Tag Archives: Mr. Beal

Ok, so it’s the trail.  But I’ve met some really wonderful people on the trail.  I often forget to get names and photos, (I know, I know… that’s important, but I get so wrapped up in a great conversation, I’m usually long gone before I realize I’d forgotten……)

Sunday night, while setting up my tent away from the INSANE winds that blew around an area that sported such sights as ‘hell-hole lake’, elephants back, and ‘the nipple’, two hikers w/o packs walked by and told me about their planned Monday.  Carbon dating remnants of what they think to be an old beaver dam at Blue Lake.  California is a bit behind on the beaver scene (apparently my home state of WA is well ahead (thus the reason the field behind my ol’ cabin is now a marsh due to beaver dams down the creek)).  California is thinking of introducing beavers to the Sierra Nevadas, and this couple was out to prove that it’s actually a RE-introduction.  A study in the 1940′s showed that beavers didn’t exist above 10,000 ft in the S/N’s… this information is likely wrong.  Anyhow, I found this to be fascinating and a nice evening chat after a cold windy push to the campsite.
Monday, before I had a half mile in, I ran into Billy Goat again !!!  His first hike on the PCT was in 1989, and since, he’s hiked more than 25,000 Miles of the PCT – everything he owns in storage, he hikes full time year after year.  I was in haul-ass mode to get to Tahoe (even though my food wasn’t due till Tues/Wed).  I-Pod cranked up to a high beat tune, I was striding fast across a field when I encountered the CUTEST dog, carrying his food (good boy) in a pack and his wonderfully friendly owners.  Suzanne and Tom live in South Lake Tahoe.  Suzanne Roberts teaches writing (and should therefore become my new best friend) and has a book about her adventure on the John Muir Trail coming out in September, called ‘Almost Somewhere‘.  Just talking to her makes me anxious to read this book, it was a great conversation that I hated to walk away from.

I mentioned my interest in moving to Portland as well, so I’ll put in a plug for her best friends partners’ new restaurant Gruner – Portland Oregon.

I’ve seen so many sights that I often find my days mundane.  But the people on the trail keep things exciting, when I’m not feeling up to making excitement happen myself.