Descending

The last two days we have  been gradually descending from Big Bear City. We are at 4000ft, dropping from 6000ft. We've done 19 mile days but since the temp. has been cool and our cardio work-outs have  been next to nil the days seem like "gimmes" although Topo might disagree. Check out her blog. 19 miles is a lot  but when the terrain is suave so are we.

     Everywhere we go it's springtime. I can't really name most of the flowers   

and I'm not even a flower girl per say but they are so making my days. It's like getting hundreds of bouquets a day. Every corner I turn a new  color greets me. Today there were lots of golden- yellow and always a multitude of purples and pinks. We were traversing areas of gray-white gravelly scree and speckled through-out were tiny bright yellow daisies. Later in the day the hillside beside me looked like it had been spray painted in patches of apricot. I was seeing Miner's lettuce in  various stages of decay. The entire plant including the stem changes color. This plant was sometimes apricot sometimes red and sometimes orange. I did see some healthy dark green lettuce  but the various other shades stood out  because they were odd colors. We saw lupines and a million types of buttercup looking things. The flowers that break my heart are the tiny tiny ground cover plants that hold their own in brightness and brilliance. They are as minute as the head of a needle but just as astonishing as a full size in your face rose. They are as important and necessary as any other thing in the universe as are all the stink bugs that cross the trail and the busy ants that scurry over every chance they get. I'm out here with all these plants and creatures appreciating their beingness. The woodpecker whose tapping reminds me of a wooden block being hit in a Zen monestery to call people to meditate. At first there is one hit followed by others at determined intervals and finally there is the roll down which is the final call. Woodpeckers have a roll down!

I'm digging the stink -like looking  bugs that have red velvet  covering half their body. Tidy Camper calls them "fancy pants". The birds never fail to amaze me when every morning, even when it is below freezing, they sing as soon as the daylight comes. They are so reliable.

      Today we woke up to frozen bottles of water. Thanks be to all gods that TC's bowels knew how cold it was. Even they refused to come out until the sun appeared. Got to sleep now. Love to you all.

Deep-creek river