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Arroyo Seco, June 2004 Day 2 Around 6 am I was awake, having slept more comfortably than on any of my previous backpacking excursions. Mani had a case of the “sleeps” however, an affliction my wife tends to suffer from as well, so it wasn’t until a bit after 8 am that we left and started down the 1-mile trail from the campsite to the river. Later I would find out the Mr. Woods didn’t sleep at for fear of wild animals. This may have something to do with the creature that roared at us the night before in the wee hours of the morning.
For a few minutes we walked along side the river
but soon it became apparent that it was time get wet, so I hopped into
the waist deep water and prodded along.
M&M rearranged their bags on the shore and soon followed
suit. It became immediately apparent to me that we were in for a
really long day since Mani moved with trepidation when in the water.
If you have never walked in a river, it is hard to appreciate the
required technique. Unexpected gems are one of my favorite aspects of backpacking and travel in general, and the first one occurred after only about an hour after reaching the river. To the right of the Arroyo Seco, about 20 meters away and almost obscured by trees and brush was a 10-meter high waterfall falling into a perfect pool. The flow was not great, nor was the pool deep, but it appeared to be perfectly proportioned and I half expected to find dancing fairies and magical creatures frolicking in the pristine water. I took a photo but it didn't really turn out well so you'll have to go see it yourself.
Sometime around noon I stopped for lunch at a spot
that also happened to be the first area with a small sandy beach
suitable for spending the night. Salami,
cheddar cheese, and crackers made up lunch (and were also dinner last
night and breakfast this morning) and ended an experiment in backpacking
food that I don’t wish to repeat.
After eating I swam in a small pool and studied the map and my
compass, quickly concluding that I had absolutely no idea where along
the Arroyo Seco I was. 45 minutes after I stopped M&M showed up and we continued together. Silently I resolved to not get out of sight for the remainder of the trip. As we continued on the going was slow, but that was expected and the rugged beauty of the area remained a constant. Soon we came to pools in the river that offered two options of passage, scrambling along the riverbanks, often full of rocks, brush, and poison oak or lazily swimming in the pool. M&M opted for the former while I preferred the latter. Mani’s leather boots may have played a role in this.
At 5 pm, or sometime around then, the sun was no longer shining on us due to the steep canyon walls and Mr. Woods also struck out. As usual, M&M had scrambled around a deep pool instead of swimming through it, and in doing so Mani had scratched her face. While I waited on a small ledge to lead her down the rock face, Mr. Woods spent 5 minutes putting a band-aid on her face while silently I fumed. Emily, my wife, would be expecting a call from me sometime tonight, and I knew at the rate we were going I would not make the deadline. Putting her into the position of calling rangers to report us missing was not an option so I began to plan my escape and hinted as much to Mr. Woods. After leading Mani down the rock I swam through a long deep pool and waited on a rock, soaking wet in the shade, while M&M first tried to go around and then reluctantly took the plunge. The swim took me about 5 minutes but I waited at the rock for about 20 minutes.
Mr. Woods arrived at the rock after Mani and while
he stood there, shivering with his teeth chattering, I explained about
Emily and told them I had to go ahead.
He knew this was coming and took it well.
I asked for the car key, gave Mr. Woods matches for a fire, and
wrote down my phone number. It
was agreed that if I hadn’t heard from them by noon the following day
I would instigate a search party. And
then I left; it was just after 5:30 pm. Nary 5 minutes had passed when I found myself
swimming through a long pool, when lo and behold, rising like a phoenix
from a rock monolith in the middle of the pool, was Dave.
Actually I don’t remember his name, but it doesn’t matter
either. Dave could tell me
where I was and how far I had to go.
More importantly, M&M would surely encounter Dave as well.
As it turns out, Dave was on his first trip up the Arroyo Seco
and didn’t know that much, but his friend Sam did.
I’m pretty sure his name wasn’t Sam but that doesn’t
matter. Dave, Sam and two
women were camped just downstream of where I first saw Dave, at an area
that I would later learn is called “Yin Yang” or “Hell’s Half
Acre”. When Sam told me I
still had 4 hours to go I almost lost it as I knew that traveling in the
river at night was not a smart option.
But then he qualified his statement by saying that it was 4 hours
to the parking lot, meaning that 1 hour of that would be walking 3 miles
on Indians Road. Then he
cheered me up even more by looking me over and saying that I could
probably be out of the river in 2 1/2 hours. It was not yet 6 pm so that meant I would be out before dark;
I was on top of the world, thanked them profusely, told them to expect
M&M and took off. The remaining portions of the river were by far the
most spectacular, consisting of deep, long, narrow pools and even a
waterfall that required a rope to descend.
Of course I was in “get the hell out of here mode” so I
didn’t dawdle but I was in awe of the area nonetheless.
I think I passed 3 more groups of backpackers on the way out and
soon found myself at the take out point, a suspension bridge spanning
the river and leading to a trail up to Indians Road.
At this point my worries vanished as I knew nothing could go
wrong now. Out of the
river, on the trail I was ecstatic to be walking on solid footing and
charged up the gorge. At
7:30 pm I reached Indians Road and the sign that told me how far away
from the parking lot I was. But
instead of enjoying a relaxing 3-mile stroll along the fire road back to
the car I decided to make my life hard.
Looking at my watch I concluded that if jogged I could reach the
car before 8:15 pm, thus creating my own little 24-hour epic.
So I did, and at 8:10 pm I was in the parking lot. |
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