Moran State Park Part 4

Oh wait, it's over there. We found campsite #40 nestled on a perch of land overlooking Cascade Lake. It was a stunning campsite equipped with a fire ring and picnic table. Surely the park service allowing all of these amenities made a mistake that we were fortunate enough to take advantage of. We backed the gold Ford Focus into position trunk first like a long snapper setting up for the game winning field goal to win the championship. We popped the trunk to efficiently and quickly unload the camp gear. There were no wasted motions. We were like an experienced kitchen line in the middle of a Saturday dinner rush. Stakes, pounded them. Tent sticks, straightened them. Air mattresses, inflated. in roughly 15 seconds the site went from barren to five star accommodations. We sat in our camp chairs and admired our work.

The laborious campsite construction had left me a bit peckish. I made a sandwich of the finest Safeway peanut butter and sliced up a banana to put inside the sandwich. The ratio of peanut butter, banana and bread would've made Elvis weep on his sequined jumpsuit. 

I ate that sandwich in four bites and Brad did the same with his. Now everyone knows after eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches you're sugar level is going to spike and you'll need activity. Since we didn't have thousands of screaming fans to sing to and having left our sequin jumpsuits at home we decided to do the next best thing. Take our peanuty energy and 24 inch pythons and hike around the lake brother! We only knew roughly where the trail head might be but for two pioneers of the foot path we threw caution to the wind and said "It's probably this way." It was that way. Soon enough we were on the trail. The trees were magnificent. The air was pure. The dirt was...not that interesting. Pretty much standard dirt. We spotted a bridge in the distance and decided to check it out to make sure it was working properly. Onward to the bridge! The trail was simple and flat in most places with slight grading. Not too challenging but scenic nonetheless.

We finally reached the bridge about fifteen minutes later and spotted a lone fisherman standing on the bridge throwing his line. We tiptoed passed him as to not scare away the fish while admiring his already bountiful haul. It was a freshwater breed we were familiar with having an abundant stock in our region. It was short, stocky, mostly silver with patches of blue and red. He had caught a healthy supply already and was clearly having a lucky day of fishing at the lake. 

We crossed the bridge and headed up a small hill with a rocky bluff overlooking the lake. We had nowhere to be and all the time to get there. So we sat down to take in the wilderness and all of it's freshness. After a while of relaxing and admiring the lake I decided to guess how far of a drop it would be from the rocks to the water. I estimated 40-50 feet but the only way to know for sure was to get closer to the edge and peer over. So that's what I did. Looking over and doing calculations for science the worst possible thing happened for people that wish to wear dry clothes. I slipped! I reached out for something to hang on to and caught a small twig. This was not my plan but luckily I had seen Raiders of the Lost Ark a few dozen times so I knew what to do. 

To be continued.