Things I miss (pt.1)

There is a movie on Netflix that I watched about an hour ago. Its titled "Ride the Divide", its about one of the toughest bicycle races there is. The race begins in Canada and goes 2700 through the Rockies into Mexico. One rider says, " Life's too short not to take adventures like this; you have to make these types of experiences a priority." That really stuck to me, we practically have the world at our finger tips and have the opportunity to do so. Racing in that race would be one killer experience but this made me think of what I have done.

A couple years ago I went to Mexico, it was about an 8 hour drive and we were in a completely different place from home in every way. It was a little town near the city of Ensenada in Baja California. My buddy and I stayed in an area where tourists aren't at every corner. The town has underdeveloped roads and sewer design that gives restrooms a very particular odor. All neighbors knew each other and each neighborhood had its own little convenience store. A very simple life.

Life is inexpensive and quite simple, so the public environment is very mellow and relaxed. The beach is a stones throw away with adequate surf and a large beach area. No need to drive, everything is within walking distance. This is how people live day to day, a life I feel I can get used to. Making the move would be easy, load up the car, find a small affordable home, unpack and relax in the simple life. 

The family we stayed with were well settled in the area, they had aunts sisters and cousins all living in the same small town, which means that families get together more often than you would think. This picture shows what a "day at the lake" would be for them. We drove for about 20 minutes of country roads then entered the foothills. The roads lost the pavement and were narrow dirt trails similar to the service roads here in the sierras. A very bumpy road, along the way it made me think that we were going to a secluded area, little did I know. There were a ton of people there, all who made the uncomfortable drive in everyday street cars to this very small creek that is only about 10 to 15 feet wide.  A creek like this wouldn't be a spot people would think of making it a day out of here in California. The people here did and boy I had a great time, a lot of friendly people and plenty of good food. The drive that would probably destroy many suspensions, the dust that would instantly turn your car brown loaded with all your family is completely worth it. One day.

A climb to climb.

There is a hill near where I live, well there is actually a lot of hills then those hills eventually become the Sierra Nevadas. I will only be writing about one specific hill. One that has been vandalized in a semi-positive way. Mt. Campbell is the name of this hill. This hill stamped with the letters, "S" and "R" for the towns Sanger and Reedley. Its a climb many do, some for the physical exercise and others to add more paint to the boulders. Either way its a cool climb, takes about an hour to climb at a decent pace. The summit is at a atmospheric level of 1,729 feet a feat similar to reaching the summit at Mt. Everest. Ha!

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Getting closer to the base, there you may encounter free range cows and several fences. Both harmless unless you lack the ability to climb a fence, which in that case you probably shouldn't go any further. The cows I think would be scared of you but I wouldnt know, they were to far from where we entered.

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After the first hundred feet or so of the climb you need to become aware cause all those stones can do some good damage to your ankle. A lot of the rocks also move easily. So don't get hurt at the bottom of the hill, not a good story to go share.
In this picture you can see the scale of the hill, my woman is just ahead of me climbing, her friend is in the center of the image about 50 feet further. This part also isnt very steep. Enjoy this part.

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Here is a view from the top, I would say you are able to see reedley, and yes reedley is there but it's difficult to distinguish. Right side near the horizon. Its so silent up here still, its almost a bit creepy. Here I took a break and took in the serenity of the mountain/sight.
Another wierd thing I discoverd about cows, regardless of their extremely high center of gravity, those guys can climb. In the kinda technical spots I would find cow pies. not fresh but recent enough they could be spotted. I would like to go up there and see cows climbing up there. It'd be quite the sight.
All this was shot with a fixed Canon EF 20mm 2.8. =D
Bye.

edit: Open images in new tab/window to see full image. Blogger cropped a bit to much.