We are heading for Sacramento, boarding a plane for San Diego, babysitting little Ellie and then returning after 4 days, to the trails. Ellie should help us with our fitness, although it has been quite good of late. “We need to get some laundry done,” our editor announced. Unfortunately, the Inns did provide such facilities. After completing our second hike up to the hut at the Sierra Buttes, we showered, checked out the hotel and headed for the local laundry. What a good idea, we thought, as we had plenty of time.
Watching the clouds move in to shield the summit
Going to check the 'view'
We had left the Inn at 5:45am on Sunday morning, completed the hike in freezing conditions, extensive cloud and fog covering the mountain and trail creating an exciting contrast from the previous visit. The walk up the two-hundred or so steps and around the observation platform, if not a little scary, got the blood flowing, particularly because of the gusting winds. Unfortunately, views were limited until about ten minutes into our descent when visibility became reasonably good. What do the say about timing? Fortunately, Thursday’s hike was in near perfect conditions.
We entered the laundry to discover it in a mess. The window was broken, a wall had been severely damaged and the bathroom floor had a layer of excrement covering it. An hour before we left for the hike, at about 4:30am, a bear raided the laundry. We were on alert for bears on the mountain while an aggressive black bear was doing his washing, amongst other things, in the town. Had we known, we might have left our laundry bag for the 'bugger'—encourage him to be more productive.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
No comments:
Post a Comment