DAWSON BUTTE HIKE

Vanessa asked us if we wanted to go on a hike with them. The Douglas Land Conservancy was having a barbecue lunch and hike for donors. The open space area is about to open at Dawson Butte, and the trail will be five miles around the butte. We were allowed to hike to the top of the butte, which will not be open to the public. It was a steep hike, but fun and good exercise.

A helicopter was buzzing around for awhile. The leader of the hike told Vanessa and me that one of the open space members had been hiking at the top of the butte one day and found a helicopter parked on top and the pilot and his girlfriend were in a compromising position on a blanket. When the member asked if they had permission to be there, they muttered about Douglas County giving them permission, which was pretty vague and not so true. Egads, what a difficult and embarrassing situation.

What surprised us is that the barbecue was catered by my boss's company so I saw him there and he was surprised to see me there. But, I got to be on the receiving end of his catering once again, the other time was when I officiated at the wedding in January (you can see photos of those posts if you click on January 2008).

I really like hiking alone or with a small number of people. This one had at least 20, maybe more, people. And the herdlike mentality kicks in with everyone hiking at top speed to show they can keep up, and people tumbling over each other to get ahead. Not really an enjoyable scenario for me, but it was an opportunity to hike somewhere where I normally wouldn't be allowed, so I took advantage of the situation and kept my opinions to myself.