Thanksgiving Mountain Run
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Since it was Thanksgiving morning and we clearly had to do something to justify eating massive quantities of food, it was time to do what my brother and I do best: climb mountains as fast as we can. In this case, our grandparents live at the bottom of Manastash Ridge--which has a bunch of radio and TV towers at the top--so Ben, Uncle Regan, and I decided to run to the top. We ran for about two miles on flatland until we got to a draw where a primitive road led up to the tunnels that go under the freeway. After going under the freeway and through a barbed wire fence, the real climbing began. The slope that runs to the top of the ridge is probably a little under 30 degrees, and as soon as we started up it Ben took off, Uncle Regan followed him, and I was last. But I wasn't about to let my game plan be changed, and sure enough, about halfway up the steep part Uncle Regan faded a little and I surged a little and passed him.
By this time, Ben had a commanding lead and I thought I had second place locked in, but as I was nearing the top I started hearing a terrible loud noise on the hill behind me. I turned around and saw that Uncle Regan had a stick in each hand, and was using them for extra strength and speed climbing--he was gaining on me fast. So I put my hands on my knees and started doing what I like to call power hiking for all I was worth. Then, Uncle Regan must have noticed that he was no longer gaining on me and had to take drastic measures, because the next time I looked back he was running. Keep in mind this is the same steep, almost 30 degree slope, and I had no choice but to take off running as well. Amazingly, there was enough in the gas tank to make it to the top and beat Uncle Regan, but it was very close. The picture at the top of this page is one Ben snapped right after we got to the top and were still completely out of breath.
Once at the top we had to take cautionary measures because of all the microwave radiation coming from the towers: namely covering the groin area (as Uncle Bruce said, "cover the little head, not the big head"). Uncle Regan took us a little down the other side trying to look for a fort he once had in a rock outcropping, but it wasn't there. So we ran down and the day was a success.
© 2004, Michael Logsdon