Mrs S rocks! And so does Mr K. Were it not for their connections, I would never have gone to see the Eagle Rock. I met them both at a meetup doing easy hikes at Lake Hodges in Rancho Bernardo. I hiked alongside Mr K at Lake Hodges. He kept forgetting my name. I kept telling him my gloriously generic name adding that I would never forget his name. My husband is his namesake. It was Mr. K, a former chemistry teacher at the Scripps Ranch High School who told me about the forthcoming hike to the Eagle Rock trails. After exchanging a few personal histories like where he was born and telling him where my husband, his namesake, was born, he would still ask me what my first name was. He was obviously multitasking. He was listening to his iPhone hiking apps and carrying on a conversation while watching his steps on the trails.
I told Mr K that my husband go by his middle name Gary because his mother did not want to be calling his youngest son Richard as Dick. Mr. K talked about Dick Cheney and Dick Nixon briefly but did not say he was ever called Dick. Djeline's gloofy character is off leash on the trails.
I found an opportunity to rejoin Tran while we were nearing the Rancho Bernardo Community Park and hoped that Mr K had forgotten about even talking to me. Talking about any Dick is not something I was very comfortable
at. Mr K must have the same selective memory disorder as Karlee's. Before I knew it, Mr K was introducting me to Mrs S, also a teacher but at Westview High School. Mrs S asked me to take note of her email address. And gloofy gets into Mrs S hikers' mailing list. Sweet Mrs Sweet! She emailed me details of the upcoming hike to Eagle Rock and I did not waste the opportunity nor the invitation. I made it to the Eagle Rock with Jo, the trail lead, Mr K, Mr L, Norm, Ken and sweet Mrs S.
I drove 60 miles to get the trailhead. From Poway to Ramona, the drive was pleasant. From Ramona to Santa Ysabel and a little past Santa Ysabel into Warner Springs was twisty and interesting. Mang Djelan, the GPS nicknamed by Issa Sanchez brought me 5 miles more past the right destination. I missed the Fire Station.
The imposing duck sitting by the roadside in front of the Fire Station was easy to miss. I was relying so much on Mang Djelan to get me to the right destination.
Rocks intentionally piled up on the trails are not there as ornaments. It took me a while to figure out that Nathan was not referring to quacking ducks at the Morena Butte hike last week. He was referring to trail landmarks set by previous hikers to show the way. I think they are also called cairns. But American hikers refer to them as ducks. Maybe I should call my Dick, I mean my husband, my Duck. He's always showing me the way, his way.
I did not realize I was back at PCT until I saw the road sign. Maybe I should make the PCT my Camino de Santiago in America. Rocks and buttes will be the churches.
Last week, it was Campo. This time it's Warner Springs. Soon the San Jacinto Peak. Mount Whitney with Djeline sometime in the future. Make a duck with Malou in Oregon. Get Beng and Tony to hike with me to Mt. Rainier in Washington. Get T, my Arizona sisterhood to see some passageway near the Canadian border. This old duck has a bucketful list on PCT written in bird poop.
The rock does look like an eagle ready to soar!
This old duck hopes to return in springtime.
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