Concering that Mountain

Hope my sister doesn't read this; she might bring up the time I spelled "earthquack" for that shaking thing that happens every so often.

Anyway...

Maybe I didn't have access to a dictionary in 1975. Maybe I did and was just too lazy to get up and look. More likely I tried, never imagined there might be a letter "q" or a letter "u" in there somewhere, gave up, and settled for my best guess. Hence, when I flip the photo over, I will forever read: A Mountain That Me, Steve Garett, Tracy Fossen & Rich Larret & Richard Manchen Concerd. (PS: I was also guessing when it came to the spelling of surnames as well. PSS: Spelling aside, I also later learned the grammatically correct way of writing that caption.)

 Rich and the Burro - i always liked this photo; the burro is wearing a hat, and it looks like he has sideburns

trailhead looking back down Surprise Canyon into the Ballarat Valley

Yes, that week of backpacking Death Valley - to the ruins of Panamint City - will forever remain one of life's adventure highlights. It was Spring Break or, what was more commonly referred to back then, as Easter Vacation, when we strapped on the backpacks for the trek up Surprise Canyon above Ballarat, to the old mining town. A couple nights later any thought that Death Valley could be anything other than deathly hot was laid to rest, as a cold front moved in, blanketing the surroundings with snow. To counter that we built bonfires in big oil drums, took what shelter we could in the last two ramshackle, clapboard structures, and wore our sleeping bags like coats. Before that, however, were two days filled with other adventure - we "concerd" that mountain, explored a mine with a set of rails protruding from its mouth like a forked tongue, learned what silver ore looks like before processing, made friends with burros, scrambled over and around the old smelter, and found the hippie jewelers (not Chuck Manson's followers, thank goodness), who lived in a nice warm cabin there, to be very hospitable, sharing hot tea and cocoa, but not their "mary jane."

How is any of this reminiscing about something that took place forty-five years ago relevant today? 

Adventure.

To varying degrees, we have all been cooped up lately; some nearly completely cooped, while others seem to have barely missed a beat and have suffered barely any cooping at all. No matter where you've found yourselves along that spectrum, I suspect we are all looking forward to adding more adventure to our lives, whether they be big distant adventures, or smaller local ones. I have really been of a mind to more thoroughly explore the east end of the Silver Fish Trail, and how long has it been since last I rode GMR anyway?

Make your plans and get them done - there are mountains out there, just waiting to be concerd [conquered], and time enough, still, to do so.

 cold enough

 the smelter's chimney

 that is it: does not look like much, but is was concerd

Darwin Falls: not much to look at either