The Prelude
Not much was worth mentioning between Vivian and I until we hiked in Pinnacle National Monument on that beautiful Sunday in 2011, a day before Halloween. In fact, I had sensed not much interest from her side after we had gone out for a dinner, a movie and a short hike. But then, thanks to the white iphone we both have, the tide had begun to change a bit. The texting and photo taking had built up some effective “chemistry” slowly.
I was in a good mood that day, all I wanted was to enjoy a day of nature’s beauty, in the company of a pretty, lovely woman I adored. But still, full on my mind was how, or if she would enjoy it.
We arrived at the trailhead around 10:30 am. It took us about one and half hours driving from Cupertino, via 101 to Gilroy, then 25 to Hollister to arrive at the entry of the park, which features hundreds of brown majestic vertically-shooting rocks of many shapes, looking just like the potato in SAFEWAY when they are placed vertically in groups. Formed from million years of grinding between the two sandwiching earth blocks, split alone the California coast, it reminds you of Jurassic Park because of the sudden change in landscape, from low lining ranches to sky rocketing rocks.
We reviewed the map carefully before hitting the dirt. I was excited.
The Cliff hanger
In less than 20 minutes on to the trail, we suddenly visualized people hanging in the middle of huge vertical walls on the right side of trail, just a few feet away. We stopped to watch the action and take photos. Then while we were looking up, we witnessed a fall taking place: the guy dropped for about 30 feet before he was halted by the safety ropes. The drop occurred so sudden and lasted so “long”, it stirred my mind, as if something tragic was anticipated. At almost the same time, we both shout loudly, what a relief…
Indoor rock-climbing lesson has already been in our to-do list.
The Caves
The caves that followed were narrow passages both vertically and at some portion horizontally. I lead the crawling with a flash light which sometime took several tries to turn on. We were alone the whole time in the caves, I gave my hands when needed. No bats were in the caves, I was somewhat disappointed.
The Reservoir
It did not take too long before we emerged to another wonder: the reservoir. It is a pool surrounded by those huge “potato”. The water was in brown color due to the reflection, but the sky remains blue, exceptionally blue, in the pool. Many people were on the “beach” when we arrived, the human noises persisted. But it felt peaceful and “quiet”, sitting leaning on the rocks, watching the water. A passing middle-aged man, seeing we were taking picture of each other, offered to take one for us together. Who would have said NO?
We are a couple in the pictures, two he took.
The Pinnacles
Leaving the pool, the actual hike began. It was about 11am. The trail started going upwards, filled with switch backs. Vivian stayed close behind me when we worked our way up. The tight jean she wore bothered her a bit. Nevertheless, we conversed cheerfully without interruptions. She constantly admired the fantastic views welcoming us. The higher we were, the farther we could see. The blue sky looked never larger in size, with only the mountain tops dotted in the distance before meeting the edge of the sky. We were actually in the forest of potato rocks. You could see some sections of trails were actually carved-outs from the rocks. The plants were special too. We saw trees with peeled red skin exposing the white inner fresh, reminding me of the opened human body. Vivian knew the best how to pose for a picture. Not only with her similes that kill, but also where and how she positions and shapes the arms, legs, and fingers in conjunction with the backgrounds that arouse. Inevitably, I had to do some posing. I looked great, said Vivian.
The Restroom
A tiny rest room sit on the top of the trail, next to it is a bench where the view is unblocked for many miles. From here, we would start the “climbing over” the pinnacles to connect trail on the other side of the loop. We both took a leak.
The Climb over
The steel guides put along the surface of the tip of the pinnacle made it an easy job climbing over. Only when you looked down, you realized the difference the guides had made. Vivian took a video of me doing a section of the steep-and-narrow. I gave a pat on her shoulder, greeting her at the “top” of the pinnacles when she climbed up next.
The Kiss
It seemed there was no better thing to do when it occurred. It was under the blue sky, it lasted several minutes. It was intense and passionate. Afterwards, when we hit the trail again, we were hands in hands, things had forever changed since.
We were taking the final rest, lying on a sloppy ground nearby a rock that gives shade, after more than 4 hours of hiking. We drank water, ate energy bars, and talked, looking into the sky, about how lucky our lives were, referencing to Steve Jobs. The breeze made us want to close the eyes, to take a nap.
The ground was so close to the edge of the cliff, Vivian had to move her body a bit up and in to me, not to fall over. While she did that I gave a hand to pull her up to close to me, then ….
The Rain
It was raining hard when we said good night in the parking lot where we just ate the Vietnamese noodle for dinner. It was around 8:30 pm.
In the rain, another heavy kiss before I let her go.
The Ps
I will see her again tomorrow. She gave me her home address.
Not much was worth mentioning between Vivian and I until we hiked in Pinnacle National Monument on that beautiful Sunday in 2011, a day before Halloween. In fact, I had sensed not much interest from her side after we had gone out for a dinner, a movie and a short hike. But then, thanks to the white iphone we both have, the tide had begun to change a bit. The texting and photo taking had built up some effective “chemistry” slowly.
I was in a good mood that day, all I wanted was to enjoy a day of nature’s beauty, in the company of a pretty, lovely woman I adored. But still, full on my mind was how, or if she would enjoy it.
We arrived at the trailhead around 10:30 am. It took us about one and half hours driving from Cupertino, via 101 to Gilroy, then 25 to Hollister to arrive at the entry of the park, which features hundreds of brown majestic vertically-shooting rocks of many shapes, looking just like the potato in SAFEWAY when they are placed vertically in groups. Formed from million years of grinding between the two sandwiching earth blocks, split alone the California coast, it reminds you of Jurassic Park because of the sudden change in landscape, from low lining ranches to sky rocketing rocks.
We reviewed the map carefully before hitting the dirt. I was excited.
The Cliff hanger
In less than 20 minutes on to the trail, we suddenly visualized people hanging in the middle of huge vertical walls on the right side of trail, just a few feet away. We stopped to watch the action and take photos. Then while we were looking up, we witnessed a fall taking place: the guy dropped for about 30 feet before he was halted by the safety ropes. The drop occurred so sudden and lasted so “long”, it stirred my mind, as if something tragic was anticipated. At almost the same time, we both shout loudly, what a relief…
Indoor rock-climbing lesson has already been in our to-do list.
The Caves
The caves that followed were narrow passages both vertically and at some portion horizontally. I lead the crawling with a flash light which sometime took several tries to turn on. We were alone the whole time in the caves, I gave my hands when needed. No bats were in the caves, I was somewhat disappointed.
The Reservoir
It did not take too long before we emerged to another wonder: the reservoir. It is a pool surrounded by those huge “potato”. The water was in brown color due to the reflection, but the sky remains blue, exceptionally blue, in the pool. Many people were on the “beach” when we arrived, the human noises persisted. But it felt peaceful and “quiet”, sitting leaning on the rocks, watching the water. A passing middle-aged man, seeing we were taking picture of each other, offered to take one for us together. Who would have said NO?
We are a couple in the pictures, two he took.
The Pinnacles
Leaving the pool, the actual hike began. It was about 11am. The trail started going upwards, filled with switch backs. Vivian stayed close behind me when we worked our way up. The tight jean she wore bothered her a bit. Nevertheless, we conversed cheerfully without interruptions. She constantly admired the fantastic views welcoming us. The higher we were, the farther we could see. The blue sky looked never larger in size, with only the mountain tops dotted in the distance before meeting the edge of the sky. We were actually in the forest of potato rocks. You could see some sections of trails were actually carved-outs from the rocks. The plants were special too. We saw trees with peeled red skin exposing the white inner fresh, reminding me of the opened human body. Vivian knew the best how to pose for a picture. Not only with her similes that kill, but also where and how she positions and shapes the arms, legs, and fingers in conjunction with the backgrounds that arouse. Inevitably, I had to do some posing. I looked great, said Vivian.
The Restroom
A tiny rest room sit on the top of the trail, next to it is a bench where the view is unblocked for many miles. From here, we would start the “climbing over” the pinnacles to connect trail on the other side of the loop. We both took a leak.
The Climb over
The steel guides put along the surface of the tip of the pinnacle made it an easy job climbing over. Only when you looked down, you realized the difference the guides had made. Vivian took a video of me doing a section of the steep-and-narrow. I gave a pat on her shoulder, greeting her at the “top” of the pinnacles when she climbed up next.
The Kiss
It seemed there was no better thing to do when it occurred. It was under the blue sky, it lasted several minutes. It was intense and passionate. Afterwards, when we hit the trail again, we were hands in hands, things had forever changed since.
We were taking the final rest, lying on a sloppy ground nearby a rock that gives shade, after more than 4 hours of hiking. We drank water, ate energy bars, and talked, looking into the sky, about how lucky our lives were, referencing to Steve Jobs. The breeze made us want to close the eyes, to take a nap.
The ground was so close to the edge of the cliff, Vivian had to move her body a bit up and in to me, not to fall over. While she did that I gave a hand to pull her up to close to me, then ….
The Rain
It was raining hard when we said good night in the parking lot where we just ate the Vietnamese noodle for dinner. It was around 8:30 pm.
In the rain, another heavy kiss before I let her go.
The Ps
I will see her again tomorrow. She gave me her home address.
