10-16-06
Start: Bascule Bridge, CA
Destination: Isleton, CA
Elevation: 10 ft.
Miles: 15.2
Weather: Cloudy but Warm
Staying with Chris was kind of a treat for mom and I, because he reminded us a lot of my brother, Scott. We miss our family and friends like mad now because we're letting ourselves - since we're so close to seeing them. Chris is a really nice guy, and we're really thankful for his putting us up for a night - better than stealth camping along the Sacramento River! Thanks, Chris!!
After we were dropped off, we hiked on pretty steadily. We hiked into the Delta area of California, which, we learned from Chris, used to be all swampland. Then farmers built their own levees to hold the water back, creating large islands of rich farmland. So this area has a lot of manmade islands. We saw a lot of pear orchards, and just about every one of them had a farmer spraying something - I think it was pesticides... yikes! Paranoia! The guy on the tractor was wearing a yellow rain jacket-type suit and a mask. These are the types of things I get uncomfortable around. Not good for the marrow, ya' know... Anyway, we cruised by the orchards and walked past some large tomato fields. We saw a lime tree, oranges, grape vineyards, and even a pomegranate tree in a yard! They can grow just about any type of fruit here. We're looking for the pistachio nut trees!
We've been finding ourselves taking a lot more breaks. We'll stop to shed a layer, and normally we'd truck on right away, but we find ourselves arguing, in a silly way, who has to get up first... We are feeling tired lately, and it feels like there's maybe one more "bump" to get over and we'll be on pure adrenaline again. That "bump's" name is probably the almost 3,000 foot Mt. Diablo!
I dropped my turn-by-turn guide yesterday and didn't realize it. I think that was the first time that happened. Isn't that crazy? More than 8 months, and our first lost TBT sheet. We did drop a map in Indiana. That was a good trail map, too, dang it... anyway, we're almost to our next section, though, which I have the TBT for, so we're okay. We just have to get to Antioch. Then we'll be right back on track. And when we get to Antioch... when I look on the map, I see San Francisco. We're getting close!
When we got into Isleton, we decided to grab a motel. We felt like having a night to ourselves. We got to our room, turned the TV on, watched a few sitcoms, felt normal, and then mom made rice dinner in the Jetboil. Downstairs is a bar, and it's pretty crazy and loud for a Monday night. Good thing I can sleep through just about anything. Oh! When we walked into this place, there was this parrot in the bar... yeah, a parrot in the bar. He had a foul vocabulary, and I couldn't help but just laugh at it!
So we're drifting off to sleep to the sounds of muffled jukebox music, gruff laughter and beer glasses - and the soft, pink glow on our walls from the hot pink neon sign right outside our window. Doesn't quite beat the crickets and frogs... but close...
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