Dynamite Cabin

It’s nice to be able to sit out on the patio … enjoy the cooling breezes … listen to the distant thunder portending the arrival of this afternoon’s monsoon rains. Nary a drop has fallen yet.

What’s not nice? All the black flies and other winged-insects making a pest of themselves. We’ve been here in the summer before and don’t remember it being quite so buggy. Oh well … part of being out in nature, I guess.

Other than the work we did to customize our shade and privacy panels, we did go off to do a hike today. Since we didn’t bring our tow-vehicle on this short getaway, our trail options were limited to the ones at the top end of the campground.

It’s been awhile since we last hiked at this elevation, so we settled on the Dynamite Cabin Trail … a loop of 1.2 miles or so. Down, down, down — with a few uphill stretches — on the outbound leg. Up, up, up — with a few downhill stretches — on the inbound leg. Did pretty good, I must say.

Along the way, we took a short detour to the ruins of the cabin for which the trail is named. Turns out that back in the day, gold prospectors would use a stick or two of dynamite to blow a hole in the ground, dig in the hole to see if there was any “yellow” stuff, and move on if they didn’t find any gold. No, we didn’t follow suit by blasting a hole to try our luck.

The hike isn’t what I would call entertaining. By that I mean that there are no expansive views to enjoy for much of the way. But we did get to stretch our legs without huffing and puffing too much, so that’s a good thing.

Our reward for getting a bit of exercise today? Wine and snacks on the patio in lieu of dinner. Speaking of which …Read more