Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Helicopter sighting

Today I took a trip out to the Laguna Mountains, east of San Diego. It is about 45 miles from home but about 5,000 feet higher if I am not mistaken. The day started with a trail ride through some pine forests and then through a meadow. When we were about halfway through the trail we heard a helicopter. When I rounded a bend in the trail, there the helicopter was coming down about 50 yards away from me. The chopper was from the SD sheriff office and it appeared to have fire fighters in it. They landed and sat there for 5 minutes and then just took off again. It was very strange, the only thing they did was open and shut the door, no one ever exited. They may have been as intrigued as we were, I am sure they don't see 3 guys on bikes just staring at them everyday. It was a great ride and very beautiful this time of year. The grass and other vegetation is still green and has not died yet, in about a month it will be very brown in that area. There was only one real challenging section of the ride but thankfully it was paved. This uphill section was about 2.5 miles long and a pretty good incline. The hard work climbing was justly rewarded with a sweet downhill section that I took a little too fast but with no incident. I did have a few close calls with danger, but no wrecks. This is one of the first trails that I have not wrecked on my first ride. Normally I go too fast and can't make a turn and end up eating it. After the ride was over we went down the road and explored a deserted Air Force station. The sign said keep out but that would be no fun. The gate to the property had six locks on it. It is amazing how large our government is and can do nothing. At least six different agencies need access to this abandoned Air Force station now on US Forest Service land. Our tax dollars at work. The area was pretty neat, but like any deserted location vandals had been there and of course it was full of empty beer cans and broken bottles. If you are going to get drunk at least take your trash with you. Well anyway, it was a great trip with a little adventure tied in with it.

1 comment:

Tammy said...

I can't imagine riding 2.5 miles uphill, much less the rest of your ride! :) How are you, Chris? Your mom found my blog, and I just had to check in with you and see how you were!

Take care,
Tammy (Wiseman) Reid