Saturday, June 12, 2010

Weir are the bees?

Last month Martine and I went on an amazing hike in Anaheim Hills called the Weir Canyon Trail Loop. As you drive into well manicured neighborhoods with gigantic homes, it seems impossible that there would actually be a trail where development was not evident. But there was the trail head, right where it was supposed to be, and after a short ascent we dropped down into this incredible valley of rolling hills and unbelievable views. The effects of the rain were beautifully evident in the vast array of wildflowers and grasses. Lizards of several varieties were everywhere, really- everywhere! Everything was so pretty that it took us quite a bit of time to complete the first half of the trail, actually, the second half too! While there were no mountain lion tracks, we did meet with a new danger never before seen by a Tickler. As we began our final descent, the trail was quite wide open, with grasses along both sides of the trail and a large tree next to the trail about 30 yards from where we were. A very spry hiker quickly, and I will add, a little noisily, passed by us and then the tree. As I watched her go, I noticed a strange cloud emanate from said tree. This darkness spread across the path and sort of hovered there. Martine was ahead of me talking about something important, I'm sure, when I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. I realized we were heading into a swarm of bees. "Oh, please don't be killer bees" ran through my head. Gratefully they stayed where they were, but we very quickly headed back up the hill. I had stopped, but Martine kept increasing her distance from the bees (she is very cautious when she is not breaking a federal law). I joined her at the top (almost) of the hill where we watched and waited and tried to come up with a plan B. When retracing the whole trail seemed like a good option, the bees decided they had seen enough of the world and headed back to their tree. I wish there had been a video of us trying to silently pass that tree. Running made too much noise with our water, compass, snack filled packs, but walking was just too slow! I'm not sure how you would describe our escape from danger, but it did make for a good laugh- at a safe distance. Once again, the Trail Ticklers faced danger, and conquered it. It is good to be a Tickler.




3 comments:

  1. Hooray for the ever brave and resourceful Ticklers! Challenge met and conquered.

    Also cheers for Cougar Womens Rugby. As past president of the team Lindsey had much to do with the decision. She always makes us proud.

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  2. Additionally, perhaps you need to try the Appalachian Trial (from Maine to Georgia) which conveniently runs right by my town!

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