san gorgoni-doh!

Alright, so I made it back from San Gorgonio just fine. It was a crisp 60 degrees while I was up there - for all of 30 minutes!!!!

Yes, that's right - I was there for 30 minutes. I woke my lazy ass out of bed at 5 am, got ready and then drove to the ranger station by 8:30 am. Unfortuantely, by the time I got there, there were no walk-in permits. Seems as though you can reserve all permits via fax. FAX. Dear god - they still accept faxes?! People still use those things?!

In any case, I mulled my predicament for 30 minutes in the parking lot while chewing on a cliff bar (closest thing I could say to being kinda granola for that day). I made a few phone calls to see what people were doing and considered between three options: a) go to jtree in clothing that was meant for more 50 and 60 degree temps when conditions in jtree were probably going to be in the 80's and 90's. b) Go to black mtn and boulder alone on 30' high ball problems. c) drive to huntington beach and face a social scene! gasp!

I went to Huntington Beach. I figured I should do something scary that day - if it wasn't backpacking solo, it would be facing friends from the past. Too bad it wasn't all that scary... it was nice seeing some old familiar faces and being an old fogey by playing board games and having a bbq.

Fortunately I had a chance to face my fears by driving at 10 pm from O.C. to SD with only 4 hours of sleep the night before. "the road is swerving.... oh wait... that's me... wheee!!!!!". Sleep deprivation: the poor man's hallucinogen.