and though it left us both pretty sore, it was a good day. And now we know we have quite a bit of training to do before we attempt Mt. Langley. But it was a good day, a beautiful day to be outside. And besides, there's something invigorating about exhausting yourself physically, taking your body farther than you think it can go. Pushing through the pain feels good, an accomplishment of mind over matter. My muscles will heal, and I will be that much closer to being ready to climb the big mountain in September. Of course, then we'll be sure to take our passes with us, too.
First of all, we woke up an hour late. We'd planned on being out of the house by 7, at San Jacinto by 8 or so, with lots of time to hike. But we didn't leave the house until 8.
We planned on a one-hour drive, but it ended up taking us 2 hours to get up the mountain to Idyllwild, now putting us 2 hours behind our original plan. The first thing we had to do was fill out a day-hiker pass at the ranger station. We filled that out, grabbed the carbon copy for ourselves, then headed to the trail head, just 1/4 mile or so away. As we started grabbing our stuff, we had a small debate about the day-pass we'd just filled out. Do we take it with us? Or is it supposed to stay in the car? We couldn't remember what the sign said, and there were no instructions on the blue pass itself, so we decided to leave it in the car. Besides, the odds of actually running into a ranger on the trail were pretty slim.
Before we headed out, we decided to find a bathroom first, and there was a nature center just across the street. So we threw our bags in the cab, locked the doors, and headed across the street. Within about a minute Caleb suddenly realized he'd put his keys in his pack, and the pack was in the locked car. Yep, we'd locked ourselves out. NOW what?
Well, what's another hour behind, at this point? We still needed to go the bathroom, and there were probably rangers in the nature center who could help us out, so we kept walking. Inside the rangers loaned us a phone, and even the number for AAA (being as how our wallets were also locked inside the car). As we were arriving back at the truck, so was the mechanic.
I could have sworn our mechanic was the pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean who was always losing his wooden eye. He looked like him, AND he had the same accent! But he was a very nice man and had us in the truck in about 10 minutes. We filled out the information he needed, grabbed our packs, double checked the keys were inside, and finally headed out on our way. It was now 11:00, and we were 3 hours behind schedule.
But, we still had most of a beautiful day in which left to hike, so we headed off still in pretty high spirits. The trail was a nice one, littered with only pine needles and pine cones. It was a pretty steady climb, and right off the bat I could definitely feel that I hadn't been out hiking in a long time. But it was a perfect day to be out, so I ignored the tightness in my legs.
About an hour into our hike, the odds we'd played earlier about the day-hike pass finally played out, and we lost. As we were heading up the trail, a park ranger was making her way down the trail. She said hi, and then asked us for our pass. Of all the hikes we'd been on, we'd NEVER run into a ranger on the trail! Well, we managed to talk ourselves out of getting cited, PROMISING her it was in the dash of our black truck sitting in the parking area at the trail head. She believed us, and said she'd check. She let us go on our way (even though she had every right to not only cite us, but make us head back down the trail and get our pass). But the rules were very confusing.
The rest of the hike was beautiful. We stopped for lunch about an hour and a half later, sitting on a rock in the sun, enjoying having the packs off our backs for a few minutes. We made it four miles up the trail before turning back, at which time a storm came rolling in, dropping the temperatures quite a bit. We threw on jackets and started heading back down the mountain. I like going down, its faster. But sometimes you still wish for a respite from the jarring the downhill trek does to one's knees and feet. Mine were beginning to ache ... and the further downhill we went, the worse those aches got. I guess I wasn't as ready for an 8-mile hike as I'd originally thought I was. By the time we reached the truck, with the day-pass still staring at us knowingly from the dash board, I was already so sore I didn't know if I could climb in the truck.
And so we headed back home, not too much the worse for wear. There was a birthday party we were still trying to make, so we stopped by Taco Bell for a quick dinner and then headed over to the friend's house in La Habra ... only to THEN learn that the party was in a completely different location in Orange! Par for the course of this day. We left our card at the door, and headed home for long showers and an early night.
It was a long day, with its share of mishaps, and though it left us both pretty sore, it was a good day. And now we know we have quite a bit of training to do before we attempt Mt. Langley. But it was a good day, a beautiful day to be outside. And besides, there's something invigorating about exhausting yourself physically, taking your body farther than you think it can go. Pushing through the pain feels good, an accomplishment of mind over matter. My muscles will heal, and I will be that much closer to being ready to climb the big mountain in September. Of course, then we'll be sure to take our passes with us, too.
