Flashlight Hike 2011

No photos this time. I was in a dark corner supervising the carries group, and then it was too dark. We followed the customary route above Rodeo Lagoon, near which some of the participants had gone to environmental awareness camp. One of my earliest maps was drawn at that camp for my journal entries of that year. I believe I also said something uncomplimentary about Jonathan Vordermark and criticized the camp's treatment of the flag.  We went up the hill to the bunker and split into a round robin of five groups to complete various requirements. As I said, I was supervising the carries group. The test was a race, which would have been much more hazardous if the giant gun emplacement pit had not been filled. We continued up the hill and up the stairs. I was a bit worried when we were passing the collapsed wooden ruins on the top of the head, since some of the younger kids were itching to descend into the splintery abyss. Several of the turns were not clearly marked, but we did not lose anybody. We ascended to Hill 88 and supped there. The Urban Astronomer, who was with us, provided guidance to navigating the stars, although the moon was bright. We headed down from the summit of Hill 88 and walked along the backside of the ridge.

At the crossroads, where a wrong choice would lead to the Long March of that infamous year, the Urban Astronomer provided more guidance on celestial gazing, but fell short on myth. Cepheus was the king of Ethiopia, and Cassiopeia was his queen, and Andromeda was his daughter. Cassiopeia bragged that Andromeda was more beautiful than the gods. This boast angered the gods and Poseidon demanded that Andromeda be chained to a cliff and consumed by a sea monster. Andromeda did not die, because Perseus (not Pegasus) rescued her. Upon reflection, the confusion might have arisen because Perseus did have the sandals of Hermes, which had wings and allowed him to fly, thus fulfilling the same role as Pegasus. Such errors do makes me wonder whether I should start a mythology blog.

We descended from the decision of Hercules into the always-chilly hollow and out towards the road. We were behind schedule, but I was less discombobulated than some of the impatient teenagers. We walked along the north side of Rodeo Lagoon, and I recalled the swampy path on the south side and the crossing of the bar. We reached the parking lot, consumed doughnuts and hot chocolates, and the Urban Astronomer allowed the boys to look through his telescope at the Galilean moons.

Flashlight Hike 2009

This year's flashlight hike was the route along the north edge of Rodeo Lagoon, where I and many other Cathedral alumni have gone for our 6th grade week at a nature program (I should still have a proto-journal of that week somewhere). We gathered in the parking lot before we started up the hill to Battery Townsley. The hole in the battery, which once was a black pit of water, has been covered up for safety reasons. The world becomes "safer", but less interesting, every year; staring into the Stygian pit was a highlight of this route. We ascended the "mini-Half Dome" staircase, as somebody put it, and admired the views during a snack break. The ascent to the radar station seemed shorter than usual (perhaps because we had not spent too much time at the Battery), but the nearer tower had collapsed like a section of the Bay Bridge; someone had defaced the largest slab with a giant black heart. If that has a particular significance, I would like to hear from you.

After we had dined while looking at the lights of our beautiful city, which I appreciated more after attending Lost Landscapes 4, we continued along the trail, which has improved markedly since the park banned mountain bikers on the Miwok Trail. There was a lesson in astronomy, which has become easier since the days of pretending you can tell where someone's finger is pointing. The final descent coincided with a sudden drop in temperature, and then single file along the north side of the lagoon. I remember one year where we walked along the south side of the lagoon and across the sandbar to the parking lot, but that took place earlier in the day and was quite a slog. It's entirely possible that the south trail has collapsed into the lagoon. There was a supply of hot cocoa and donuts, as usual, and a sophisticated telescope for seeing the Galilean moons.