I woke up a little unbalanced this morning… When I took a look in the shower, I knew the reason why. My #shower was not draining properly because the #MillenniumFalcon was way off kilter. So, I figured I would move her around just so I could get the water down the drain… Honestly, I don’t know why they wouldn’t have two drains in this shower, so no matter what angle you are parked, it drains. All it takes is two drains going to that same pipe… Who knows, maybe I will make the adjustment myself. It’s definitely not rocket science.

I leveled the #Falcon once again and this time I got it right, as you can see by the nice clean, empty shower…

After two cups of #coffee, my #vegetable/fruit concoction and writing in my #blog, I was ready to go for a nice long #hike. I packed some tuna fish, my water, my “Dharma Bums” book and some #smoke if I felt the need… It was such a light bundle I figured I could get away with just keeping it all in my pockets. A decision I will definitely regret later. I don’t know why I like to test things. I knew then I should have #packed a #backpack. Then I could have brought a few more things that would have come in handy. But hey, you live and learn and live and learn again…

Here I am packed and ready to go… Here’s  the #campsite number if anyone chooses to come visit.

Here’s the little street it is on. This street leads only to the campsites, so I thought that was pretty neat they posted an actual street sign…

I headed up the road to see where I would like to #hike today. I passed this big #RockFormation that I felt was worthy of a picture…

I figured this campsite would be a good place to start… The campsites I am staying at allow vehicles but if you hike up the #stream, you will find all kinds of #primitive campsites scattered along the #trail… These are #tent only considering there is no way you could get a #vehicle down to one of these #sites.

I really like #mushrooms and would like to learn which ones are the good and which ones are the bad ones… And of course I would also like to know which ones are the really good ones, If you catch my drift… I’m going to get a book on these… I actually watched a show where one couple made their living off of #WildMushroom #hunting. I was amazed at how much they made and how many different mushrooms are out there. Who knows, maybe I can pick up some and make some extra cash… I will definitely #explore that option… Talk about killing two #birds with one stone…

This is what I saw when I got down to this particular campsite… Breath taking! #Nature’s little #chaccuzi… I was so tempted to jump in, it looked so #inviting… I honestly stood there and contemplated taking off all of my clothes and taking a cold #SkinnyDip… There’s no one around to see and if there is, so what… Why are we so shy about our bodies? We would should be celebrating them considering the great things they do for us, like allowing us to live, being at the top of that list…

Well, I couldn’t resist… If I wasn’t going to jump in, I would at least soak my feet and boy was it cold… Very cold but invigorating at the same time… I still had the urge to jump in though…

This pool reminded me of a time when I had a huge zit on the end of my nose and I was going out with this girl I was very interested in… We went horse back riding and then went to the Turkish Baths afterwards… This was all in #NYC by the way…

Well, at the #TurkishBaths they had a steam room and then this #ColdPool right outside of it… What you would do is stay in the #SteamRoom as long as you could bear it, then run out and jump in the cold pool… which was just above freezing… Let me tell you, it was almost heart stopping but after doing it 3 times, that big red blemish on my nose was practically gone… My skin felt so great afterwards… So it’s not the feeling of when you get into these cold waters we are seeking… It’s the feeling you have after… I wanted that feeling again but I chickened out… Maybe I will go there today because I can’t stop thinking about it… I think it just may be my destiny…

I have to say it was hard leaving this little piece of Nature’s #paradise but I had some #hiking to do… I actually wanted to read some of my book but remember how I had that genius idea of putting everything in my pockets… Well, the book, which was rolled up in my back pocket, fell out on my hike, somewhere… I was really enjoying that book, I may just use that as an excuse to retrace my steps to that #haven once again… I didn’t lose the book, the book purposely lost me just so I could make it back and take a skinny dip… I think my mind is made up… lol.

So I started my trip #upstream… I had my #waterproof #boots on and was ready to put them to the test… I got really bold and started hopping rock to #rock right up the middle of the stream… I could get water up to the top of these boots and still my feet didn’t get wet.. My pant legs were wet but my feet were dry as a bone… Great boots!

I of course remembered to put my cell phone in a #ziplock bag… Already made one mistake by packing like an asshole, not going to follow that with a destroyed phone… I am learning a lot about myself on this trip, especially all the troubles I create by not thinking things through thoroughly… I am such a stubborn bastard sometimes!

I was obsessively searching for #fish as I was hiking up this stream… I didn’t expect to see any but I was hoping to see a #bass or #trout somewhere… This would be a great place for fish because of all the #Mayflies I was seeing… They were everywhere! I first learned about the #Mayfly when I was on #DudeRanch with my Mums when I turned 25. My Mother took me for a week and it was one of the best #vacations I ever had…

Anyway, we went on this #FlyFishing trip and we were the only ones there. This guy who was taking us was so passionate about fly fishing. He taught us all about the Mayfly and how their day lifespan maps out how to fish for bass and trout… I was amazed by this man’s knowledge and #passion for fly fishing… I was completely mesmerized by his lesson, so memorized, I still know the basics today… 15 years later.

You see… the Mayfly only lives for 24 hours, so this effects how you fish for your #pesce depending on what time of day it is… In the #morning, the Mayfly is just a #grub at the bottom of the #river, so you fish with a grub looking #bait that sits on the bottom of the river, hoping a fish will bite thinking it is a real grub… But come afternoon, that grub has already turned into a fly and it shoots up to the top of the river, trying to escape the #water and transition into #flight…

So by #MidAfternoon you change your bait to a wet #fly looking contraption that you put a #floater some inches above, so the bait doesn’t sink all the way to the water’s ground. When you pull the bait out and recast, it gives the appearance of one of those flies trying to make it’s way out of the water… That is what the bass is looking for around mid afternoon… Amazing, isn’t it?

The final stage is the one we are most familiar with when it comes to fly fishing… Where you put a fly on the end of your hook and rhythmically send your line back and forth so that the fly gently lands and floats on top of the water… Then you just watch your fly go from the top of the stream and float to the bottom… When you run out of line, you just pull the fly back again and do another rhythmic pull back and forth, lightly tapping the top of the water with your bait… giving the appearance that a fly is hopping on the water, trying to find the perfect place to lay her #eggs, so the whole process can start again in the morning… Then that #insect goes off and probably ponders life for the short time it has left and dies… Wow! And we thought our #lives sucked…

Imagine being one of those poor #creatures… Or maybe it’s not so bad at all… If you’re not eaten at least… You get to have quite a #miraculous #birth, going from water to #air in the matter of hours… Then when you get out of the water, it’s a complete #orgy! You only have so much time to #impregnate a lady and have a kid… So you are getting straight to work… I’m sure the guys love this idea…

I tried my hardest to catch some Mayflies having sex… Look, it’s lonely out here… Nothing wrong with a little Mayfly porn considering we watch #animals have sex on the #nature channel… What is up with that by the way? Animals deserve some privacy also, you know… lol. Now, you would think I would see a lot of sex going on but all I saw were these larger flies, I’m guessing they are the males, flying around trying to get some… Even when time is of the utter essence the #female is still picky! WTF!

If you look at the Mayfly’s life, it’s just a consolidated form of our own lives… We are #born… We have to struggle to grow up with all kinds of dangers around us, like a Bass waiting to eat your ass… When we finally get out into the #world, it’s all about #sex, having a #family, settling down, then we ponder life for awhile and #die… I’m sorry if that sounds pessimistic but that is essentially what life is all about… Now, don’t quote me on any of these so-called facts I have written here… this was 15 years ago I learned about the Mayfly, so I may be completely wrong… They probably don’t even #mate, yet I find that hard to believe…

I can’t believe there are no #comics jumping on this material… Mayflies are funny #bugs… I know a playwright named #DavidIves who did a short play about the day in the life of a Mayfly and I believe #BillyCrystal may have some funny material about them also in his stand-up routine….

I know… this is the type of crap I think about while #hiking… What keeps me company in these lonely #woods is the fact I #blog and am always thinking about what to blog… I really do love #blogging every morning, first thing… Even if no one is reading it… lol.

Here I saw another set of #Mushrooms… Now I think these are called “#TheMushrroomsoftheSea.” If anyone knows, please correct me or confirm me. If it isn’t against the law, I may just start collecting some of these mushrooms… Imagine making money off of hiking… I wouldn’t want to rely on it but it would be a great way to make some extra cash…

Here’s a beautiful, tiny #waterfall I passed and a #campsite that hasn’t seen a visitor for quite sometime…

I’m walking right up the middle of the #rapids folks… Absolutely amazing!

My feet are wet but by this point but who cares… Thank god I brought #Milene… my walking stick… She turned out to be an asset and I have noticed how we have become one on this #trip… I don’t even think about her while hiking, I just use her like she is a third leg or something… I let her slide up and down, between my palm naturally, as I change levels to hoist myself up or get down from a high spot… You should always bring a #WalkingStick on hikes… Not only does it help you get around, it also could be the one thing keeping you from a bad #fall or a serious injury… that’s why Milene was so important to me right from the beginning… To think that walking stick used to be apart of a huge tree, that probably is still standing today and has for 100s of years… I wonder if that tree senses all the good it does for everything around it?

It started to get a little hairy up here and I was getting tired… I had been hiking for about 3 hours at this point and it was time to make my way back…

I found this great #natural #throne to rest on before I made the trip back though… I felt like a king sitting up there… #King of the #forest… I have my own natures call, you know… They say #yodeling is spirit freeing in the wild… I just feel ridiculous doing it so I made my own #call and it is #invigorating screaming it into the dense yet open nature… There’s noting like it, I tell you…

It seemed like the water got a lot more aggressive on the way back… I guess rapids have their peaks and lulls in the day just like we do…

Now, here’s another thing I know a lot about watching nature and survival shows… This bump in the tree is known as #Burl… I think I am spelling it right… It is an infection the tree gets that makes the #wood swell… Burl is very popular in the #furniture #world and it is very expensive because they don’t know how this infection occurs and how to recreate it… There are people who go #hunting for large versions of this stuff, which can get very big… If I was to cut this off and if the Burl is good, you would see this beautiful, #marbleized wood, it almost looks like #marble #stone… You can shine it and make unbelievably gorgeous pieces from it… I wonder if it is illegal to cut this off… I will have to look it up… Another great source of extra cash out in #nature…

I was invited back to my #camp with this welcoming image… She’s a lot of work but she is so awesome!!! I know I say it over and over again but I do #love her, immensely! I turned around and took a last shot of the #stream/river or whatever you want to call it… It was now time for some grub….

I noticed that my #fire was still smoking a little from last night… So I immediately went and peeled some of that #bark off and started catering to the dying #ambers…

It took about a half hour of coaxing but I finally got her roaring once again… Tonight I decided to get a little crazy with the dinner… How about some #pork stir fry?

So I put two cups of #Californian organic rice in with two cups of water… I brought it to a boil on the fire and set it aside to #simmer for a half hour… In the meantime, I cut up some #bacon and started cooking it, to get that #grease going…

Then I added some egg, butter, chunks of pineapple and some paprika, sage and black pepper from my #spice chest… I let that simmer while the rice was getting ready…

The next step was the difficult one because if any of you have ever seen #PorkFriedRice being made, you really need to get that #temperature up high for the final step… Adding the rice to the pan and tossing it with all these delicious flavors…

So I got that fire #roaring, as you can see above… Then I immediately added the rice and tossed it for about 10 minutes on the hot #flame… You want it to #sizzle and you have to constantly stir it so it won’t stick to the pan form the #extreme heat… While this was happening, you can see I killed two #birds with one stone here by drying my boots on the fire as I cooked… I burnt my socks a little but hey, there’s nothing like toasty socks anyway…

The result was extremely satisfying yet I would have boiled the rice a little longer and taken the stir fry off of the heat sooner because the rice was a little hard… I think I cooked the stir fry too long and all the moisture inside the rice was forced out… I will keep this in mind for next time because I will be making this dish again, for sure…

Then I spent the rest of the night listening to classic radio, singing along… It wasn’t shower night so I had some time to kill before I went to bed… Another fantastic day with all kinds of discoveries out in nature and inside my #soul… Thank you and goodnight….