inglorious wanderer

What makes hiking a serious matter is when you untimely  go home to Jesus while hiking. Meet-up.com hikes never overlook the risk and danger of trekking In the wilderness and every event posted comes with a waiver. Hike  at your own risk. Know your level. Your organizer is not your tour guide nor your baby sitter. Please, no dramas!  Maya who didn't sound like a stickler to meet.com waivers described the hike to Tenaja Falls as one beautiful hike. It is! Just like the flowering sage I have never seen before. Maya's bubbly charm was for me one of the highlights of the beautiful hike. It was a pleasant carpool ride with Maya and Juani with Lee on the wheel  of Maya's SUV to the trailhead to start with.  I was surprised to learn that Cleveland National Forest extends to the Riverside County. It felt like the trailhead is already part of the San Bernardino National Forest to me. Tenaja which I naturally pronounce as tea-nah-ha given my Hispanic l...

I was not the only one taking Chip shots on hikers who huffed and puffed all the way to the Mount Woodson summit for a stint or a stunt at the Potato Chip Rock. Most weekend, visitors flock to the rock, wait in line after making arrangements with their  cellphone shooters,  climb the boulder and jump over a crevice into the protruding chip of an adjoining   boulder.  I had my first customary photo at the tip of the Chip almost four years ago. It was an awkward feeling standing at the tip while a college kid took my picture using my prehistoric Minolta camera. "Isn't this a film camera?"  "Yes and it's older than your mom!" Selfies and hash tags were not yet trending then.  It was Tina Chitura who introduced Mount Woodson to me. I did go back to the summit to look for the Potato Chip Rock  four days after Tina, Tracy, Melanie, Annie and I hiked Mount Woodson for the first time.   Whoever named the rock didn't have much of an imagination. ...