on the path…brack toe part 1

From the movie “lost in translation” Before Bill Murray takes Scarlett Johansen (sp) to the Japanese hospital, he says “you have a brack toe”. Speaking in a bad Japanese accent.

I have a brack toe from stumping it on a rock in the Pacific ocean. I was surprised about the jagged rocks and soon as Joe said “watch out for the rocks” it was done. A stumpy bruised toe. It didn’t really turn black until today.

I met Joe on a hike yesterday. Tim had gotten info about a place in Malibu called Solstice Canyon. A hiking trail beside a really nice stream with forest canopy. We plotted out our path and were planning to be gone for 3 hours. Walk up the trail and loop around some TRW buildings. We’d be finished by 12 pm. I’d be home in time to call the Asherby’s and my brother.

Except we got off the trail, started walking up the boulders in the stream and found this crystal clear pool of water. It was only right to jump in it. Tom and Suzanne would have loved this place. They took me to Paradise Falls last year. A major event. A cold event! Tim and I spent about 30 minutes at this pool. Jumping off rocks and stuff until we disturbed a critter. A snake type critter who was trying to get up on a rock our of the way probably for the fear of being jumped on. I had a little bit of opposite apprehension of being the object that jumped on him. Neither of us would dig the experience.

So I’m putting on my shoes and this beautiful woman approaches us.
She says there are much better pools upstream with larger falls. She tells me I need better shoes. She then wishes us well and continues on. Tim and I thought we were done with the boulders but after the encounter we decided to check out the better pools. Plus, as she suggested, we might see her again at larger falls.

We continue on some pretty tricky, and slippery spots, I’m thinking about better shoes. We finally get onto some stable rocks, and sure enough there she was having a drink of water about 1/4 mile up stream. She asks “are you guys going to the top of the falls”, and we say ‘yes’ and she says to follow her, in case she falls and busts her head open we can call her family since she’s by herself. So Tim and I follow her and she’s says she’s from Hungary. Then I think of “Stranger Than Paradise” by Jim Jarmusch (big indepedent film in 1985) about a bookie and his Hungarian cousin who get stranded in Florida.

We run out of boulders & get on a narrow trail winding up the mountain. I notice, I have spider webs and itchy stuff from trees and brush all over me and my shirt. She’s leading the way, wearing this white shirt over a bathing suit, spotless. Really, nothing got on this woman.

After hiking up about 30 minutes we arrive to a clearing.Three or four trails jet off in all directions that just dead end. She says we’ve arrived at the helicopter landing pad for when there’s a fire. It looked too small to me but I could see some charred brush that could be left over from a fire, so I thank her for showing us the helipad instead of the bigger falls.

It’s the heat of the day. It’s extremely dry. I make a joke how excited the weather people were the night before because L.A. had a full 20%
chance of rain for labor day.

We have some water, and found the trail that would take us back to the stream.

Thanks for checking in.

Stephen A. Thomas

2 Responses to “on the path…brack toe part 1”

  1. Larry Says:

    This post reads like “O Brother Where Art Thou?”. I expected at any minute to read that you or Tim were turned into a toad. I was disappointed it ended with a visit to a fire helipad instead, although otherwise this would be a very cool event - just ask any four year old.

    The only part I am having trouble with is about the beautiful Hungarian woman named Joe. Maybe its just one of those California things.

  2. Davak Says:

    Note: This blog post is useless without pictures. :)

    (I am still trying to live vicariously through you.)

    Davak

Leave a Reply