Saturday, September 10, 2016
What gives? My humans
are not letting me out when I beg them!
They are IGNORING me! I will
teach them. I will go lay on the bed and
give them stinkeye. My maternal human
came and rubbed my belly and I didn't even turn on my purr box. I will teach them...
This morning's walk was actually a hike. There is a 12 mile scenic drive up the
mountain to a series of trailheads. Our
campsite is at about 7300 feet. The
trailheads start at about 10,000 feet.
If you hike to the Mt. Wheeler summit, you will be at 13,000 feet. We opted for the Bristlecone trail.
We packed a lunch and started the ascent. It is a soft forest path, then there are lots
of rocks. It is fairly easy, but any
time you start at 10,000 feet, you need to go slow. Altitude sickness is no fun and we wanted to
enjoy the day. It is a forested trail
with scenic vistas of the Snake Valley below.
The Snake Valley looks so much prettier from up here. The surrounding mountains are covered in
pines and aspens in various stages of fall colors. It is absolutely beautiful. The temperature is probably in the 60's which
is quite comfortable for hiking.
It is about a mile and a half up the trail to the
bristlecones. This forest has trees over
3000 years old that are still alive.
They live in harsh conditions - sometimes no water, brutal winds,
snow. They grow in amazing twists and
turns. I would love to mount orchids and
tillandsias on these puppies! Even ones
they think are dead, turn out to send up new growths. They are incredible specimens of the test of
time.
Continuing on, we hiked to the glacier overlook. As a rock hound, I didn't know if I was in
hog heaven or the depths of hell. We are
hiking in a glacial moraine where gazillions of rocks have been pushed aside
for the glacier to do what it has to do.
These rocks, actually boulders, are fabulous! I can see every one of them in the lapidary
shop, except for one thing... They are
huge! Can I sneak one into Spouse's backpack? Do you think he would notice this tiny 100
pounder? As it was, I put a few in my
backpack and my waistpack. Then we get to hike down... over the rocks... over the tree roots... with
rocks hanging all over my body.
Definitely an 'I Love Lucy' moment...
We did take a little side trip to look at Teresa Lake. Or should I say pond... When I got back to Jack and took off my pack,
I had trouble walking. My legs didn't know what to do without the extra weight
of the rocks! It was pretty weird! Who knows what will become of these rocks,
but for now, they are mine. Shhhh, don't
tell anybody...
Tonite, we are going to the astronomy presentation at the
visitor center.
No comments:
Post a Comment