HOM: Stahl Peak Again

Jim & I ventured up to Stahl Peak, where I had hunted with Vic & Gordon. This trip was early in the season and snow-free, but overcast & cold. We took my little Datsun with the topper, going in off the main road and parking, then separating and walking. Instead of going up the main peak, we went exploring, which is probably just as well as about the time we got to the top of the ridge to the east what seemed like an icy monsoon hit. I'm not sure just where Jim was or what route he took, but I took the shortest route back to the truck. I cut back downhill and waded the waist-deep creek. I swear that creek water was drier than the air. I guess I was so saturated from the downpour I couldn't get any wetter. When I got back to the Datsun, I shivered into the topper and clawed a change of clothes out of the bag of emergency gear I habitually carried (and was teased about). I toweled off, (yes, there was a towel in that gear bag too) and changed, then fired up the little one-burner Coleman Peak stove I kept for emergencies and heated some water for coffee. I was pretty comfy when Jim came sloshing in, at least as wet as I had been. After he warmed up a bit we aborted the trip and headed to Eureka for a hot chiliburger in a warm restaurant. Oddly, I was rarely teased about my "always over-prepared" attitude and cluttered topper after that trip. TBC (Me) (Blacktail Books)