We met at the Saratoga Gap parking lot and drove to the trailhead at LR10. We hiked up to the ridge off Skyline to the Wallace Stegner Bench. It was perfect weather and a beautiful evening for a picnic and a short tribute to Wallace Stegner and his vision of "The Wilderness." We were appreciative of being able to feel the truth of his words when he wrote, "And so that never again can we have the chance to see ourselves single, separate, vertical and individual in the world, part of the environment of trees and rocks and soil, brother to the other animals, part of the natural world and competent to belong in it. " On the bench is inscribed another quote from the Wilderness Letter. It says " . . . to try to save for everyone, for the hostile and indifferent as well as the committed, some of the health that flows down across the great ridges from the Skyline, and home of the beauty and refresment of spirit that are still available to any resident of the valley who has a moment, and the wit, to lift up his eyes unto the hills." We basked in the peacefulness of this beautiful spot until the sun began to set and we decided to get a better look at the sunset. We hiked through the high grass to the edge of the hills.
And this is where WE WERE SHOT AT!! We had inadvertently wandered off onto private property and some maniac starting shooting at us with a shot gun! Even though it was bird shot, it hit several of us, including Kathy in the face! Even though we turned around and left, he continued to shoot at us repeatedly, and continued even when we had reached the Stegner Bench again. For most of us, it was our first time being shot at, but for Kathy and Ian, it was just another adventure!
On the way back to the car Ian found a Geo-Cache which was a little toy figurine and replaced it with a book mark of the Stegner Bench that Andrea had made for all of us. It was a hike we won't soon forget.
7 comments:
HOLY CRAP!! You're kidding! that's crazy! how come its just another adventure for kathy & Ian? do they tresspass onto private property often?? glad everyone is okay and it wasn't a real shot gun!
We've never been shot at, but we've had adventures all over the world that in retrospect had an element of danger (houseboats being lifted outof the water at Lake Powell during massive Thunderstorms, Paragliding off of 7000 ft cliffs in Turkey with all four kids, camping in wilderness Alaska with for a month with small kids, an infant, moose, and bears, climbing Halfdome when the cables were down and had a snow fight up on top, we all spent a couple of months in Europe with too many adventures to list, and many adventure sports back home including white water rafting, snowmobiling up mountains, Scuba diving, reading "Beloved", singing "Hie to Kolob", and in hindsight many more harrowing adventures). Funny thing, in all our ventures across Asia, Europe, and every state in America, our favorite place in San Lorenzo Valley. Large part due to the natural beauty that surrounds us and good friends like Dan and Jeannine. It was a great decision raising our family here.
Didn't care much for being shot at though...
Ian
By the way, it was a real shotgun. And the buckshot was real too.
Umm, okay, I loved seeing y'all, made me shed a little tear seeing Ruth too but ummm being shot at???? That's gotta make life interesting. Just call me crazy, but I will keep to the safe life, although ummm is being on the road with Italian drivings ever safe???!! I think not.
thanks for the update, I was wondering where you had got too.
Ian..you live a crazy life.
My nerves you guys! BE CAREFUL!! That is such a great picture of all of you too. I'm assuming that was PRE-buckshot. That place looked so awesome and pristine. Too bad it was so rudely interrupted by some hick goon with a gun! Hike safely and watch for signs!
whew- good times. glad no one got seriously hurt. that makes our hike seem lame.
so i'm disapppointed that we're going to bear lake the saturday you're here (& free). Maybe we'll have to do a night hike or something during the week? What is your schedule like?
My friend and I were shot at the same place in Sept. Please check out my blog and call in any information you have -
We are not recovered yet and worry someone's going to get killed soon. It was once inch from going into my spine (and either killing me or paralyzing me)....
Information long ridge open space preserve shootings - hikers shot
Request for information - witnesses - victims - with any knowledge of or experience with shooting incidences that have occurred over the last 9 years at the Long Ridge Open Space Preserve - on Hwy 35 / Skyline and Highway 35 - Saratoga, CA. / La Honda, CA. - Call #'s Below
http://hikersshotlongridgeopenspace.blogspot.com/
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