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Tramping & Fly Fishing |
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Sept 29, 2006
Monache Meadows |
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Do You Remember Your First Time? |
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It was with a bit of apprehension that I loaded my camping and fishing equipment into my oldest son's '01 Jeep Cherokee. Other than catching fish, two challenges lay ahead of me: First, the promise of a harrowing off road trip up past Kennedy Meadows to Monache Meadows. I wasn't sure my bones (now in their 7th decade) would hold up to the jarring ride in the dark of night. Second, we were to be accompanied by a friend and his two sons, ages 4 and 6. The prospect of a couple of noise making, rock throwing kids messing up the trip didn't exactly thrill me.
The drive up was without incident. Since we caravaned in two separate cars (our friend and his boys followed in his new SUV), the peace was interrupted only occasionally by conversation over the walkie-talkies with the kids and a few dissonant tunes on my son's eclectic mix in his I-pod. We finally arrived at the off-road track at 11:30 PM. |
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My fears of the bone rattling were realized: bumps, boulders, berms, and close calls with trees abounded. After a particularly brain jellying stretch, just as my partial plate left my bottom teeth, a child's voice came over the squawk box with the quip of the trip: "THIS is the BEST... EVER!" Yeh, right kid! I do have to commend my son on his selection, preparation, and driving of the vehicle. We never "bottomed out" or scraped any obstacles. The only mishap was the rack relieving the car top of one of the attachments. We lightened the top load for the trip back out. In total, a really admirable automobile! He tells me it is destined to become a classic... the last of the original Jeep Cherokees. The new SUV didn't fare as well, hitting the roadbed frequently. |
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The camp sites at Monache Meadows were really full... mostly deer hunters. In one of those treasured moments before we left, my first born gave me an orange Dave Matthews Band hat from their NYC concert. "To keep the bullets away" he said. I wonder if he and his mother were conspiring to finish the old man off... they probably already had the hole dug. Unable to find his previous favorite spot, son #1 finally acquiesced to my whining, and pulled into a dead end with an open camp site. |
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After I removed the road grit from my ears, I could hear running water, so I figured this spot wouldn't be so bad. I had brought my own tent: to save the others from my snoring and to save myself from my son's flatulence. Also, I had absolutely zero interest in sharing my space with one of the children. And I was right: the kids kept asking if they could sleep in one of the other tents instead of their own.
I was proud of myself in setting up the tent in the dark and settled down around 2:30 AM... to a totally sleepless night. The hips and shoulders just would not co-operate with the ground pad and mattress... painful!
(contined) |
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next |
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Tramping & Fly Fishing... topic |
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Out the Door... home |
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