Well, I’ve technically never been on a chain gang, but I did work at a car wash once (back in 1971 for $1.35 an hour) which is probably close to the same thing. Today found me (along with Scott and Jim) back on the trail after two days of being lazy abiding by the city-wide lockdown.
It was a tough hike on a very hot day. We climbed the big mountain then embarked on a quest to find a long lost way back down into the valley. Alas, we failed in that effort despite several attempts at locating the elusive path. We were stymied in part because the thatch grass hadn’t been burned as yet making visual sighting all but impossible. By the time we admitted defeat, I was very exhausted and still had the long walk back to Barretto ahead of me. Wound up going through all four of the water bottles I brought as well. Still, I finished with a mountainous 14K day and that ain’t too shabby for an old fart like me.
Our climb began with these steps leading up from Rizal extension. They took us about a third of the way, the rest was scrambling up the old dirt trail…Stairs, stairs, as far as the eye can see…On the trail to the top…Available now for interested buyers…Also, this cozy split level home…And on and on I climbed…We finally made it to the top and hiked the relatively easier ridgeline road…A view from on high.These boys made me ashamed to have been complaining about my heavy backpack.And the daddy, of course, carried the heaviest load. He told us they were out of kerosene so they needed wood for cooking. Life is hard, especially for the poor.After a good long and hot walk, we reached the point where we commenced our search for a way down…Jim said I don’t see anything over here…We followed a path alongside these fenceposts for a while but that trail became impassable before we very far down. Then, of course, we had to retreat back uphill which sucked.The remains of the day. I was concerned it may have been from the last group of hikers looking for a way down the mountain…But Scott assured me that was not the case. In fact, he sent me this photo from April 2017 showing that those bones used to belong to this carabao…So, we eventually reversed course and retreated back from whence we had come. We did take a different way down though…And along the way, we handed out some food items, cookies, and candy. It adds a satisfying element to the hike…
Anyway, it was a hard but a good day to be out and about again.
Oh, here’s how last night’s baby back ribs looked when they came out of the oven:
The only problem with the crockpot method of cooking is that the ribs get so tenderized they fall apart. Still, they almost melt in your mouth and are very flavorful. The pineapple turned out to be a nice addition as well.
Still not sure about Kim Jung-Un’s status, but maybe it went down like this:
Thank you, Mr. President!
Speaking of the President, the press is still going nuts over what he said or didn’t say about treatments for the Wuhan virus. Not sure what’s next, but this seems plausible:
I smoked a lot of grass back in the day but never tried eating any. Well, maybe inside of some brownies…
That’s all I’ve got for today. Peace out!
2 thoughts on “Back on the chain gang”
Carabao carcass, falling-off-the-bone pork ribs… this truly was a “memento mori” kind of day.
Heh, of course, I had to look up the meaning of “memento mori”. Now I’ll remember it until my dying day.
Carabao carcass, falling-off-the-bone pork ribs… this truly was a “memento mori” kind of day.
Heh, of course, I had to look up the meaning of “memento mori”. Now I’ll remember it until my dying day.