Dear O.T.B.P. fans,
Usually our hikes are scheduled for the first Sunday of each month, except when Hiker Jane can't make it work with her schedule. Please take note that the first Sundays of the months of May, June,...AND August are all bad hiking days for Hiker Jane. So. Many. WEDDINGS!
Therefore, please be aware of the following upcoming hike dates.
Sunday, May 8th, [12PM ~ 4PM @ TBD]
Sunday, June 12th, [12PM ~ 4PM @ TBD]
Sunday, July 3rd, [12PM ~ 4PM @ TBD] <--- I know this is 4th o' July weekend, but I'm not going anywhere, so if folks are in town, we'll hike!
Sunday, August, 14th [12PM ~ 4PM @ TBD]
Please make a note of it in your calendars, Palm Pilots, or just a random slip of paper.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Monday, April 11, 2005
65+ club: Donner Falls
If those you on the OTBP list remember, we had a request for a waterfall hike about a month ago. And given the amount of rain we've been getting lately, that first weekend in April was the perfect time to go. So...we did.
Sunday morning rolled around and your fearless Hiker Jane had overslept, despite compensating for Daylight Savings time, and dashed over to Muddy's to pick up Therese muttering, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," over and over again into her cell phone.
Once we were on our way we got to Mount Diablo in excellent time. We eventually managed to find parking since it seems that everyone AND their mother was out hiking that day.
Despite the fact that it was gloriously sunny, it was still windy and rather brisk, so we added some layers. Hiker Jane was forced to pull out her emergency jacket from the trunk of her car, a "classic" nylon number from the GAP circa 1989 in vivid purple. Mrow. Luckily, as all OTBP people know, we don't go in for "looks" on our hikes.
The trail started out deliciously flat, with just a slight incline.
And then...then it wasn't so flat. In fact it became downright steep.
And then Hiker Jane started to feel like a big ol' outta shape wimp.
Her feelings were only augmented as she saw sprightly 55 year olds briskly pass by (going the opposite direction) having already gotten up early, had their Ensure, and gone out for a quick jog up the mountain. They waved happily.
"Bastards,"muttered Hiker Jane to Therese who patiently waited for her ahead on the trial.
After several more serious upward climbs we decided to break for lunch. It felt a bit early, but once we sat down, Hiker Jane realized that she was very, very hungry. And man, what a difference some GORP can make! After eating we both felt like NEW WOMEN with EXTRA STRENGTH and the ABILITY TO CONCUR MOUNT DIABLO! So...we did.
Plus we also saw a threesome of thirty-somethings that looked as winded as, well...let's be honest...as Hiker Jane, so her ego was relieved and all was well again.
Once we got onto the second leg of the trail, Falls Loop, which (duh) is where you could see all the waterfalls, Hiker Jane felt inspired to take some pictures. Unfortunately all she had with her was her cellphone, so pardon the lack of crispness.
First she took a picture of the rocks, hoping to express the massive elevation jump. Do you see flat? No.
There is also the top of Therese's head in the picture, and you can see the winded thirty-somethings behind her.
Then she took a picture of Therese.
Along the way we were seeing all these beautiful wildflowers.
And these were Therese's favorite; they looked a bit like chili-peppers.
Unfortunately, none of the glorious-needing-a-wide-angle shots of the bigger waterfalls came out, but here are few shots of some of the many waterfalls we crossed.
Soon after all of this, Hiker Jane and Therese ran into a scary man carrying a huge pair of pruning sheers.
Now, this wouldn't have bothered Hiker Jane so much if he was a Park Ranger in some overly tight khaki shorts, or had on a t-shirt that said something like, Mount Diablo Volunteer...or at least a button. Instead he just looked like some average Joe who had taken it upon himself to prune the trail, and since we passed him going in the opposite direction, we got to see his handiwork allllllll the way down the mountain.
Hiker Jane didn't get a good feeling about him. Something about that slightly wild pruning feverish look in his eyes.
Hiker Jane got a new burst of energy as she past and both she and Therese hurried downhill.
Finally we were back at the trailhead, and the car, and Hiker Jane could take off her 80's jacket and her boots and comfortably slide into some Birks and back into the car.
And we did it not a moment too soon since 10 minutes into our drive home it started to rain...and then pour. About 15 minutes into the drive Therese turned to Hiker Jane and said, "Hey Eleanor, didn't you need to take a left or something onto a street that gets us to the freeway?"
"Oh. &^%#!"
One half hour, two gas stations, and a food mart trip to get provisions of pizza flavored Pringles (Hiker Jane was bummed they didn't have Sour Cream and Onion...or even plain! Bastards.) and a candy bar for the ride home we did find our way back to the freeway.
Hiker Jane also vowed for the fifteenth time this rainy season that she would get new windshield wipers for her car. (Update: this still hasn't happened).
In the end, Hiker Jane and Therese got home in one (albeit somewhat damp) piece, and then showered and ran over to a cool house party with hippies singing and strumming their guitars, spontaneous theatrics and other stuff that has nothing to do with hiking or waterfalls.
But it was a great night.
And a great hike.
Sunday morning rolled around and your fearless Hiker Jane had overslept, despite compensating for Daylight Savings time, and dashed over to Muddy's to pick up Therese muttering, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," over and over again into her cell phone.
Once we were on our way we got to Mount Diablo in excellent time. We eventually managed to find parking since it seems that everyone AND their mother was out hiking that day.
Despite the fact that it was gloriously sunny, it was still windy and rather brisk, so we added some layers. Hiker Jane was forced to pull out her emergency jacket from the trunk of her car, a "classic" nylon number from the GAP circa 1989 in vivid purple. Mrow. Luckily, as all OTBP people know, we don't go in for "looks" on our hikes.
The trail started out deliciously flat, with just a slight incline.
And then...then it wasn't so flat. In fact it became downright steep.
And then Hiker Jane started to feel like a big ol' outta shape wimp.
Her feelings were only augmented as she saw sprightly 55 year olds briskly pass by (going the opposite direction) having already gotten up early, had their Ensure, and gone out for a quick jog up the mountain. They waved happily.
"Bastards,"muttered Hiker Jane to Therese who patiently waited for her ahead on the trial.
After several more serious upward climbs we decided to break for lunch. It felt a bit early, but once we sat down, Hiker Jane realized that she was very, very hungry. And man, what a difference some GORP can make! After eating we both felt like NEW WOMEN with EXTRA STRENGTH and the ABILITY TO CONCUR MOUNT DIABLO! So...we did.
Plus we also saw a threesome of thirty-somethings that looked as winded as, well...let's be honest...as Hiker Jane, so her ego was relieved and all was well again.
Once we got onto the second leg of the trail, Falls Loop, which (duh) is where you could see all the waterfalls, Hiker Jane felt inspired to take some pictures. Unfortunately all she had with her was her cellphone, so pardon the lack of crispness.
First she took a picture of the rocks, hoping to express the massive elevation jump. Do you see flat? No.
There is also the top of Therese's head in the picture, and you can see the winded thirty-somethings behind her.
Then she took a picture of Therese.
Along the way we were seeing all these beautiful wildflowers.
And these were Therese's favorite; they looked a bit like chili-peppers.
Unfortunately, none of the glorious-needing-a-wide-angle shots of the bigger waterfalls came out, but here are few shots of some of the many waterfalls we crossed.
Soon after all of this, Hiker Jane and Therese ran into a scary man carrying a huge pair of pruning sheers.
Now, this wouldn't have bothered Hiker Jane so much if he was a Park Ranger in some overly tight khaki shorts, or had on a t-shirt that said something like, Mount Diablo Volunteer...or at least a button. Instead he just looked like some average Joe who had taken it upon himself to prune the trail, and since we passed him going in the opposite direction, we got to see his handiwork allllllll the way down the mountain.
Hiker Jane didn't get a good feeling about him. Something about that slightly wild pruning feverish look in his eyes.
Hiker Jane got a new burst of energy as she past and both she and Therese hurried downhill.
Finally we were back at the trailhead, and the car, and Hiker Jane could take off her 80's jacket and her boots and comfortably slide into some Birks and back into the car.
And we did it not a moment too soon since 10 minutes into our drive home it started to rain...and then pour. About 15 minutes into the drive Therese turned to Hiker Jane and said, "Hey Eleanor, didn't you need to take a left or something onto a street that gets us to the freeway?"
"Oh. &^%#!"
One half hour, two gas stations, and a food mart trip to get provisions of pizza flavored Pringles (Hiker Jane was bummed they didn't have Sour Cream and Onion...or even plain! Bastards.) and a candy bar for the ride home we did find our way back to the freeway.
Hiker Jane also vowed for the fifteenth time this rainy season that she would get new windshield wipers for her car. (Update: this still hasn't happened).
In the end, Hiker Jane and Therese got home in one (albeit somewhat damp) piece, and then showered and ran over to a cool house party with hippies singing and strumming their guitars, spontaneous theatrics and other stuff that has nothing to do with hiking or waterfalls.
But it was a great night.
And a great hike.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Is this thing on?
Testing...testing...attention all crunchy types!
In an effort to further the exposure of the "Off The Beaten Path" hiking group, I've decided to create a little blog so that I can post about upcoming hikes, as well as past hikes.
And hey...maybe even a couple of incriminating pictures of people with...flowers.
In an effort to further the exposure of the "Off The Beaten Path" hiking group, I've decided to create a little blog so that I can post about upcoming hikes, as well as past hikes.
And hey...maybe even a couple of incriminating pictures of people with...flowers.
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