Thrice Rebuffed, 3.6

The Road Back Down...
We finally reached the beginning of the Jennings Creek Trail Head and CR240; now roughly 3 miles down to the car. Normally I enjoy a good walk and 3 miles is about the perfect distance. But normal is not part of our vocabulary these last few hours...

1. We were walking in a deluge
2. We were walking in a lightning storm
3. There was also hail
4. I had one good shoe and the other foot was essentially a sock; now soaking wet and cold.
5. The temperature had dropped to the upper 50's, definitely not normal for two wet South Texans in July.

So we trudge down the mountain...

As we were hiking down the rocky 4WD road, I favored my left side to relieve the weight on my nearly-bare right foot. After a half mile or so, my left knee began to ache and ultimately locked up similar to my experience on the first Tabeguache Rebuff. So my hiking style transitioned from that of Festus from Gunsmoke to someone (or something) from the Zombie Apocalypse.

Much like Jonah in the belly of the big fish, my prayer life intensified...I didn't pray for my own deliverance (I have no trepidation about death or discomfort) but I prayed fervently for Caleb - that he would make it safely back to Salida without too much trauma. I prayed fervently for Nic as he was stuck up on the high mountain in the middle of this intense storm. I felt responsible for both of them since I had dragged them into this misadventure...

Still a couple of miles from the car, an elderly couple with a pickup full of dogs came driving down the road. They stopped and asked if we needed help or wanted a ride. Caleb jumped at the chance but I declined...I wanted to plod along and see if Nic might catch up with us. I gave Caleb the car keys and off they went.

And I hobbled along...

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The Devotional Interlude from Psalm 46...

Psalm 46 is a poem or song about the uncertainties of the journey...the earth gives way, the mountains fall, the waters roar and foam, the mountains quake...this uncertainty is contrasted with the stability of God, and that famous line comes from this Psalm (I've included several translations):

"be still, and know that I am God"

"calm down, and learn that I am God"

"stop your fighting, and know that I am God"

"cease striving, and know that I am God"

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My favorite thing about hiking and climbing in the mountains is, despite the pain-discomfort-uncertainty, there are beautiful reminders everywhere if we pause and observe...

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15 minutes or so after my side trip to this pond I hear a vehicle coming up the road...it was the elderly couple with a pickup full of dogs...seems Caleb told them that my knee was locked up and I didn't have a shoe on my right foot. They dropped him and immediately came back and demanded that I get in the truck and ride down with them.

I did.

Thrice Rebuffed, 3.5

Finally the Tree Line...
The storm clouds above were rapidly converging but once we arrived at the stable terrain of the Jennings Creek Basin we hustled. Or more aptly stated - Caleb hustled and I hobbled like Festus from Gunsmoke...remember that I am wearing only one good shoe.

We made the treeline before the storm hit but only by 10 minutes or so. It started raining on us when we made it to the "Stairway to Heaven" and we could hear the thunder rumbling back in the Basin from where we had come. We began to worry about Nic, still up on the Ridge or near the Tab Summit as far as we knew. There was a lot of lightning up there...

When we made it deep into the forest below the treeline most of the lightning danger was gone. Now we had to try to stay as dry and warm as possible. And trudge back down to the car, still about 3.5 miles away...

Thrice Rebuffed, 3.4

The Descent
Normally gravity aids the descent and the travel time is about one-third of the ascending travel time. Not so on a highly unstable boulder field. You have to carefully pick and choose the placement of each hand and each foot, hoping to find a rock that will stay put for a few seconds. It was very tedious.

The Eerie Sound
As Caleb and I made our descent we heard a very strange sound. Sometimes you can hear water running under a boulder field but this sound was not running water. We became perfectly still and quiet...and as best as I could tell, the sound was the sound of rocks moving underneath the surface rocks. I have witnessed a rock slide from a distance and it was quite powerful. We were about halfway down when we heard this, and when the hair on the back of my neck stood on end, I knew we had to:

1. Get out of this gully.
2. Get down back down to the basin as quickly as possible.

Responding to item 1, we moved laterally to a shoulder that separated gullies and into to the adjoining gully. This would take us out of the main stream of a rock slide. Movement down to the adjoining gully was just as tedious and slow. We made it down in one hour exactly.

The next crisis - converging storms clouds from the west and east and we were both the tallest things in the basin. We must get to the treeline quickly!

And I still have only one functional shoe...

Thrice Rebuffed, 3.2

The Jennings Creek Basin


Finally above the treeline and still making tolerable time, and the shoe, though ugly, is holding up. Right behind Caleb's right shoulder in the photo below is our next target - the saddle between Carbonate and Tabeguache Peak.

July 11, 2012 - Jennings Creek Basin & Caleb's Gameface

Don't be put off by Caleb's surly countenance, it is just the standard gameface photo. He is enjoying himself, inasmuch as one can enjoy themselves when they haven't had a good intake of oxygen for 3 hours and their legs are screaming with pain. And he is pretty stoked about wearing MY good pair of hiking shoes.

Getting above the treeline is my favorite part of any hike, I love the wide open spaces and the views are stunning in every direction. This photo and the video above don't do an adequate job of revealing all of the heights, layers and colors of this scene.

Our First Problem
As you can tell from the video and picture, the weather is still really good and Caleb is as happy as a lark. There is no trail from this point forward so we have to pick the best line we can and go up. The trail we chose runs alongside the rocks over Caleb's right shoulder. This means that our left feet were lower than our right feet and an awkward strain is put on our feet and shoes. Normally not a problem if one has a good pair of shoes on...



I should have mentioned that duct tape, bandanas, AND/OR baling wire will fix anything. Duct tape would have been perfect for this job but I forgot to bring it. Still optimistic about the efficacy of the bandana though...