{"id":544,"date":"2006-07-01T19:06:10","date_gmt":"2006-07-02T00:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/?p=544"},"modified":"2007-12-03T13:05:04","modified_gmt":"2007-12-03T21:05:04","slug":"another-funnybone-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/2006\/07\/01\/another-funnybone-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Funnybone moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chuckie V. again demonstrates why his Pacific Crest Trail journal is the most post-worthy of the bunch.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Just a few days ago, I labored along Selden Pass’s lower slopes. A sort of no-man’s-land, this portion of the steep incline is blanketed in head-high chaparral, the ubiquitous shrubbery that cause California fire fighters to have innumerable nightmares. I was not in one of my better moods, which tend to range the entire spectrum out here, from bad to worse and from grand to greater. It was hot, I was sweaty, and the mosquitoes were closing in. I didn’t care to be where I was so I got into one of my head-down hiking modes and began my march madness. “This isn’t what hiking should be about,” I told myself, knowing damn well that hiking has no guidelines, no rule book. But yet I kept at it. Left, right, left, right.<\/p>\n

Then, as I clambered around a disconcertingly precarious rock formation, I emerged upon a small grassy clearing. There before me stood, though barely, a newborn fawn. It had to have been a day old at the oldest and was as adorable as anything I’d ever seen. (No, I’m not gay.) Mom stood nearby, safeguarding and keeping and a close eye on me, prepared to defend baby Bambi if it came to it. I retreated and let them be as they were, just mother and child in a beautiful, boundless world. I didn’t snap a picture for I didn’t dare ruin the moment. I simply thanked The Big Cheese Above for creating such ridiculously cute creatures and enabling me to witness them in their docile domain. It was perfect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then again if Chuckie doesn’t float your boat, there’s always Rolling Thunder, who found himself among the teeming throng at Yosemite Valley.<\/a><\/p>\n

And what a hub, with the result that it was the crowds that had a much bigger impact than the incredible scenery.<\/p>\n

A common trait reoported among PCT hikers is to struggle with crowds after so long on the isolated trail but here it was just manic.<\/p>\n

And it was ordinary America in a way we hadn’t seen for a long time. In Mammoth and most of the other mountain centres, there was a gross national fitness much higher than the norm.<\/p>\n

But here there were the archetypal obese Americans, wearing matching leisurewear and every one wielding a digital camera. I felt like one of those African warriors brought down to Nairobi for tourist photos.<\/p>\n

The sense of being overwhelmed was fortunately subsumed by the list of town chores: food, post office, laundry etc.<\/p>\n

It was standing in line for one of the chores that a freshly laundered woman said: “You look like a you’re hiking a long way.”<\/p>\n

“We’ve come from Mexico on the Pacific Crest Trail,” I replied without the usual enthusiasm for the answer, because I suspected she’d have been equally impressed if I’d walked from the day-use car park.<\/p>\n

“The Pacific Coast Trail,” she replied. “Imagine that.”<\/p>\n

And I don’t think she could.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rolling Thunder is a New Zealand newspaper reporter taking a leave of, uh, absence (I was tempted say “his senses”). As a professional courtesy shown only to members of the hiking fraternity, I have refrained from correcting his grammar (which, actually, doesn’t need much correcting. They must have good colleges down there).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chuckie V. again demonstrates why his Pacific Crest Trail journal is the most post-worthy of the bunch. Just a few days ago, I labored along Selden Pass’s lower slopes. A sort of no-man’s-land, this portion of the steep incline is…<\/p>\n

Read the whole thing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[153,107],"tags":[150,512],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}