Old Fat Man Adventures: LMSP Part Two

Fredericksburg, Texas

Today has been a fix up day at the trailer. The new LP detector was installed and tested. It works properly. A close examination of the old one showed absolutely no damage or anything obviously wrong. It resides in the trash can outside now.

Unpacking the pack from yesterdays hike led to some surprises. It seems that the supplies for the LMSP hike were placed on top of the remains from the last Enchanted Rock hike, so there were a few pounds extra that helped strengthen my legs. Now the pack is totally unpacked so the next hike will require packing from scratch. There is not a chance of getting repacked for the next hike without forgetting something. The fun never ends.

Both of the electric heaters were stripped down and thoroughly cleaned. The bearings were lubricated with the proper lubricant for their type of bearing. Fan blades were cleaned, grilles washed clean and the whole thing assembled and tested. Now Comfort Castle is ready for cold weather. The electric heaters are quiet enough that they do not wake me like the central furnace does when it runs at night. Aside from that at this campground electric is included in the price.

And now back to the halfway point in the LMSP hike of OF Bob and TheOFM. We made it up the staircase and rested for a couple of minutes, then started the trek across the mesa. At several spots at the edge of the mesa is a rock edge to view the valley below. You can actually sit on the edge, dangle your feet over the edge and have a nice snack or lunch. Here is OF Bob taking in the view from the top of the surrounding area and the valley way below us. That white stripe just in front of OF Bob is the very steep ball bearing path you take to get down the cliff.

At another prime viewpoint this picture was taken of the color and the ponds below the cliffs. The trail to get down is very steep and covered with loose rock nearly as bad as ball bearings. With my bad left knee it took me a long time to make it down all the slippery stuff. Thank heavens for my sturdy hiking stick. Without it my pants would likely have worn out the backside.
Once down to the valley the walking was a lot easier, but still at least a mile back to the truck. As we hiked along below the cliffs, this cloud set was noticed. It is a new style of cloud to me, but was very interesting to see.

Finally after the loooooong walk back to the truck, it was lunch time. We claimed a table in the shade of some trees and to my surprise, we had no insects bothering us. That was the best sandwiches ever made in my life. The hike had taken us four hours. OF Bob came up with a great description for us. Since we meander so well, we must be MEANDERTHALLS.

On the way back to OF Bob’s home we stopped at another OF from our past. OF Mike has been an avid reader of OFM Adventures for some time. We had not seen each other since April of 2002 when my Washington employment started. He was looking very well and we had a wonderful visit. With a little luck the three of us, The Meanderthalls, will be going to Enchanted Rock in a couple of weeks. This is OF Mike with tree limb growing through his head.

OF Mike is really a neat fellow with a little bit of a Jeremiah Johnson thrown it for good measure. It will be a really special time to get to visit with him for more than a few minutes.