Day 2 in the Foo-perstitions
Our Bob needed a triple low fat latte to get reved up in the morning but Ms Foo was bouncing off the walls by 6am—itching for more adventure in the high mountains.
Today's hiking escapade (recommended by many a web site) was Peralta Canyon; a local favorite. One can only wonder why as the trailhead is harder to find then a Republican in Berkeley. But drive east did our brave duo, til the freeway turned into an old two lane road. A left on Peralta Road quickly turned into 7 miles of unpaved, potholed hell to the trailhead. Alarms must have been ringing at the Budget Rent-A-Car HQ as this rough and tumble go was most certainly a serious violation of the rental agreement.
It was worth the effort and punishment to the car as the trail looked promising; snaking into a deep canyon with a steady but doable grade. Deeper in, the trail got harder as the hoodoo rock formations towered overhead. After 3 miles came the payoff: an enormous needle peak in the distance.
A perfect lunch spot!
Our Bob needed a triple low fat latte to get reved up in the morning but Ms Foo was bouncing off the walls by 6am—itching for more adventure in the high mountains.
Today's hiking escapade (recommended by many a web site) was Peralta Canyon; a local favorite. One can only wonder why as the trailhead is harder to find then a Republican in Berkeley. But drive east did our brave duo, til the freeway turned into an old two lane road. A left on Peralta Road quickly turned into 7 miles of unpaved, potholed hell to the trailhead. Alarms must have been ringing at the Budget Rent-A-Car HQ as this rough and tumble go was most certainly a serious violation of the rental agreement.It was worth the effort and punishment to the car as the trail looked promising; snaking into a deep canyon with a steady but doable grade. Deeper in, the trail got harder as the hoodoo rock formations towered overhead. After 3 miles came the payoff: an enormous needle peak in the distance.
A perfect lunch spot!
Settling in against a rock to break the wind, our duo noshed on a smashed up Subway sandwiches and sodium-infused chippers. Adequately refreshed, they packed up their belongings and noticed—much to their dismay, a nice little tarantula eyeing a dropped piece of lettuce. This would have been the fright of the day if not for a misplaced footfall later that afternoon (subsequently much deeper into the AZ wilderness) which promptly found our hero flat on his bum with scraped up palms as war wounds.
Even with these two mishaps, our cheery friends dusted themselves off and continued—albeit with a wary eye out for poisonous bugs, snakes, and loose rock.
On the hike out a party approached speaking in that lovely, fluid tongue that Our Bob knows so well—French! With a loud, "Bonjour tout le monde!" Foo soon made some friends with four Quebecoise. One, impressed with Bob's, "Bonjour" immediately fired off a question in Gallic which left him with that oh-so-well-known stupefied look on his face. Luckily the fellow trekkers spoke English, so with mixed French and English Bob and Foo were able to advise them of what lay ahead, and with a hearty, "A bientot!" was off and headed back to the car to see if the shocks had given out and/or the tires were flat.
1 comment:
Correction from the Superstition Bureau...it was a 'tarantula'. My bad.
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