Thursday, August 27, 2009
North Fork of the American River ~ Lots of sun - already HOT!
Charlotte: Early Morning ~ AM with tea ~ Another long night of pain. My body is crying out for a break but we have 2 more - no, 3 more days on the river. My right hand is so sore that I can hardly use it. I think it is from gripping my stick. I take Advil and 2 Sprot before bed and another 2 Advil 4 hours later. It's hard to sleep when you are in pain. I don't want to take the PM medicine to help me sleep for fear I will sleep through the bear coming into camp. I have to keep one ear open and one eye.
My hot flashes are returning because of no flax seed oil and down here on the warm gravel bar, with no fan, all I can do is notice how my body feels. I am really trying to be present with my body and just be an observer. It is easier than living in my body right now. Does that sound strange?
I tried to focus on enjoying the stars until I got drowsy and sometimes I could drift off for a little while. At least we didn't worry about bears here last night. We had the dehydrated beef stew, Mo gave us, for dinner last night - pretty darn good. It was hot in the evening so we sat with our feet in the river for awhile and that seemed to help. After dinner we sat on our pads - MaryAnn, have you heard us saying "thank you" - all week - for telling us to take these garden kneeling pads to sit on? Larry found very little gold yesterday. We have made a huge shift from focusing on the gold. This section of the river has really been worked and as we get closer to the bridge it will be more so.
The first day we saw 2 people on the upper end of the trail on our way down and then Chuck the miner. The second day we saw another miner working on the river and 2 runners (unbelievable - probably training for the Western States 100 miler) and a hiker on the trail. Day 3 we saw a total of 6 people on the river, 3 areas where people camp and mining gear (although they must be out for supplies or something because their things are stashed).
I have noticed that our environment greatly affects what we think about. I am not thinking about Mannatech or painting Arlene's house or even the housesit up in Sutherlin. I spend time in observation of our surroundings, certainly some thoughts about my aches and pains - my body and how to help it out - GET MORE FIT!
Tuesday night we decided to focus on easy and fun and yesterday was easier and more fun. With nothing to read there is plenty of time for listening and observation, conversations, meditation. A good book would be nice but we are both glad that we didn't bring one. "I went to the woods to confront the essential things of life .... so, if this is our mini versin of Walden's Pond what are we learning AND it's NOT about gold. In fact the gold would have distracted us from the lessons - what are the lessons for us in this odyssey? What is really important? Who are we.... really ..... our spirit ..... our essence at the deepest center of our being, without ego and our 58 and 68 years of influence and programming? What do we want to do with the rest of our lives?
I think the hardest part, for me, about this trip is never knowing what is around the next bend - easy or hard? Deep or shallow? Will there be a place to sleep, some shade? Where will we wind up tonight? I can't make a plan because I don't know what's ahead.
About 8 AM - We have decided to strip down to undies, cross over the river, change into dry clothes and hiking boots and go down river before we move. We saw miner #2 hike out yesterday and back in this morning. We aren't sure whether he came from the bridge or down Burnt Flat Trail. We can see the remnants of a forest fire on the tops of the ridges across the river. Smoke filled the canyon last night and drifted over our heads from the ridge behind us. We discussed a plan in case of fire - There was no wind so we weren't really worried.
A little apple for breakfast (fresh apples were NOT a good idea. They are heavy and they are now very bruised from all of the banging around - dried fruit only for future trips. Also, chocolate bars and cheese - BAD idea. They are melted most of the time. By morning they are solid so we have shared a chocolate bar for breakfast 2 mornings.
Day 4 - Later in the day ~ after our move
We have made our way down to the camp spots at the base of Pennyweight Trail. We are exhausted! It is our hottest day yet. After we arrived here, we were burning up, sitting in our camp so with all of the energy we can muster, we put on our river shoes and crossed to the shadey side, where we are, now, sitting in the shade with our feet and legs in the river. It has made a huge difference in cooling us down. Oh, before sitting down, we took a dunk in a pool just down from our sitting spot. The water is coming out of a spring and is very cold.
Our transit/traversing of the river was fairly easy today.
Day 4 - Evening - Before I describe our trip down the river today I must note our change in plans. It is dusk and we have been busy packing - getting ready to head out in the morning. We are in the camp area at the base of the Pennyweight Trail. We have seen lots of people today - lots of folks sniping on the river, young lovers camping (they took our chosen spot before we could pack down river to claim it) and teenagers. A really nice man from Davis, whom we met sniping, hauled an old folding chair up to our camp for us to sit on. It is wonderful! We are taking turns sitting in the chair and it feels great! I never knew a chair could feel so good! We have seen 10 hikers, if you count Chuck, who has been hiking down the river all day looking for cigarettes. We saw the young miner who goes in and out each day and hikes a long distance up river to work. These are hearty souls! We now know that he goes out the Pennyweight Trail because we saw him head out tonight. The man from Davis told us the river below here is really gnarly with 2 drop offs. We have had enough of difficult river transits and portages. We are beat and we will head out very early in the morning and hope to catch a ride to Colfax and call Arlene. We figure if we are up on the road by 7 AM we can catch someone headed into work or school from Iowa Hill.
We are dreaming of an ice cold beer, hot shower and a bed to sleep in. A few clouds are moving in tonight ..... the first clouds we have seen all week.
Larry: Day 4 Early Morning ~ Once again watching the early morning sun light up the tops of the high ridges at yet another camp spot, discussing our plans for the day with our first cup of tea. Saw two kingfishers out early, looking for breakfast, I imagine. The timeless rush of the river and the solid mass of rock around me gives me a sense of transient presence. I look at the water worn masses of bedrock and realize the millions of years that this canyon has been forming. My mere passage is but an insignificant footnote in the life of this canyon. Yet, it is having an enormous impact on me, not only physically but in causing me to examine my priorities, my motives for being here, my limitations. Should we embrace life more like the kingfisher? I doubt they worry about tomorrow or next week. All they care about is eating and shelter - trusting in the fact that they will eat today.
For us, on this, the 4th day, our thoughts are directed more to our progress down river, our sore, stiff muscles and wondering how to put this experience into the context of our lives. Are we meant to take away lessons from this? Does it hold some profound meaning or is it merely another Bacon adventure? I'm feeling very protective of Charlotte but also frustrated at not being able to prevent her suffering. I say I'm responsible for getting us into this but she quickly claims her role in the decision to do this. We have a dilemma this morning - move camp or stay another day. This is such an ideal spot and yet we have at least 2 days of river to get under our belts in order to be on time at the bridge Saturday afternoon. If we stay here another day/night, then we have the added pressure of pressing on Friday and Saturday. But if we opt to head out today, we run the risk of camping at a less than ideal spot.
Day 4 Afternoon - Another move, another camp, another very hot day! I was able to let the raft go down the river on a tether today - much easier than walking it along. There was a long stretch of river, knee deep with plate sized boulders; much easier going. We headed for the camp spot that we had scouted out early in the morning but when we arrived, it had been claimed by a young couple. They had our idylic spot and offered to share but we decided to keep going. So, we pressed overland on down river and found a fairly nice spot under a towering pine. The afternoon sun is unrelenting and shade is scarce so we walked across the river into the shade, where we are sitting with our feet in the water. I was overwhelmed today with the realization that we are going to actually make it through the full week, challenges and all. I felt so proud of us for perservering through it all. But..... actually, what choice did we have?
Day 4 Evening - PS - After spending a scalding afternoon in the hot sun and being beaten up and bruised, the decision has been made to pack it all up and hike out on the Penneyweight Trail. Ironically, the foot of the trail is now 100 yards from our camp. We'll hike out to the road, ride our thumbs into Colfax and call Arlene to come get us. There is no shame in calling this trip over. We did all the hard parts and I'm very proud of both of us.
