Adventure.: CalSTOC 2008 (10/09/08

I met John and Todd in Escondido after work on Thursday for the ride up to my cabin, the trip's launch point:

Friday morning we grabbed breakfast at The Loose Caboose:

Todd trying to get John to pick up the tab:

After breakfast, we took HWY 138 West, past Silverwood Lake to the 15N entrance. It was a bit chilly on the way to HWY 395 but the wind was almost unbearable.

We stopped for a brief rest off of 395:

After the break, we shot up 395 and met up with the rest of the group at the Pearsonville Shell Station:

Then it was onward and upward to Sherman Pass:

Home sweet home for the next two evenings (Horse Creek Campground - Kaweah Lake):

Time for dinner, beer and a class lead by our very own John Mapes (aka Kenny Rodgers) in the proper ways of enjoying Single Malt Scotch:

The second half of the evening was spent burning various items:

Of course, most of you are aware of my luck with campfires and "interesting" people. This night was not to disappoint as three young scholars visiting the lake to blow off steam after a hard week, invited themselves to our "Party":

This is Chris:

Todd, ever the one for a good conversation and looking for the opportunity to mold a young mind and win a new heart, cast the first political stone by asking: "Who are you supporting, Chris?"

Now, mind you, this was Fall of 2008 and the final show down of Obama and McCain was well under way. Chris being well versed in local Tulare politics had no trouble debating the finer points of each of the candidate's campaign.

Simply put, Chris was a strong supporter of Obama, not for the much touted "Wealth redistribution program, but for a much less complicated reason: "...because McCain is going to take all my fecking guns away!!!" ("fecking" is not a typo).

At this point, I can confidently say that the only bigger fan of Chris than Todd...was Chris himself.

Saturday morning was cold. Around 3am, I checked the thermometer on my bag and it read 16F!

Morning!