Ruby & Gem Unleashed in Cali - TR

“I've got over 150 pictures myself. And the TR, at least the start of it, will be up tonight. I have much much work to do today. But check back here later on.”

“heeehee...I am sooooo damn glad I don't have to write a TR this time.”

“Where do we start? What an incredible trip this was!!!!!

Random Observations:

TTers ROCK! Even in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night, you never know when you will run into a friend you’ve never actually met before.

Gemini was the designated driver and Ruby was the designated navigator for most of the trip. Gemini did a very good Danica Patrick imitation without even trying. And Ruby prefers to navigate leaning back in the seat with her bare feet hanging out the window.

Ruby learned all sorts of new music. She now knows the words to lots of songs by Ludacris, 50 Cent, Eminem, et cetera, thanks to Gemini. “…just a little bit” “take me to the candy shop”

It’s true what they say about dry heat.

Dark chocolate peanut M&M’s and chocolate covered espresso beans make a good breakfast.

Wood grouse can be very, very scary creatures.

Always share the single pancake they serve at the Whitney Portal store. It is ¾ inches thick and at least 18 inches in diameter. Not exaggerating at all.

Gas in California is expensive.

Squirrels don’t like toilets.

Rasta Rangers are fun.

Sushi in California just seems to taste better.”

“Day One:

We both had a connection in Dallas, where we met and flew together to Ontario, California. Although it was late, we decided to take the rental car and head north to get as much of the four-hour drive done as possible. Early on, it was determined that Gemini would be the driver and Ruby the navigator. The drive was long, but we were excited to be in Cali, a first for both of us. Sometime in the middle of the night (3 a.m.?) we stopped at the only gas station there was for 30 miles so Gem could get a cup of coffee. As we pulled into the station, there was one other vehicle there. Gem noticed that the license plate said SNW DUDE. And NO WAY!!! There was Snow Nymph and Snow Dude sitting in their Jeep. What a treat that was to meet them! We were so charged up after that that we were able to stay awake the final 40 miles to Lone Pine. By the time we arrived there, it was 4 or 5 a.m. (we think) So we pulled over on the road to sleep. Gem slept in the car. Ruby pulled out her sleeping bag and slept outside next to the car.”

“Ruby....hurry...day 2...day 2...day 2....
hahahahaha...
i got my TR up...but I won't post it until you are done with yours.”

“Ok, so you not only randomly ran into the Snow couple, but you did at a gas station at 3am!?!? That is crazy!”

“somewhere on this board SnowNymph mentioned that they did not stop at their regular gas station but instead stopped were we ran into them.

yeah...we TTers do have a special bond...heeheehee...”

“Day 2:

Ruby woke in the morning to the sound of cows mooing. She sat up, and lo and behold…the mountains!!!! She knocked on the car window to alert Gemini, who had also just opened her eyes. We snapped pictures, then headed to breakfast for coffee and to wait for the ranger station to open. After getting our permit situation squared away and making some last minute changes to our itinerary, we headed to the local suppliers. We found everything we needed and some stuff that we didn’t. What can we say? We’re gear sluts. Then we headed up to Horseshoe Meadows. This was a beautiful drive with lots of sweeping vistas and amazing views. It took us a long time to get there because we kept stopping to take pictures. Oh, yeah. There was that little problem of forgetting to fill up with gas before we left town. So being worried that we would run out of gas way up there, we turned around to fill up and then started back up the mountain again. No worries though. We reached the Horseshoe Meadows campground and chose a site. We were the only ones there. We set up our tents and hit the trail by 12:15 p.m.

Our hike started at 10,000 feet and we hiked up to Cottonwood Lakes at about an 11,000 foot elevation, a gain of 1,000 feet over the course of 5 miles. This is a good beginner hike in the Sierras. Again, lots of stops for photo ops and the pine smell that permeates that area is intoxicating. As we hiked up, we were met by an oncoming hiker. Conor was a thru hiker on the PCT. He would be the only other person we saw on the trail at all. We chatted for a bit before moving on. He had already been on the PCT for a month and was planning to stay on the trail through July until other obligations would require him to leave the trail. In hindsight we both wished that we had stayed to talk with him a bit longer. Later that night when we got back to camp, we found a very sweet note from Conor that he left for us in the bear cabinet along with our food. He left us his bottle of honey along with a note, saying that it was too heavy for thru hiking. Conor, hope to see you here on TrailTalk some day. And you certainly are a sweet heart! We would love to hear how your hike went.
We eventually made it to the Cottonwood Lakes area. How beautiful! We could see how attractive they must be to hot hikers when it is warmer. When we were there, there was still a lot of snow, though it was mostly compacted and could be walked on (at least at first). We explored around Lake 1, 2 and 3. It was a little disconcerting sometimes as it was absolutely impossible to follow the trail that was buried deep under the snow. And then things started to get a little hairy as we started to break through the snow, sometimes up to our thighs. But what really sucked was that there was a heck of a lot of water in places under the snow. Both Gem’s and Ruby’s feet were soaked and very cold. We decided it was time to be done with the stinking snow and made our way back to the top of the trail in order to take it down. That was a memorable afternoon as we made our way there. You’ve never heard so many F-bombs coming out women’s mouths. It was like Mapleleaf was there. Finally at 5:15 p.m. we reached our goal location, the point at which most of the snow was off the trail and the trail was viewable. Knowing that there were gathering clouds and it was getting dark, we really started to hoof it down the trail.

At about the same time as we hiked down, Gem and Ruby both realized we heard an unusual sound. It was deep and came in bursts. Neither of us could tell where it was coming from though we looked everywhere. Who said it first? Don’t know, but suddenly bear was on our minds. Was it a warning sound from a PO’d mama bear? We didn’t know. Scary!!!! So double time and lots of loud talking it was! We made it down in record time. LOL If you are interested in hearing a sound that is very similar to what we heard, click here. http://www.percevia.com/explorer/db/birds_of_north_america_western/obj/234/target.aspx
But be forewarned. It is very scary and not for the faint of heart! No, it wasn’t a mama bear. In fact, it was a very super scary grouse. Damn bird! Probably about 2 miles from camp, Gem noticed rather large animal tracks. After comparing it to a footprint guidebook, we now know that they were made by a mountain lion. We were just glad that it was not super fresh.

We made it to camp, still laughing and enjoying ourselves immensely. We quickly made what amounted to be the most sucky back country meal ever and then hit the hay. We were tired!”

“Wood grouse. hee hee”

“hey...stop laughing, it wasn't just any old wood grouse, it was a blue wood grouse...much scarier noice. MUCH scarier.

;)”

“they are scary...ive been attacked by them too gem, I feel your shame. They...they...just come outta nowhere with no warning....omg....nearly had a heart attack...”

“I was really sleepy before I pulled into the gas station, but after the meeting, I was wide awake at least til Lone Pine. We were pretty stoked about running into you two! I mean, there was NO ONE on the road except you guys and us!

Pixie, it was 1am CA time, 4am their time! (I finally figured it out!) It was the only gas station for miles and that's where we ended up! Unbelievable!

If we had stuck to our regular schedule, we would not have stopped at this gas station. Gas in Mojave was .20/gal cheaper than this gas station, so we always stop for gas in Mojave. I didn't get much sleep the night before and wanted to make sure SD slept so he could drive the last half, so I drove right thru Mojave. We normally pull over on dirt roads to switch drivers but since we needed gas and was really tired, I stopped at Pearsonville. I'll never forget the look on their faces as they pulled up next to us. I didn't know what to think at first!”

“I was really sleepy before I pulled into the gas station, but after the meeting, I was wide awake at least til Lone Pine. We were pretty stoked about running into you two! I mean, there was NO ONE on the road except you guys and us!

Pixie, it was 1am CA time, 4am their time! (I finally figured it out!) It was the only gas station for miles and that's where we ended up! Unbelievable!

If we had stuck to our regular schedule, we would not have stopped at this gas station. Gas in Mojave was .20/gal cheaper than this gas station, so we always stop for gas in Mojave. I didn't get much sleep the night before and wanted to make sure SD slept so he could drive the last half, so I drove right thru Mojave. We normally pull over on dirt roads to switch drivers but since we needed gas and was really tired, I stopped at Pearsonville. I'll never forget the look on their faces as they pulled up next to us. I didn't know what to think at first!”

“It's gonna be one of those stories i will tell for a long time.

We should've took a picture of all 4 of us with the timer or ask the gas station clerk.

Yes, you are right though I think, it was 1AM your time and 4AM my time. the radio clock wasn't working and I kept looking at my watch.

heeheehee...how did you do a double post almost 20 minutes apart?
last edited: 6/17/05 10:04:00 PM”

“Finally got my pictures up on webshots. Hope the link works. I ran out of memory card before the end of the trip though.

Click on the California album.

http://community.webshots.com/user/ruby1000
last edited: 6/19/05 4:57:38 PM”

“well about freakin time!”

“Hey Ruby...your pictures tunred out pretty good.”

“I'll take ya to the candy shop.

I'll let ya lick my lollipop.



I can't get that song outta my head.
last edited: 6/19/05 9:22:57 PM”

“heehee.... 50 cent
I know I have no taste in music. oh well...
but it's just a phase...in a couple of month i'll be sick of it again.

sooooo...u caught me with my pants down.
licking a tree
and climbing up a wall

i need to check my pics in more details...I may have some 'weird' pics of you that i have not posted.

lol”

“That tree is still standing on location right? It didn't "accidentally" find it's way home in your backpack?”

“damn picture! It not what it looks like. I was only...what was I doing Ruby???

oh yeah... I was scared of the blue grouse...right?? yeah...that's what it was!”

“Looked like love to me.

Why do they call them blue grouse? Are they sad?”

“They aren't sad. But they are very very very scary.

Gem, I think you were checking the tree for...uh...I can't remember. ;) It was a very suggestive tree. That's all I have to say.


I'm working right now, but tomorrow I will put up the next day's TR. There's so much more that we haven't reported yet.”

“There's more????????? Will the TR be posted here or in Penthouse Forum?


School day tomorrow. Night all. --NC”

“I think we're done with pictures. this is as bad as it's gonna get...so sorry to disappoint. :) Only TR will follow...unless you already have read mine [on my blog] and i think u have, the following TR won't be new to you.”

“Day 3

After breaking camp in the morning, we headed down the road in search of Whitney Portal. Even though we weren't going to climb Whitney, we thought it would be fun to check it out. The portal is a beautiful area. The Whitney Portal Store is there, selling all the appropriate souvenirs. They also serve breakfast. The breakfasts come in one size -- XXXL. As we walked in, we past a forlorn looking guy who had more pancake left on his plate than not. He told us, if you order the pancake, make sure you share. The pancakes were at least 18 inches in diameter and nearly an inch thick.

After exploring the portal area for a while and having breakfast, we continued our road trip south, stopping to explore Fossil Falls as recommended by Snow Nymph and Snow Dude. This was an interesting area that had once been a lava flow, then a river, but was now a small dry black canyon. Very cool area.

We pressed on, with Joshua Tree NP being our final destination. We finally arrived there in the evening. The Joshua trees with the huge boulder backdrops were so cool to see. We stopped often to take pictures and finally drove into a campsite area called Hidden Valley. It was Saturday night, and apparently Joshua Tree is quite the destination for the southern California climbers on the weekend. We couldn't find an open site. Finally, we spied one last open site just as two guys in another vehicle did as well. So we graciously offered to share with them, which they did. Turns out, they were Swiss boys over here in the U.S. on a climbing vacation. (Oh, yeah. They were really cute Swiss boys.) As we got out of our rental car, suddenly a bunch more guys from various neighboring sites were there at our campsite, all offering to help us set up our tents. LMAO!!!!!! As if we've not done it a hundred times. Climber boys were everywhere. Have they not seen women before???? After setting up our tents, we went back into town and had a fantastic sushi and sake dinner. (We know that's cheating. But come on....it was sushi!) Then back to our campsite where we joined our new climber boy friends around their campfire.

Another good day!”

“Did you know that Smokey the Bear has a brother, Stinky?



last edited: 6/30/05 8:32:27 AM”

“Just a couple pics:

Cottonwood Lake #3





Playing at Fossil Falls

”

“Have they not seen women before????




LOL! Not like you two wild TT women! ;-)”

“ROFLMAO!! Ruby you're funny!! I sort of have dejavu right now.”

“Stinkin' Drunk Bear???”

“They make a topical ointment for that now Gemini. Will clear that right up in about 3-4 days.”

“Ruby ca people like to help each other out :) especially if your a gal camping :) believe me :D”

“no need for ointment 'cus guess what??? I'll be in Cali in 14 days. heeheehee...”

“I can't believe they fell for the ol' "We're just a couple of guys from Switzerland over here for a climbing vacation" line....”

“God, I wish I had gone!”

“oh...we fell for their cutness....not the switzerland line

very, very, very VERY cute!!! Like movie cute...very cute!

embear...yeah...we thought about you. U would've had sooo much fun.
last edited: 6/30/05 10:41:26 AM”

“The Swiss guys, especially one in particular, were freakin' HOT! He had longer hair, and I generally don't care for long hair.


However -- and this was the best part -- later that night as we were sitting around the campfire together with the Swiss boys and about 8 other guys from various other sites, someone started asking the Swiss boys some questions to which they answered. Before that, the two of them had sat there like bumps on a log saying nothing. Well, they start talking about Switzerland and Europe and their language and speaking German and English, blah, blah, blah. It took my very good German girlfriend, Gemini, about 30 seconds to put the two of their haughty asses in their place!!!! I think the last thing they expected when coming to America was to run into a hot German woman who would have a clue about what they were talking about.

It was so freaking funny! Of course, we were polite and didn't laugh at them to their face. We waited until later to do that. ;)”

“No pics of the hot Swiss boys for the knickers thread? Come on ladies!”

“Here ya' go:

”

“Day 4

In the morning we decided to go explore as much of Joshua Tree as we could in a day. We had heard there was something called Cottonwood Springs on the other end of the park and decided to head there. If I remember correctly, it was a good 40+ miles away through the desert. Trust me, Gemini has a lead foot and drives like Danica Patrick. Half the time I was white-knucking it. ;) Along the way we stopped anywhere that grabbed our attention. So we took in Keys View (great expansive vista) and also stopped at Hall of Horrors. It was there at HOH that we did some bouldering, which was way cool. We ran into a little problem there though. Where do we put our cameras when scrambling up rocks if we don't have pockets or a pack? Of course!!!! Right down the front of our tank tops. Plenty of cushion and a nice fit. At one point while bouldering we past by a group of guys who were more serious climbers. They apparently got a kick out of us and some of our "methods of storage" as they were taking pictures of us.

We continued on then to Cottonwood Springs. Had to drive through areas of really interesting cacti called cholla and ocotillo. The Cottonwood Springs oasis was very cool. It was the first time for me to experience a true oasis in the desert. Very cool. Then we headed to the campground and decided it was not something we were interested in camping at. Not very appealing at all. Then a quick stop at the visitor center for maps and decals, etc. We decided to head back north to Hidden Valley again for the night.

We set up our camp again, and then made a run to town for firewood and to buy a shower. After showering, we went across the street to check out the gear store we saw. The two guys running the store were cool and very helpful. One of them suggested that we check out the place where the body of Gram Parsons of The Flying Burrito Brothers was burned up by his buddy.

After getting back to camp, we decided to do a bit more bouldering near our camp. It was a challenge, but we made it as close to the top as one could without climbing gear. While up there, we looked down (way down) to our campsite and saw that the entire campsite was covered with ravens. Damn birds! We made our way down (took a long time). It was like an Alfred Hitchcock scene. The birds had descended, styrofoam snow was blowing everywhere, and we found that the ravens had totally beaked our styrofoam cooler to bits, draining off all the water and ice. We got there just before they got to the salami, but they did manage to pilfer 6 whole wheat tortillas.

We cleaned up the mess, swearing at the damn birds the whole time. Then we grabbed our last sort-of cold beer and a couple cigars and headed to another large rock to watch the sunset.


The night ended with a fantastic fire. Let me tell you...TT girls make the best fires!”

“Ruby, WHY do we not have any pictures of the hot swiss boys?? Pixie, I don't know why we didn't take any pictures. I thought we took pictures at the campfire, but I didn't.

Bit babeee.... you are lookin' good!!!”

“uhhh...u posted day 4!
Great TR Ruby!!”

“That's not bit, it's the hot Swiss boys!”

“I wonder what kind of TR the Swiss boys are posting????”

“Gemini bouldering.





Sunset at Joshua Tree






Having Fun!

”

“Day 5


Early the next morning/middle of the night, the coyotes descended upon the campground. Their yips and howls woke both of us up throughout the night. Finally at 5:30 I decided to get up and see what I could see. I crawled up one of the piles of nearby rocks and managed to catch a glimpse of one of the coyotes. After breadfast then, we decided to hike Barker Dam. The reservoir pond there is so beautiful and makes the immediate area very lush. It was there that we saw our first jack rabbit instead of one of the ubiquitous cottontails. There were also some petroglyphs in that area. Very cool. Then we headed over to Cap Rock, the area where Gram Parsons was burned. That was cool to see. (How many times can I use the word "cool").

Now we had seen most of what the park had to offer for a quick trip. So we packed up and headed west. As we drove down Rt. 62, we saw a sign for the Spunky Monkey Cafe. How could we not stop there to eat? We highly recommend it BTW. Very yummy!

Then finally on to Lake Perris State Park. We saw that there was a large lake there where we could jump in the water and swim and play. We had a blast there. It was there that we met our fun Rasta Ranger. He was pretty great. After swimming we stopped to ask him where a couple chicks could plug in our hair dryers to try to get beautiful. He gave us a tip to head over the the RV campsites where he told us how to get free electricity (but he made us promise to not tell who told us).

While there at that campground, Gemini found a sad sorry little squirrel who had crawled into the toilet and couldn't get back out. He was more dead than alive by the time we found him. I used a stuff sack to grab him and pull him to safety and then outside into the sunshine. Then we headed back to our friendly Rasta Ranger to get directions to the best margarita in town. We tried to get him to go with us. I think he nearly did, but he said he was married and thought he better not. lol

The next morning, we made it to the airport with lots of time to spare.



All in all it was a great trip! Not sucky at all!

THANK YOU, GEMINI!!!!!!”

“Hahahahaha...u forgot to tell them about the flying map...and I had to turn around to get it. but it wasn't Ruby's fault, that one spot on the road was haunted, I am sure bcause I found other things that flew out of other car windows...like a CD...

GREAT TR...and THANK YOU! It was a VERY fun trip! can't wait to do another...oh wait...I will be doing another trip in 2 weeks. :-P”

“The Joshua Tree at our campsite




Hot German Babe

”

“okay ruby...here you go
”