Snake dike, the hard way

[F4?]

Fall of ‘91, i was back at college for my 2nd year. I had spent the entire summer working construction in the day, running with the team 10miles a day and then waiting tables on the weekend. I spend lunches all summer looking at the meadows guide, but had no time to go. It was not September, ugh!

I hit my buddy Scott up for an adventure....Snake Dike. I can’t remember whose idea it was, likely mine. The plan was to leave Thursday night, drive up, carry bevy gear, climb the route with busy gear, drive home.  There was no way to get a wilderness permit as they were closed by the time we got there.
Simple plan, right?

We arrived at Curry village late in the evening, maybe 8 or 9. We set off down the road to happy isles, with our junk on our backs. We figured we would not use headlamps, so as to be stealthy. We just walked in the dark, seeing enough.

In the distance we heard voices “we are lost, where are we going, this is all you fault.” Scott corrects his course to pass by the voices. As we pass, he grazes a shoulder. “What was that!!!!!!!!!” “Ahhhhh”

We just checked together as we kept walking to happy isles.

Sometimes time later we top the Vernal falls and start looking for a climbers trail....we can see the notch between Broderick and Liberty Cap. We find some path that leads in the general direction. We end up bushwhacking up the slope and are stopped by a wall. With no way to see where to go, we settle down for the night. Sleep was short as the ringtails kept going after our food.

In the morning we see it’s a short thrash to the gap and make out way through. breakfast was oatmeal cold from the packet, as I had a stove, but no fuel bottle.

As we make our way through the gap to 1/2 Dome I keep an eye out for a water source....but find none.

The final approach was a pain, but we made it to the base.

I lead the 1st pitch and then started the 2nd. I was so gripped, that I belayed at the 1st set of bold I came to, which meant I cut the pitch short.....I was promptly informed of topsail error by a guide behind us. We went through the next pitches without trouble. At the end of the technical climbing, we finished the water and started the moon walk as I call it to the summit.

We get to the summit and took a moment to check on climbers coming up the
Steeper north face. I could barely go to the edge. Scott on the other hand, walks over to the edge, pack on, feet right on the edge and looks over. Cool, is all he says. All the while tourists were looking a bit scared.

We made out way down the cables and on to the trail. A short while later we come upon a spring to the side of the trail. Water!!! We hydrated and finally ate some canned chicken, just straight from the can.

Down we strolled into little Yosemite valley. Sunset hit us I think as we got to little Yosemite valley, night time again. We kept moving, slowly,, but moving. At some point below vernal falls after the mist steps part, Scott was done.
“I’m going to sleep”, was all he said as he curled up onto a ball on the trail and went to sleep. I left him and got more water and took his pack. I got him up and cajoled him by saying it’s not much more, only 20more minutes...

Sometime later we finally arrived at the car, in the dark. We had not place to stay, so I did the logical thing, started driving home!

The drive was horrendous, I think I hallucinated most of the way. Finally, around Cathys Valley I had blacked out....meaning I was hearing things..hmmm. I opened my eyes to see I was in the median of the opposite side of the road.  As I corrected, in an abrupt manner, Scott awoke. “What’s going on, did you fall asleep??”

For the next few hours, I was robbed and asked “You awake, awake”. Or Scott may have taken over driving....

We finally pull into the casa de fruita Cafe. As we leave my truck, Scott pulls a clump of weeds from my back bumper, “you picked these”.

After a breakfast with coffee we made it back to Cupertino, I dropped Scott off at his parents and I continued home.


After I had deep bruises from the heavy pack I had carried.

Later Scott gave me a framed picture from the top of Nevada falls looking down the dark canyon and a nice red sky.
Fitting picture for our adventure.

Needless to say Scott retired from climbing when he got married and oddly his wife never let him go on a Yosemite adventure with me.

[mynameismud]

good story

[waldo]

Good story! Desperate to do something fun before we had to start teaching again, Chip Kosty and I made a similar ascent of the Snake in 1989. We skipped the groping, however, and bedded down between Curry and Happy Isles after our midnight arrival in the Valley. We did commence walking in the dark and got to the climb around seven. The climbing was great and we made it back to the Valley by four or so, with time to snag a campsite in Upper Pines. Then we drank.

[mungeclimber]

Good story is right! 


BUT please don't drive tired anymore!

I probably should write down some of my stories for the nephews/niece. Most aren't really well told stories as much as they are good (or bad) memories that tell parts of the story of who I am (or was at that time).

The early days of Joshua Tree were Thanksgiving Weekends. My buddy's dad, Wes, had taken a class from one of the desert rats that was a climbing guide, Chris Gonzalez. You see his name on the FA list in JT a lot. 1 inch tubular and gold line, and hip belays. So that's what Wes taught us. An old milk crate kept the gear organized. And each year it would get pulled out around that time.

Later my uncle would take me to Rubidoux and Suicide Rock. He told me about belaying "You drop me and I'll fucking kill ya." So I didn't. At 14, a bull of a sheriff telling you that etches in the brain. I never dropped anyone. After that 'training' on the smallest crimps was what I thought we were supposed to do to get better. So we trained at Hart Park in Orange on glued up tiles. Small tiles. Oh tendonosis, how I hate thee! 

Later school buddies would go out with us to Big Rock and JT, with copious MGDs. I would track down almost every choss pile in Orange County in the name of climbing. It was a way of life by age 16. The rest of school could suk it, even though my grades seemed to go up the more I climbed.

A job at REI got me more gear. More weekends in JT actually leading some stuff. Lots of Big Rock slabbing. Eventually a road trip was order. Stop at Owens on the way to climb at Lover's Leap! Tim T. (who later went to work for Power bar or Clif bar) and I had a grand time. Gorgeous 10a was sent. The Line. And some of my hardest top roping to date 5.11 was done.

Met my future roomates at the Leap and moved to Motown later to climb in Yosemite every weekend while going to college. What an amazing time! All the greats of climbing had lived in the Valley. This was as close as I was going to get to greatness so I was pretty stoked just being able to climb with regular partners. Snake Dike was one route. Attempted half dome regular in there somewhere with a bivy in the bathroom on the hike out because we got separated and how could they miss me if they had to step over me to take a leak, right? I was a little dehydrated and may not have been thinking clearly.  Climbed the Prow (narrowly avoiding full dehydration on that one). Royal Arches. Learned about all kinds of various routes in the lower valley and Tuolumne and N. Ridge of Conness, etc. But most importantly it was around this time (93/94?) that I started climbing at Pinnacles. Rat Race!  Portent! OMG! Mind blown. How could we be climbing on these sketchball cobbles!!! So much uncertainty. So much head space while climbing! It was like climbing JT runouts but looser!

Soon I moved to the Bay for more schooling. Picked up hours at REI. Met a bunch of the regulars that got out climbing. Got into mtn biking a bit more since there was single track around and you didn't sweat your balls off like so cal. Eventually got an advanced degree and then promptly went to work for Western Mountaineering. Bought a kayak. Got a combat roll. Drenched myself on a wet release and sold the kayak. F4's brother sold that kayak to me, actually, from Western's rental gear.  White water wasn't for me in a kayak.

At some point Brad said 'you should try some of the rock up on highway 108' - sure ok, whatever. Now I spend as much time there as I can. wth? lol

ok, enough blabbering for now. need to sleep.


oh wait some pics...

JT leading on King Ottos Castle...



Sunshine face... at Suicide... one of my better leads at the time 10b!



Devils Tower with the Uncle later on as a young climber. Had a hell of a time climbing with a pack on.

[Brad Young]

A great set of "back in the day" stories.

How old is Munge in that photo with his uncle?

[Tuff Chik]

I love the "wife beater" he's wearing.  

[mungeclimber]

A great set of "back in the day" stories.

How old is Munge in that photo with his uncle?

15/16? Summer of 86??  We climbed El Crack Diablo. Only 5.8 but every move is practically 5.8


And have you seen my mullet?

Edit to add...

88 or 89? Family trip to Mammoth and ne and my friend bouldered in what was a garden of eden of bouldering area... The Buttermilks

I had seen the area in Moving Over Stone on VHS!



whoa!

[NOAL]

I wanted to quit smoking.  Figured that joining a gym was a good way to fight the urge. I had noticed this big warehouse type building on Harrison St. in SF that appeared to be something called a climbing gym.  I popped in one day to see what it was all about.  Back then the people that worked there were pretty cool.  The guy at the counter said I should try bouldering and see how I liked it.  He lent me a pair of shoes and said to go upstairs and try it out for ½ an hour.  No fee, no waiver, and not hokey ass video like nowadays.

Bouldering turned out to be fun.  I also liked that the people at this gym for the most part  did not wear workout clothes. Mainly just jeans t shirts etc.  No lulu lemon at the climbing gym crap back then.  They also listened to cool music like X, Eric b and Rakim, Digital Underground etc. Yeah, I could hang out here.

Fast forward a year or so and I meet this guy bouldering one day named Greg  We started talking because we both did boulder problems in a similar manner meaning we skipped holds, used tiny footholds for hand holds, utilized broken and cracked sections of the wall, basically used any advantage/weakness we could find.  We called it climbing “smart”

One day I asked Greg “what’s up with all those people climbing on ropes on the other side of the gym?  You ever try that?”  He said “ You don’t want to do that in here!  They have too many rules! I have all the stuff at home to do that outside.”  He went on to say that he lived in Idylwild when he was younger and learned how climb at Taquitz/Suicide.  We made tentative plans to take a trip to Yosemite one day.

The next week Greg shows up at the gym and hands me a three ring binder full of photocopies. Inside are all the  topos of the climbs he wanted to do in Yosemite. First on the list for the next weekend would be something called the Nabisco Wall.  Now go home and study up.

Needless to say the topos were totally confusing.  All those squiggly lines, symbols, X’s, thin hands, fingers, 4”, rack?  What did it all mean?  I guessed I would find out…

We meet up at Greg’s on a Friday night.  When I arrived he introduced me to a girl named Stacey who he said would be joining us. Knowing nothing about climbing as a party of three I said sure no problem.  We slept on the side of the highway in the National Forest that night and arrived at the Cookie Cliff around noon.

 Over the next two years or so I would come to learn that Greg was a total Crack of Noon climber.  No matter what the agreed early start time we would somehow always end up at the base of something at noon and alpine starts were definitely out of the question.  Yogurt had to be eaten, dope had to be smoked, and invariably something would be left on top of the car, at home, or in the campground.

So we are in the pullout and Greg in between tokes is pointing out all the features on the topo in real life.  First we are gonna go up  Beverly’s Tower, PUFF PUFF then we walk across that ledge to that squiggly line PUFFCOUGH Wheat Thin PUFF PUFF, then we go up Butterballs, PUFF. PUFF COUGH and then I want to top rope Butterfingers.  PUFF.  I’m standing there nodding yes but it’s all going in one in ear and out the other.  I was just thinking “ that looks tall”  The one feature that I was able to discern from all of his pointing and yammering was the faint squiggly line of Wheat Thin and thinking “ how’s anybody supposed to climb a thin line like that?”

We get to the base.  The plan was to have Stacey belay because I had never climbed on ropes much less belay anyone.  Greg takes off up the pitch and cruises it.  I went up next so I could see Greg’s setup and how he was belaying Stacey.  I had never climbed a crack before but just applied my “smart” climbing.  I remember getting to the bulgy part towards the top of that pitch and cleaning gear was a little more difficult.  Not knowing anything about directionals I cleaned everything.  When I got to belay and clipped in I was quite proud of getting all the gear out. 

Stacey was up next. From what I recall from the anchor of the climb it is hard to see the follower but we could hear her complaining.  After about a half hour and  a little bit before the bulgy part she popped off .  According to her, the lack of any directionals resulted in her hanging in space and unable get up the climb so Greg lowered her back to the deck.  Oh well, we’d have to continue without her.  That would mean that I would have to belay which did not seem to concern Greg  too much.  He took off around the corner and onto the ledge that leads to Wheat Thin. 

So there i was hanging and belaying Greg.  The one thing I remember is not leaning back on the bolts with my feet on the wall.  Instead I was hanging from my harness and resting on my knees which was pretty painful.  I could hear Greg around the corner laughing and saying how much I was gonna love the walk on the ledge.  When I followed the ledge I discovered the source of his laughter was the gap where you kind of have to fall across and grab the other side.  Yeah that was pretty cool.

What was cooler was Wheat Thin. Now that we were right underneath it it was apparent that what appeared from the turnout to be a squiggly line was in fact a feature of true beauty and of course totally climbable.  Greg gave me a quick review on belaying  which went something like: keep this hand on the rope all the time and when I tell you feed out or take in rope.  Dont let go of the rope.  See you later.

Greg was a little slow on the initial 10c section but cruised the flake.  I used some more “smart” climbing  to get up to the flake and when I did I was sold on the rope climbing thing.  Being hundreds of feet above the Merced  standing on that  wavy sparkly flake was amazing.  I could not believe that something we could barely discern from the ground was so prominent. It reminded me of the time my father brought home a traffic light.  Traffic lights look pretty small when they are hanging above an intersection but are actually quite large.  Just imagine the hidden world of crazy things that we cannot see from the ground!

I got to the belay and next up was Butterballs.  Butterballs was definitely harder but we both made it up without falling.  I can only attribute this to ignorance.  At the time,  I did not know what ratings meant.   I knew V scale for bouldering but nothing for roped climbs.  I think we both used “smart”climbing for that pitch meaning we used the crack and a lot of stuff on the sides.  I definitely did not know how to properly climb cracks which if I did it would have probably just been a hindrance.

This is getting kind of long so I will cut it short here.  Greg and I went on climbing together for another couple of years.  Tahoe, Idylwild, Red Rock, and Yosemite.  Always stuff close to the road (except Epinephrine that’s another story) conducive to crack of noon climbing. Greg was 40 years old.  He told me that the two years of his life we spent climbing were the only time he spent sober since he was 12.  He was only trying out sobriety and his plan was to return to alcoholism which he did at age 42.  I was never able to get him to go out climbing again.  We did make a trip five or six years later to the gym where he climbed some 5.12 routes off the couch.  I told him that day that the day we climbed the Nabisco Wall was totally scary but also some of the most fun I have ever had. He replied “ You know what? I was totally scared too.  I just did not want to let you know.”

I quit smoking but everytime I see that photo of Chuck Pratt mantling a boulder with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth I feel a little tricked.

[JC w KC redux]

thanks Noal. Good story.
I'll expect to see a cig hanging outta yer mouth next time we see each other 

[mynameismud]

Between climbing with Greg and climbing with myself you have had the full on experience of washed up wanna be has been climbers

[Brad Young]

Between climbing with Greg and climbing with myself you have had the full on experience of washed up wanna be has been climbers

Don't forget ugly (being presumptuous as to Greg, of course).

[mynameismud]

Don't forget ugly (being presumptuous as to Greg, of course).

and flaky

[mungeclimber]

I would have been pissed off if I was Stacey.

good story

[NOAL]

Between climbing with Greg and climbing with myself you have had the full on experience of washed up wanna be has been climbers

Never really thought of either one of you as that.

After climbing with Greg I went to the other end if the spectrum and climbed with.a group of younger ivy league types.  Some of them had the dough to take classes from guides. Very goal oriented and everything needed to be planned ahead of time including all the climbs we were going to do.

After that got old I started to find partners through climbing sites. This is where I met the most people with a complete lack of or little social skills.  Duh.  That's why they are looking for partners on the internet.  Not saying I am the easiest to get along with but I went on some nightmare roadtrips.

Eventually I got tired of looking and ended up spending more time at Pinnacles. 

Mr. Mud is my favorite climbing partner of all time. 

   I would have been pissed off if I was Stacey.

I would have been too because Stacey had absolutely zero natural ability for climbing.

One time Greg and I took a trip to Lovers Leap for 4 days or so.  I think we had climbed Boothill, Tombstone Terror, and then we were gonna do Travelers.  We did the first pitch and got to the off width and there was a party there.  The leader was struggling  and taking forever.  We decided to go around the corner and do Power Lust to kill some time.  Right when we were about to pull the rope who should walk up but Stacey.  Foolishly Greg let Stacey TR.  After 45 minutes of struggle  she was only 20 ft off the deck.  At that point we started yarding on the rope as hard as we could and she's elated shouting "I'M DOING IT!! I'M CLIMBING 5.11!!!!!"  Greg and I laughed about that for awhile and it became a catch phrase in joke when were climbing. 

[Brad Young]

Hey, don't let this thread die. It's great stuff.

I knew a lot about F4's climbing past (I've climbed with him a fair amount) and Munge's too (he and I started climbing together in 1992).

But this stuff Noal is putting up is fascinating. I feel like I'm getting to know him.

And how about some stories of Waldo's Sierra Nevada climbing too, or more about Clink's early, early Pinnacles days? Wasn't there some story about those days that involved Clink changing Caleb's diapers or some such? Maybe my memory is off a little today....

[mynameismud]

I am sitting here a bit amazed that I can be a step up in social skills, that says something about the internet.  Thank you for the good words Noal.  I think you are my favorite current partner.  I cannot say all time since my wife/ex wife might read this.  Plus, everyone has to stack up against Catherine.  If you were a hot gal that could climb all day on a liter of water and some coffee beans you would be a contender. 

I really miss climbing with you at the Pins, good times, if we had more time we could really do some damage.  You are my favorite Pinnacles climbing partner for sure.

[Brad Young]

My most memorable climb with Mr Mud was, without question, Wet Denim Daydream. It’s a ten or so pitch, A3 and A4 route on
The Leaning Tower in Yosemite. It overhangs almost the whole way.

I’d tried this route in 1992 and, halfway up, dislodged a large flake while leading an A3 pitch. The flake caught my partner square in the head, shattered his helmet and broke his skull. The whole thing turned into a bloody, shit-your-pants technical rescue by YOSAR. They came in from above after inserting by helicopter.

Some of you have heard me talk about PTSD from that event. Munge was with me the day I understood what PTSD is. In 1997. He and I were climbing on The Ignorable Cliffs on Pinnacles’ East Side. We were eating lunch when, suddenly, we saw and heard a person running down the opposite canyon wall, screaming. As they got closer we could start to hear “help, head injury, helicopter.” They yelled again and again. The words were shocking. Without any warning at all my body started shaking. Physically shaking with no ability to control it. I had tears running down my cheeks. No control over those either. It was weird both in how it came on and in that I absolutely could not control what was happening to me. I was embarrassed. Rob was very understanding.

I’ve got a weird, weird, jaw-dropping connection to that Pinnacles day’s head injury - it happened on Liebacker’s Lullaby. But that’s a story for another time.

You’d think that with my memories of Wet Denim, combined with that level of fear, I’d have just written the route off. Yeah.

I wanted to finish the climb. I wanted it done and out of my system. In 1999 I asked Dennis to please help me do the route so that I could be done with it forever. I explained that while I thought I could do it, I wasn’t sure what would happen based on my past experiences. Could he try to help me get up it. He agreed.

We drove up to Yosemite and hiked in at night. There’s a nice bivy spot about an hour from the car, just at the start of an exposed leftward traverse to the start of the climb. I barely slept. In the morning I tried to eat something. Dennis was up and moving, but quiet. We packed the gear, now ready to shuttle over to the start of the first pitch.

And I sat there. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to being utterly unable to move. I felt literally petrified by fear. I told Mr Mud that I needed a few minutes. He said something along the lines of “take your time - I’ll start shuttling gear.” I sat there.

I think I sat there for an hour. Maybe it was five minutes. Maybe two hours. Probably an hour.

My mind churned. I felt I was very likely going to die if we went up. It sounds silly now, but it is a somewhat dangerous route. My past blasted at me, amplifying that danger almost uncontrollably. It was easy to decide that I was never, ever coming back here, that I’d never step a foot near The Leaning Tower again as long as I lived. But would I go up or would we walk away?

Eventually the gear was shuttled and there was nothing else for Dennis to do. He sat down a little ways away. I decided that I had to do the route. I’d never come back, and I’d probably never do another aid wall. But I had to go up. He was good with that.

One of the hardest things I remember doing in my entire climbing career was doing that traverse ledge. We started the climb.

I don’t remember much about it. I think we did it in two days. We must have. But I don’t even remember bivying. We swung leads. I know Dennis led the A4 pitch because I’d done that lead before. Endless copperheads with ledge fall potential if you ripped. I remember leading the “Stone Wall” pitch - stacked huge blocks with no visible means of attachment to the wall. A1 cams. Unless a block shifted or fell out. Then you’d both be wiped from the face.

Mr Mud also led the last pitch, Hard A1 out a 15 foot, horizontal roof with 2,000 feet of overhanging space below. The crack that split the roof took one inch cams, but then thinned so that his last three placements before the lip were Lost Arrow pitons. One of my only pleasant memories of this climb comes from cleaning that pitch. He did a great job of leading it. The exposure was both incredible and mind-numbing. Cleaning it was physically hard and awkward. And I distinctly remember getting to the first pin, hanging in space and trying to get into position so I could hit it with the hammer. And I paused. I’d never, ever deliberately left a piece of gear before. And I looked at those three pins (they were my pins) and said to myself “fuck it and fuck them, I am fucking out of here.” I holstered my hammer and finished jumaring to and over the lip of the roof.

I’ve never, ever regretted leaving those pins. In fact, to this day it makes me smile to think of it.

Rob met us after we finished. I have a memory of him joining us on top. I think so. Getting to the top of The Leaning Tower by way of the normal descent is a serious class four endeavor. And Rob met us just to offer support. He helped us haul out.

I did the route with Mr Mud’s help and don’t regret it. I’ve never gone back to The Leaning Tower though. I’ve never even parked my car near it.

And we did bivy. I remember now that Vicki and I had a remodel going on then (adding what we now call the computer room). After Dennis and I had unpacked and divided up our gear, he headed for home. I then filled the haul bag (mine) with construction debris and threw it in the dumpster. I’d forgotten about that. That haul bag had a lot of use left in it, but I’ve never regretted that decision either.

I don’t remember ever really talking with him much about that climb. Twenty years later now and I wonder how much he remembers of it and whether his memories are much like mine.

[mungeclimber]

Yep. Gunsight to Tower backside route. I popped my self over the top right about when Mud turned the lip. A perfect bit of timing. We rapped the Chimney. I brought my harness and device. I thought the loose rock in the chimney was sketch! You guys were already dialed in and not having any trouble with it. I learned on that day that Mud liked apple juice on walls.

[mudworm]

...this thread... It's great stuff....

But this stuff Noal is putting up is fascinating. I feel like I'm getting to know him.

I enjoyed F4's story because I have hung out with both him and his brother in the past and could play the scenes in my head.

I told Mud that my mind was blown to learn that Noal went straight from a gym boulderer to a clean follow of Beverly's Tower, Wheat Thin, and Nutballs! His assessment is "Noal has a creative and open mind." Now, I want that!

I cannot say all time since my wife/ex wife might read this.  Plus, everyone has to stack up against Catherine.

Oh yeah, we are reading.  You see, the problem with you is after having climbed with you, I could never find another all-around (and I'm not talking about climbing styles or skills) good climbing partner any more. You set the bar too high. Oh, and Catherine certainly set the bar too high too. I've always been fascinated by her incredible feats.

I really miss climbing with you at the Pins, good times, if we had more time we could really do some damage.  You are my favorite Pinnacles climbing partner for sure.

Noal was my favorite Mud's Pinnacles climbing partner as well!

[NOAL]

That's a really good story Brad.  I hope that the experience let you heal somewhat from your PTSD.  Up thread I mentioned  how fascinating it is to think of the amount life altering  experiences that occur on a daily basis in Yosemite.  Your story is definitely in that category. 

  I told Mud that my mind was blown to learn that Noal went straight from a gym boulderer to a clean follow of Beverly's Tower, Wheat Thin, and Nutballs! His assessment is "Noal has a creative and open mind." Now, I want that!

One thing that I learned from that experience is that sometimes the more you know about how to do something "correctly" the more it becomes a mental block.  Later we found out that the hardest kind of cracks to cheat on were offwidths with smooth sides because they definitely required learning some technique.  Every topo that said O.W.  we would give more thought to before trying.  To this day at the gym whenever someone in the bouldering starts to shout beta at me I will intentionally do the problem "wrong"  after i send it I say "there's more than one way to skin a cat"

Noal was my favorite Mud's Pinnacles climbing partner as well!

 

Thank you for the good words Noal. 

Thanks!Likewise.

This is a short non climbing related story but about having a good day.

When I was 17 I decided to drive around the U.S. with my friend Bob.  It was the first time I visited the Bay Area.  We stayed in Oakland on some peoples sofa for about a week while I had my transmission replaced. On the weekend we went to see some bands play at a house near the Ashby BART.  We met some new friends at the show one of whose name was Charlie.  It was a sunny afternoon so after watching a few bands we decided to go for a walk with Charlie and his crew.  We went to the liquor store and got some of those big cheap neon colored popsicles that come in a tube of plastic that you squeeze to eat.  While were eating popsicles we walked over to the BART where the flea market had just ended and the vendors had left for the day.  There were piles of junk and garbage leftover that we picked through.  Then we just kind of hung around the train station while one of Charlie's friends booked part his band's tour from the payphone with a stolen calling card.  It was a good day


About 16 years later I ran into the guy Charlie.  I had not seen him since that day.  He totally remembered hanging out with Bob and I . He then told me that was the best day of his life.  Whenever things are going bad he likes to think back to that day walking around, listening to music, making new friends, eating popsicles, digging through junk on a sunny day.

Life can be funny sometimes.