I have decided that this will be my motto this year. I will live it, breathe, it , taste, eat, and sleep this motto. I will grab a hold of every moment and not let go, letting it take me to the farthest reaches of my ambition until at the end of the year, I look back and realize that I failed to miss one opportunity that came my way, that I drank from the cup of life and let nothing stand in the way of self-discovery and the thirst for something...more.
First adventure of 2011 was the trip to Anza-Borrego and Harper Flat for Jim T's COL 2 Backpacking extravaganza. Tracy and E accompanied me on this amazing weekend, searching for artifacts, finding native morteros and breathing in life hundreds of thousands of years ago, before the people came, before progression and hate and greed ruled, before we thought that we needed to touch every inch of this land....when life was pure, simple, and free.
And then there was Matthew Doyle ;-) Matt joined me on one adventure after another. I surely hoped he was taking all these crazy risks, or rather putting his life in my hands, not for me, but because he wanted to see the world with eager eyes. Our first really big adventure, which in essence was not so big as it was simply new and shiny and fun, as the Cahuenga Peak to the Hollywood sign hike, the same hike I started this blog on, the burn area and crazy meandering single-track looking down on the scrubby and more often times than not smoggy LA. We had a blast!
The day after our Hollywood Sign hike, Matt and Bern hit the slopes of Snow Valley for my first test at snowboarding. What an experience! I started o the bunny slop, and it took me nearly 2 hours to get from one end to the other of this meager, child-proof decline. I was more than a bit frustrated. I was cursing myself. It was torture not to figure it out. Matt took me up to the next level slope and I threw caution to the wind, figuring...why stop? Just go until you crash. And I did. I made it down twice in an hour and seriously just had a ball. I could get used to this snowboarding stuff!
February 12, 2010 I had my second and final COL1 leader hike. We went back to Warner Springs and hit the PCT south toward Eagle rock. What a fascinating place! Who knew something so gorgeous was hidden under the vise of the low desert? The prairie grasses stretched on for miles, whipped by fantastic winds and wide open spaces, smooth hills and seemingly
vast nothingness....but beauty!
I am more than ecstatic to proclaim that, surrounded by my amazing friends, Tracy, E, C, K, Cyn, Monty, Matt, and Karen x2, it was a wonderful day to celebrate becoming a Chapter Outing Leader for the Sierra Club! What a year it has been so far and it's only February!!!!!
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