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As many of the family knows I love the outdoors and camping. I have camped out for most of my life but never had actually gone Back Packing. Most of my back country experience over these years was using a Jeep, a Quad or my old Tote Goat motorcycle to haul everything. I had a chance to go with my neighbor who is an Australian Journalist and diplomat to a restricted island about 50 miles off the coast of California. It was a dream come true as I had always wanted to go backpacking for real. However, After a pounding boat trip out we did not get completely to the island as the weather was too rough. The only way to land on this Island is on a rubber boat (A Zodiac) from this larger boat, that we were on, that would be ancored about a mile off shore. Waves were 9 - 12 feet high so the rubber boat was out of the question.
Instead of that Island we went to another where very limited camping is allowed. Once there my neighbor and I got our backpacking gear on and water we needed (no water available) and took off. Wow, I say again WOW I had no idea how hard it is to carry 58 lbs of stuff and troop through the mountains. I am in good shape but was "completely spent" reaching the camp site just 2.5 miles away. We set up camp and had a wonderful time exploring all over during the next few days.
I have attached a few pictures of the Island and area where we were. Some of a tiny Red Fox that is a inhabitant of the island. It is the only place known to have this fox. It and its ancestors apparently have been marooned on the island for a very very long time as their DNA shows that are descendant's of a normal large dog size Grey Fox that lives in Siberia. These little guys are only the size of a large house cat and have no fear of humans at all. They do not bark as that apparently has been forgotten over time but rather make a whistle kind of sound that sounds like a raven or such like. I have also included a couple of pictures of the site we had in the bottom of a long beautiful valley and one of the rough seas getting there.
So my 70th birthday was a huge memory maker for me and one I will remember for a long time.
Click here to see the pictures. -->
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