When i was no more than 12 my master craftman Dad took me backpacking with him and his hunting-ab diving buddy, Blackley, on a circle for a week ending with the scary trail up Mt. Whitney,14k'+, and lots of trout fishing. Met a newly wed with new boots and massive blisters, 'Sierra Sue', so we carried her pack on Dad's homemade fat bike tire 'iron mule' of hinged hi grade aluminum. So much fun. And so few know how to enjoy true wilderness.
So sad, the concrete asphalt life.
Blackley intentionally dropped his lead slab weight belts abalone diving near state Park over-managed ,closed beach and water for research only, bad joke of a state park Ano Nuevo Bay; So much better protected by farmer Steele who kept abalone rot disease away that the state failed.
He told me to freedive over 30' to get it for him.
Poor visibility, maybe 6', but I found it, and kicked flippers hard to the surface to big snorkel spout! So much fun and yet many most almost all have never appreciated NorCal's underwater kelp forests. So sad. Or facemask peered into a rich tidepool. So sad.
Was in Oxford and the Bobby's girl asked me to kayak to Henley for a local charity, in one day.
Sure!
She got the hard keel long straight running touring kayak with a rudder and I got the short round bottom slalom whitewater kayak.
She couldn't wait for my squirrelly kayak and went ahead, so I went thru all the locks solo, meeting a few nice folks at the many locks but basically years ago the famous Thames River was all mine. So much fun. Such beautiful countryside, without Cal's poison oak coast and foothills or many poisonous rattlesnakes. Wonderful day.
Met the tall world famous crew rower in the fish&chip shop behind me,after. What a day. Yet so few even do this little tiny small Adventure. So sad.
Walked the gentle lead mine hills of the Yorkshire Dale's out of Gunnerside for a week. Lots of racing weekend motorcycles. Some walkers, but again I had most of the Dale's to myself, the fab pheasants and many rabbits, and a few very low morning Brit fighter jets. So fun. And so few get out of their cars and off roads to enjoy it. So sad.
Rowed the Lake District with my gal. Hiked it for miles and miles, picking up trash from dry stone wall holes until I filled a huge black trash bag with National Trust land walker's litter using salad tongs,from some Woolworth. So much fun. Snuck it into a pub loo as the trash can outside said "private, bugger off" or something. Dashed for rental car with my gal and got away clean. Such a great day. Too bad only a few actually go out and enjoy it. Or pick up litter in England. So sad.
Walked up the highly rounded backside of Half Dome in an easy day many times in Yosemite Valley.
Now you need a reservation!
Gloves and short 20' kernmantel rope in case someone fright-freezes on the cables, happens. So exciting. What a great day.
First time as a High Schooler and Boy Scout. And most people don't even know it is there.
Was asked if I wanted to motor-sail the Cal coast from LA to SC during grey whale migration.
Yes.
What an adventure with the best Cal skipper and my Dad.
So lucky.
And so few have seen so much of the Cal coast, from the Pacific.
So sad.
25 and back from Nixon's birthday lottery ,4yrcollege, 2yr cruise to godforsaken Vietnam. A friend asks, "Do you want to bicycle this Summer, maybe up and across Canada?"
Sure. Why not.
His bro too, the 3 sprocket-teers having a small Adventure. A semi driver in southern BC tried to swerve over us, with no bike lane and no guard rail to the cliff.
The RCMP came out ," Oh, you're not Canadians." Bye.
Met lots of friendly folk tho, sleeping on the ground or in dirt cheap hostels.
We made it to Saskatoon and Montreal, greyhounding across "blackflies!!!" Ontario to Ottawa and bicycling like Cal Conquers into Ville Quebec in a heavy rainstorm. So much fun for 3 months. Only one Canadian tried to kill us.
And we saw so few bicyclists, except going South with the constant wind on the Cal coast. So sad so few get out and enjoy the countryside.
I use to park on hwy 40, old Donner Summit. Take my Holdsworth touring soft frame bicycle down and bike down to Donner Lake. Then along the Truckee River to Lake Tahoe and clockwise around the lake, back to Tahoe City.
Then follow the Truckee back to Donner Lake and the old highway up to older Donner Pass and my parked car. Easy, fun. Did it every year, for years. No bike lane.
I'm 6'2" so if someone tried to hit me with their car then I would try to make the biggest dent in their car, maybe even break their windshield before I died.
Every year, such an adventure. And never a flat tire. Lucky me. Seldom saw another bicyclist. Had the far right edge of the hiway all to myself. Most drivers back then we're respectful and careful, unlike nowadays. So sad.
Have a little Adventure.
