I caved.
I vowed I wasn't going to go out with the Park Volunteer crew and do trail work but, damn it, the Boss came by the house and we got to chatting and before I knew it I was feeling the old yearning to kick some jungle brush butt! He has the Sierra Club down this week and some walk-ins. So I geared up and went.
Water, gloves, sunscreen, sweat rag, boots, long pants... all set.
We did the Bordeaux Mtn. Trail, starting at the bottom and working our way up. Some worked on water bars, some cleared the sides, some cleaned up after the clearing (me), some ran up to the top to do the vista. Bwana Jeff has run the Tuesday and Thursday volunteer maintenance program for the last 6 years, I was one of his first recruits. This is the last year for this program, he's heading off to greener pastures, so who knows what will happen with the Trail Bandit gone and the trails left to the mercy of the Park.
The Bordeaux Mtn. trail is the steepest, hottest trail on STJ. The times I've hiked it I've come from the top and gone down. Coming from the top you get the best views and can see the structure of how this old road was built. The best way to see this trail is to jockey cars at the top and bottom, it's a killer. I was dragging my behind by mid-morning.
The good news is the trail looks great, we all did a wonderful job. Every little bit counts, right? At the bottom of the trail is calm and clear, alluring Lameshur Bay where I stopped to dunk my feet.
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It's me! I'm still alive! Hello!
And speaking of butts, here's some of that enticing view I was talking about...NOT! That's quite the banana sling! What's with the animal print? GRRROOOOWWLLLL!
The only thing creepier than seeing a guy in a Speedo is seeing a guy in a Speedo staring back at you.
When I got back to the house, George was out in his straw hat and bag o'tools cutting down vines. Since I was already a mess I joined in with other garden work. Vines will take over everything if you don't keep up with them. They choke out the world. You have to find the start and cut back there, otherwise you'll just have more vines. After the vines are cut pulling them down may not be a good idea, you can break healthy branches off or pull wasps nests down on your head. In a few days you wind up with ugly brown dried up tendrils and leaves everywhere, but they will eventually disintegrate. Birds use the dried bits for nesting material.
I am not in the best shape for this type of labor in the heat. I'm a Northern cold weather human. My ancestors were probably Eskimos. I hate heat and I don't like the sun. For someone who likes the cold I sure spend a lot of time in the heat, yathink? 6 hours of work lifting large loppers and hiking in the sun knocked me flat. Good thing it was yoga night, it was the best thing I could have done.There's air conditioning in the studio!
As I was going back into the house by the back gate I noticed the baby papaya tree had been bitten off, and there was a pile of donkey doo. Suspicious. Round up the usual suspects.
And now for a moment at Lameshur Bay ~
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