Don’t Shoot at Me, Please.
June 20, 2010
It was a tough hike at Breakneck Ridge under 90 degree hot weather. I didn’t expect 6 years old boy would join and could complete without fear. What scared him most was not the steep terrain or ladder liked big sheet of rocks but cameras. I never meet an adult who could recover and transform from a loser into a winner in 15 minutes. It was a trip full of surprised.
I felt surprised that Emily and Ken would sign up for a high level hiking activity but once they signed up, it had been guaranteed no rain in that area. I had other hiking friends Simon, Jennifer, Carrie, Jocelyn, Rose, Esther, Philip, Chen and Moon in the trip. Anthony brought his friend Ryan and 2 sons: 11 years old Leon and 6 years old Ray Ray. Cindy and Hong signed up at last minute. Scarlett signed up early and woke up early in the morning because she was so exciting to have her first trip with a hiking club.
We reached the parking lot after passing through the tunnel at 9:45 am. I told the teammates to bring enough water as it would be a sunny day. The hiking plan was only 4 miles but could be extended to 6 miles if we all agreed. The stamp today captured the theme of Father’s Day and the picture on the stamp was exactly the same when Anthony held Ray Ray’s hand. We started at 10:15 am and I was stopped at 10:30 am when Ryan found no good to hike longer. He sat down with deep breathing and hands sweating. The steep uphill slope had defeated him as he slept only 3 hours last night. He decided to give up and would see us in the car by 3 pm. I chased the front group to inform Anthony about his friend’s withdrawn. Anthony had no choice but hiked down to find him because Ryan carried all the lunch for his family. I told Philip and Moon to take care of the boys and we would wait for Anthony. The view over Breakneck was terrific. What was missing was the regular strong wind. There was no wind at all at most spots. Scarlett was a strong hiker who could always stay at the front. Esther, Jocelyn, Rose and Simon took a lot of good shots. Ray Ray was one of their targets because he was definitely a cutie boy. I saw him always running and turning around in order to be hidden away from cameras.
Anthony brought back not only his lunch but also Ryan. I was surprised what Anthony had done to re-charge Ryan. Ryan was fine now and had mood to show us his good knowledge on Chinese History. Simon, Anthony, Cindy and Hong were his audience of story telling program. Jennifer could handle the trip easy but had to teach Carrie how to do rock climbing. Carrie was once stuck at a tough spot for 10 minutes. This was surely a very demanding hike as I saw Hong had eaten 3 buns during the trip. We reached the intersection of Yellow Trail at 11:30 am which was only 0.75 mile from the parking. I decided to take early lunch at this shaded area because no one would like to take lunch under the sun. Since the group was spread out and I would like to serve the treat at the right time, I kept the watermelon for next break. We continued our trip as there were 3 more miles to go.
The escape from cameras probably made Ray Ray more tired than anyone else, he refused to walk any further after lunch. I stopped the group at a shaded spot and pulled out the heavy weapon from the backpack which was a half watermelon. Since the whole watermelon was too heavy and I had to carry it for rock climbing at Breakneck, I decided to bring only the load that I can handle. The cold watermelon surprised new hikers. Ryan thanked for the treat as if he had received lifesaver. Chen was as hungry as he could eat the whole watermelon. We reached the Red Trail and where we took the group picture before separation. Ray Ray intentionally hid himself in the group picture.
Anthony would carry Ray Ray and Leon down at the shortest route with the help of Chen. Emily, Ken, Esther and Jocelyn felt exercised enough for today so they would go with them. In order to complete 4 miles trip, I brought the others on White Trail for another 0.5 mile to reach a viewpoint that I never went. The up and down slopes under the sun was quite tough for new hikers. We found a blueberry field at a summit but the fruits were not ready. The so-called viewpoint was misleading because all views actually were blocked by tall trees. We turned back in 30 minutes and descended along Red and Yellow Trail. Philip, Moon, Jennifer, Carrie and Scarlett turned on their propellers. I brought the second group came at our comfortable pace. As we were liked hiking in an oven, I didn’t suggest to hike an additional mile to Sugarloaf Mountain. We finished only 4 miles and reached the parking lot at 2:30 pm.
