Sunday, April 26, 2009

Spring Picnic - 4/25/09

The Spring Picnic of the Around the Bend Friends Hiking Club was well attended at the Children's Memorial Park on the corner of Torrey Pines and Gowan. Guy was the coordinator of the event and he did a fabulous job! Guy went shopping for all the food, presented it well and cooked all the hamburgers and hot dogs with Mac's help. The club paid for all the food and paper products. Usually, everyone brings a side dish and the club only provides the meat and paper products. This time, the club had a little extra money to spend and the picnic was an excellent choice on which to spend it.

Most of the attendees played a round or two of boccie ball. The park provided nice courts for this easy but tricky game. In the game of boccie ball, one tries to roll a heavy ball towards a smaller white ball while hoping his or her ball stops rolling very close by the white ball. Then, of course, there is the strategy of politely yet forcefully knocking other closer balls out of the way to gain points for their team!

Much of the conversation centered around the tough hike called Terrace Canyon which was accomplished two days before. On top of the boulder climbing for miles and the beautiful rewarding scenery at the top of the canyon, the group of 7 or 8 hikers experienced an appearance of six big horn sheep in the upper reaches of the canyon. There were two rams, two ewes and two kids who timidly appeared at the top of the adjoining ridge. Quickly, one by one (lead by the biggest ram with a full grown rack) they ran down the steep side of the canyon, crossed the concave water-covered terrace between two groups of lounging hikers, and ran up the other very steep side. The kids were learning very fast how to keep their balance in times of stress while maintaining an air of exuberance for "sneaking" past these strange two legged creatures.

The people of the ABF club are a very affable group and enjoy each other's company. Whenever they get together, a good time is had by all. Thanks Guy!

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