An offroad adventure view, coming over the sadle in sunny summer storm!

Rick Rolls, Night Hikes, Rocky Roads and a Wedding.

Adminisk8or

07/24/2023

And once again, in case anyone might've been worried it'd be another boring week, fear not. In fact, this week and next should have some interesting stories to tell!

I think it's a pretty good week- or at least a very notable one- when nearly getting hit by lightning, breaking old electronics with sledgehammers, and hanging out with new friends playing smash until after midnight all qualify as less notable things that happened- though don't get me wrong, those dudes I hung out with playing smash are some awesome dudes that I hope I get to meet again!

I suppose story one comes from a very important event this weekend- my brother-in-law's wedding! As we were on our way the day of, we were running right on schedule, had everything ready, and headed out the door. We got in the car, I turned the key, and the engine refused to turn over. As I was sitting there dressed in my white shirt, nice slacks, tie and overalls, I was like "... sigh... really?" And yet I knew full well what the problem was, because I had created it by recently replacing the battery terminals and doing it stupidly. So, in probably record-braking time, I ran inside, grabbed my tools, took off the new terminal, and put on one of the still-functioning old ones. With that, we found ourselves only less than five minutes behind schedule, so despite the fact that I caused the problem, I was pretty proud of my fast corrective work!

Besides being a groomsman, I was also the DJ for the reception. We got to the event center a bit later than I had hoped to arrive, but despite some stresses here and there on my part, things went very well. My favorite moment was after the mother-son and father-daughter dances, the couple went to have their first dance, and I started the song... although, perhaps it was not the song they were expecting. ...Rather, it was this one. My brother-in-law's reaction was priceless! I then put on the correct song.

After that day was over, the next day one of my friends hit me up, asking if I wanted to go on a hike. I said yes, and we ended up going at 8 PM. This friend of mine had gotten into a more serious relationship with this girl he met a few months ago, and I figured he'd go on about her some as we hiked. I also figured it'd be a quick in and out, so as not to linger too long after dark. I was mistaken about a great many things. The first thing I was mistaken about was the state of emotion he was in. He came to pick me up, I hopped in the car, and immediately I could sense a deep tension. It wasn't more than a minute before I asked the inevitable question; "So... how's-" but the moment I started speaking, I instantly knew it, and it was no sooner confirmed by his reaction that cut me off, as he replied quickly and briskly "No." I need not go into the details of their story here, obviously, but as we hiked, some our time was spent in silent contemplation, and some was spent in talking- sometimes about the breakup, and sometimes about other things.

But the other thing I was mistaken about was the intensity of our hike. Indeed, this would end up being a night hike- and I have to say, I really rather enjoyed it! We hiked almost 10 miles total, and it was a pretty good elevation gain. To my amazement, we found we had next to no need for flashlights as we hiked, despite the lack of moon and stars to guide us (it was a bit cloudy). He had brought his dog along, too- and despite being a good deal bigger than when I first met this dog, he really was still just a pup, being just over a year old. Anyway, we were about a half mile or less from the peak we were hiking to, when his dog ran off to chase something up ahead. This had happened a bit here and there, but this time it really paid off. My friend, realizing what he was chasing, pulled his tail back, and helped him retreat before the not-so-innocent black and white cat could do more damage than it did. Thankfully, the odor was mostly avoided, but unfortunately, poor Ranger did get sprayed just a little. It was at that point we decided to hike back. And as we came to the last mile or three of switchbacks, it became evident that we would probably be wise to use our flashlights for this section, as most of it was under tree cover. It was a good thing we did, as we narrowly avoided an encounter with a snake.

And my last adventure this last week happened just today, as my wife and I went out to a neighboring city to visit a fun store. We arrived and found they had closed early, unfortunately; so instead, we decided to just go on a drive. We drove out to a nearby-ish reservoir that I had never yet gone to, and it turned out to be a pretty fun drive and view when we got there. But as we still had some daylight, I figured we should go for one more destination. So, we set off for a road that led to a nearby mountain peak- and to both my fear and delight, Google recommended a route I had been both avoiding but secretly desiring. So, in my good old Xterra, we set off on this offroad trail to get to where we were going. The first half of the trail was kind enough- hardly needed 4WD at all! Then came part 2. We started down this branch of the trail, and immediately I was already feeling a little uneasy. The road was verrrynarrow, the rocks were becoming a little more unforgiving, and immediately to our left was a fairly steep bank (more like a cliff, though) leading far below to a green valley. After we got off this narrow portion, though, it didn't get any better. The rocks became more and more and more rigorous, and the road became a little steep and windy, creating some difficult to navigate washes. Had I tried approaching this road the other way, I very much doubt I could've made it up these steep, rocky washes without damaging my vehicle. Thankfully, though, navigating them as declines rather than inclines made it at least possible. And indeed, we did make it past this treacherous pass! But my poor wife, who had been anticipating this surprisingly difficult trail even less than I did was now suffering from a headache- so we called it there and headed home.

At the end of this week, despite feeling lazy most of my days, I feel happy for all I accomplished this week! There are many other things we did, as well. This next one will have a good share of stories to tell, as well, as I'm heading down to Moab for some offroading fun!

Until next time, see ya!