Wet August Nights
Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 6:57 pm
With a break in minion sports, and very agreeable weather in the forecast, we seized the opportunity and headed for the hills. As it so happened, the Lenzke family was also headed for higher elevations that weekend, with a pre-scheduled rendezvous with their friends Rick and Shannon from the Tacoma area. Dan and Jenn were also on the attendance roster, with the ever friendly Ruby tagging along to keep things lively. We all met up at the ubiquitous Long Meadow campground Friday afternoon, setup our respective outfits, and set about the task of telling lies and filling our bellies with food and libations until well after darkness fell. The pitter-patter of rain put us to sleep Friday night, and promised to help keep dust at bay for the remainder of the weekend.
Here's a shot of camp early Saturday morning:
Ruby keeping everyone entertained:
We took a quick hike down to the water while the rest of camp was grabbing the last few winks:
Soon enough, we loaded up and headed for the trails. Lenzke lead for the day, taking us to a new area South of the metropolis of Nile, generally along FS-1500. The first destination was an awesome swimming hole, although the cool and damp weather was a non-starter for the Speedo. The trail to get there was a hoot, offering just enough challenge to keep things fun but without any fear of vehicular damage. The boy drove the entire route:
At the swimming hole, coolers were deployed and lunch was ingested at a particularly rapid rate, as the threat of rain was getting real:
We made a quick return trip back to FS-1500 and continued South toward the cut-off to Timberwolf Mountain. This little side trip is very short, and worth every minute. Even in marginally safe weather conditions, it was 100% worth it:
The hail was accumulating as we boogied on back down the hillside:
Safely back at camp, we again went about swapping stories and sharing food and drink until late in the evening:
Sunday morning we decided to make a quick loop up FS-1708 and up to Lily Pond, then back down to FS-19. Conditions were superb, if not just a tad wet. But hey, no dust!!
Upon returning back to base camp in Long Meadow, we all broke down our camps and said our goodbyes. It had been an amazing weekend with fantastic friends, and needless to say we are already planning the next one
Here's a shot of camp early Saturday morning:
Ruby keeping everyone entertained:
We took a quick hike down to the water while the rest of camp was grabbing the last few winks:
Soon enough, we loaded up and headed for the trails. Lenzke lead for the day, taking us to a new area South of the metropolis of Nile, generally along FS-1500. The first destination was an awesome swimming hole, although the cool and damp weather was a non-starter for the Speedo. The trail to get there was a hoot, offering just enough challenge to keep things fun but without any fear of vehicular damage. The boy drove the entire route:
At the swimming hole, coolers were deployed and lunch was ingested at a particularly rapid rate, as the threat of rain was getting real:
We made a quick return trip back to FS-1500 and continued South toward the cut-off to Timberwolf Mountain. This little side trip is very short, and worth every minute. Even in marginally safe weather conditions, it was 100% worth it:
The hail was accumulating as we boogied on back down the hillside:
Safely back at camp, we again went about swapping stories and sharing food and drink until late in the evening:
Sunday morning we decided to make a quick loop up FS-1708 and up to Lily Pond, then back down to FS-19. Conditions were superb, if not just a tad wet. But hey, no dust!!
Upon returning back to base camp in Long Meadow, we all broke down our camps and said our goodbyes. It had been an amazing weekend with fantastic friends, and needless to say we are already planning the next one