Day 2
4.8 miles 118ft gain/3840ft loss fitbit data: 16,239 steps
Ah, breakfast! The most important meal of the day! Ours would be Starbucks instant with oatmeal and breakfast bars. And, the bug zapper…Yes, the little pointy proboscis buggers were also hungry this morning, and it seems they were just waiting for us to get up. So, Greg donned his mosquito net to get some relief from the nasty pests, and only lifted his micro-screen veil long enough to tip his mug for some joe…What happened next, must be recorded…
“… and in his left, the menacing and mostly effective Executioner…”
Let’s set the stage…It’s a sunny morning, and we’re the only souls around, just enjoying our breakfast, with the only sounds being the now diminished waterfalls plummeting down the face of the large cliffs on the opposite side of the tarn, with the buzzing of insistent insects…Then, I notice something that we’ve been trying to catch with the Exterminator since we got here. A large moth! Ooooohhhh…Imagine the satisfying crackle that guy would make!!! So, I holler at Greg, who is decked out in his finest bug fighting gear, a partially donned mosquito net, pulled up over his face so he could sip his cup of java that was in his right hand, and in his left, the menacing and mostly effective Executioner, held at the ready, Finger resting nervously above the button, set to kill…
“Look, it’s a moth!!!” I point at it, dancing just about eye level in front of Greg. Somehow, it’s as if it sensed that Greg was intent on malice, so it took off in its best evasive maneuver, a spasmodic pattern of up and down and away from Greg as fast as his little moth wings could flutter, which seemed to be just fast enough, and at a high enough distance to avoid Greg’s feverish swats at it as they both raced across the uneven field. It was funny for me to watch and I started laughing out loud at the spectacle before me, Greg, maniacally chasing and swatting at the sputtering moth across the small meadow, coffee cup in one hand, and mosquito net draped over his head in a rakish manner.
It grew even funnier when I notice the guy walking by just at the edge of the meadow, eying us out of the corner of his eye, with some misgiving I might add…Was he drawn by the laughter or the mad race across the field? Who knows, but for sure, it must have looked slightly insane, a guy in a mosquito net running crazily across the meadow, swatting at who knew what with a small tennis racket contraption all while holding a coffee mug, witnessed by a guy howling like a hyena.
Probably a good thing there was no cell service available, for certainly he would have been calling the guys in white coats to inquire if there were any escapees…I pointed out the guy in the blue coat to Greg, and he returned sheepishly to the campsite, the moth having escaped to live another day…
“…it felt strange to walk without a constant downward tilt to the earth…”
We pack quickly after breakfast, and begin the downhill descent, stopping only a couple times to take pictures, and give our knees a rest, and let the brakes cool down a little…By the time we get to the bottom, where the trail flattens out, it felt strange to walk without a constant downward tilt to the earth.
“…If only crows could laugh, I imagine we would have heard his chuckling about now…”
Back at the car, we see our friend, the Raven. He’s been waiting for us, pacing in the parking lot, probably to gloat over his handiwork…Sure enough, just as Greg feared; the little jerk had indeed perched on top of his truck and crapped a heavy load off the cab, down the driver’s side door. And, for good measure, left a load in the back, too…If only crows could laugh, I imagine we would have heard his chuckling about now…
“I knew it!” Greg said exasperatedly, “I knew he was gonna do that!!” And, guess he was right…I do remember him having that concern when we first pulled up, just something about this lone raven and its demeanor…He was definitely something of a poop machine..
Then, like a matador facing down an angry bull, he simply stood in front of the truck as we got ready to roll, as if to say, “Go ahead, I dare ya!” Not needing much coaxing at this point, Greg goosed the truck into action, and headed at the defiant bird, in the ultimate game of chicken, to see who would flinch first. OF course, Greg wouldn’t have run him over, but he didn’t know that…Instead, he just hopped out of the way, without taking flight, as if he knew that was the response he was going to get…
As we headed for the highway and home, pretty sure I saw him stick us the bird… “Oh, come on! I know you were expecting that!”
A great hike if you want to torture yourself, or test your mettle for the day, but truthfully, in MHO…A whole lot of effort for little reward. I think I would rather eat unshelled sunflower seeds…The mountain wasn’t at all pretty, the tarn was only ankle deep, and littered with the debris of winters past, and if you ventured up to the wrong lookout, well…Better have brought your good rock climbing gear…I think that perhaps if you took the loop up around Jackita Ridge, Devils Ridge, and back around by the lake, and just avoided Crater Lake altogether, it would be more rewarding…Just don’t head up this buttkicker, instead, do the loop from the other direction, CW, and save this section for your last day out. Your legs will thank you…
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