For Thursday, June 1, 2000                                                                Drummer Column, Gibbs, 681 words

 

 

 

Backpacking backpackers

 

 

   The Benicia High Backpacking Club had another wonderful, wild weekend wilderness walk in the woods. We went back to Pine Valley, one of our favorite camping destinations in the Ventana Wilderness near Big Sur. We hiked 5.5 miles down into paradise -- creek-side camping with waterfalls, climbing rocks, clean spring water, plenty of firewood, and our own handmade swimming pool.

     Twenty-five students, two other teachers, two parents, two graduate students, a seven-year-old, and I made the trip. We had fun and we're back now, living off the memories and waiting for the pictures to develop. 

     We only had a few remarkably wonderful things happen to us this year. Otherwise, it was just like any other remarkably wonderful backpacking trip.

     First off, we had a flawless caravan of parent volunteers driving us back and forth from the trailhead 160 miles away. No one got lost, we found the same restaurants, and everyone arrived on time. Hats off to parent volunteers! Hip hip hurray!

     Second off, everyone made it home safely. We had no injuries beyond the basic blisters, mosquito bites, and boo-boos. I rate student behavior and teamwork on this trip as a perfect 10. 

     Third off, a lightning fire swept through the Los Padres National Forest last fall and destroyed a lot of trees and hardy shrubs. We hiked through the torched remains of forests that last year had provided us with shade. This year, because of the fire, Ventana provided us with an explosion of wildflowers. Violet lupines by the thousands carpeted the hillsides. Their blossoms filled the air with honey-sweetness in the new-found sunshine beneath the blacked remains of no-longer-overhanging flora. Mixed into the blue ocean of lupines in splashing contrast were patches of orange poppies and red monkey flowers. The wilderness was being reborn before our eyes in living color.

     The Pine Valley Campground escaped the destructive flames thanks to the work of dedicated fire fighters. Our favorite campsite was open and we staked our claims in the usual way -- grownups on the lower level close to water, kids on the upper level closer to the climbing rocks. This year none of the students brought tents. Instead they spread out a half-dozen blue tarps into a giant square, laid all their insulate pads and sleeping bags in ragged rows, and slept together under the stars.

     We spent our days hiking through rock outcroppings, downstream to the waterfalls, and over the southern ridge on a five-mile loop trail. We spent our evenings star gazing, fire gazing, story telling, eating, eating, and eating.

     My favorite moment was when Stacy, one of our students, said, "Look, Mr. Gibbs, I climbed a tree!" She was perched on the thin limb of a creek-side aspen with a Cheshire grin on her face. "I never climbed a tree before. I don't care how big it is or how far off the ground I am, I climbed a tree." Now, if that doesn't choke a fella up, he needs to resign as a backpacking advisor. 

     It being Memorial Day Weekend, we expected a crowd around us, but it never materialized. Lots of couples and small groups came into the campground, but most didn't stay long. Perhaps it was the sight of 33 happy, noisy backpackers scampering about that scared them off. Perhaps it was the sight of Eddie stomping around wearing a moose-head hat, paper-bag pants, and a tall wooden staff that made them uneasy. Who knows, but we had the campground to ourselves.

     The payback for all this fun came at the end, just like a student loan. On Monday we had to hike from the cool, deep valley up to the sun-drenched ridge where our cars were parked. We weathered the blazing sun, the skittering lizards, and the relentless uphill switchbacks to civilization in return of gratitude to old Mother Nature for the joyous privilege of letting us visit her remarkably wonderful Pine Valley.

     Then we drove to Salinas and ate lots and lots of pizza. The trip ended with a toast by Tom at the pizza parlor: "Here's to backpackers who are backpacking."