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| Hiking | 8.75 Miles |
1,785 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.75 Miles | | | |
| 1,785 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | A whole group of people from a couple different hiking clubs went on a clean-up trip to Fossil Springs. Friday night we car camped at the Pine Trailhead. However, before bed we enjoyed $2 Fat Tires at the Rimside Grill and some conversation around the campfire. The fire was a welcome addition before having to climb into a frigid sleeping bag. BRRRRRRR! The temps were a little chilly at around 40 degrees.
Saturday morning we rose with the sun, ate some fabulous biscuits and gravy at the Rimside Grill and then were off to hike the 4 miles down to the Springs with all our gear. The whole way down we found plastic bottles and other miscellaneous trash that we made sure to pick up. Once there, we set up camp and went for a nice refreshing dip in the pools surrounding the falls. Karl, Melissa and myself then took some time for exploration and went geocaching through some heavy brush. While geocaching we made sure to pick up any trash we found. There were a lot of plastic water bottles. Which is all the more reason I am a supporter of Camelpacks. If more people carried them then this probably wouldn't be an issue. When the water is done it's on your back and you don't have to have your hands full with an empty bottle. After the trash pickup and geocaching it was back to camp for another little swim, lunch and a nap. There was one little detour that needed to be made however. Karl (Oosh on HAZ) and I went looking for his private geocache of alcohol that he made three years ago when his friends brought too much liquor. There was a nalgene full of vodka that had absorbed thje taste of the plastic. It smelled like rubbing alcohol and didn't taste much better. People tried to doctor it up with Tang, EmergenC, and Crystal Light, but it was still pretty horrible.  :yuck: However, there was a 3/4 full bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila that made for great drinkin'. Andy had concocted some Agave margaritas earlier and the bottle added a lot more punch!
Before laying down for a nap, I took some time for pictures, and fell into the creek with my camera  I made sure to take the battery and memory card out and the thing came back to life after it had time to dry out. Thank goodness! My little Sony Cyber-shot has been through so much. It should be dead. It is like a cat with nine lives. I think it's on the 4th life right now  I took it up to Grasshopper point over a year ago and it got wet then. It survived though. Then most recently I had it in my sports bra (for easy access) during my hike through the Mazatals and my sweat got to it. It was acting pretty crazy after that and I thought it was dead, but the little camera survived. I thought for sure that this time was the last life, but I was wrong. I will have to send Sony a nice little letter thanking them for such a great product 
Anyway, Saturday evening consisted of amazing drink concoctions and socializing around our imaginary campfire (no fires till 2012 in that area). We mixed hot cocoa with a honey liquor called Barenjager, some Nutella, and mashed bananas. Woowee!  Our imaginary campfire was a mini little ring of stones with some twigs in the center and a redlight from Carmen's headlamp. Karl even provided a little lego guy to sit next to it, and Lorrie made a tiny marshmallow out of bread. She even put it on a twig for the little lego man to hold. We had some good laughs over our tiny imaginary fire. Then it was off to bed  We rose early, packed up and hiked the four miles up out of the canyon to the cars. Once at the top, a fellow camper, Paul was nice enough to provide some ice cold Fat Tires in the bottle and homemade chocolate chip cookies, MMMMMMM.
Before heading out we stopped off at the Rimside one more time for some yummy prime rib sandwiches. It was a satisfying ending to a wonderful weekend spent with Mother Nature I was lucky enough not to be driving, so I snoozed almost the whole way down while Karl drove his 72 Volkswagon Bettle. All in all it was a great trip, but I feel like I could have spent another 4 or 5 days there. Well there is always next time.....
Oh and Thanks to Randy for organizing such a great trip, to Kurt for lending me such rockin' gear, Steve from the Rimside for such cheap beer and Karl for driving/providing the makings for some memorable adult beverages. Everybody from Friends Hiking Club was so nice, and I look forward to future events.
For a view of the Faux Fire visit this link: http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/ ... 01232.jpeg |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
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