(written on April 2nd from notes taken previously)
Up late, out late… again 🙃, just before 11:30 this morning when I drove away.
I was super curious to see where the water levels were today, and they had definitely receded significantly overnight.
The underside of the bridge was a muddy mess, and the trail along the riverbank, though no longer part of the river, still had puddles here and there.
The descent from the higher trail to the bottom of the draw was a treacherously muddy slide, so I decided to go around through the woods as I had done yesterday.
I followed the trail up the hill, then through the woods and over my little overhang perch atop of the cliff, taking in the updated vista. 🙃
I spent the next seven hours up there, alternating between journaling 🥳, veging out to my phone screen 😅, and… landscaping. 🙃
My overhang perch was also fairly overgrown. Between the time that I was there two months ago and today, someone had cut back some tree branches even further than what I had done, in order to make a clear opening for jumping from the higher ledge.
It was seeing there additional pruning that sort of set me to work myself. 🙃
During those seven hours-ish atop the cliff, I spent a pretty good chunk of them clearing out the brush and plants that were growing out of the side of the overhang.
Doing so provided more space to enjoy the scenery from, allowed for clear visibility to the ledges below, and opened up much more comfortable jumping options. 😁
I suppose my actions are no surprise whatsoever to anyone who has seen me in action on a regular basis. 😆
Somehow, I missed taking a picture of the new view of the lower cliff area and ledge from my freshly cleared spot. 🙃
I think it was dusk by the time I left Paines Ford, heading to town for a grocery run (my sweet tooth starting to override my sense of the sensible 😅), but apparently the store closed at 7:00, and I arrived just a few minutes after that.
Oh well.
Since I was already in town, I figured that I would stop by the freedom camping spot there, thinking that maybe since we were approaching the off-season, there might be plenty of space, but nope!
It was jam-packed to overflowing, probably 20 more vans there than are allowable by the rules of that particular parking area.
Many people risking hefty fines if someone shows up to ticket them. 😅
Soooooo… it was back to Uruwhenua Reserve for a third night. 🙃
Did I mention that one of the vans that’s been there every single time that I’ve been there is my doppelganger? Same generation. Same color. 🙃
Apparently, it belongs to a member of the clan that seems to have “moved in,” I think.
Well… that was the day! Not much more to report. I veged out and then conked out.
Lift the world.
Bring it on.
~ stephen
Lift the World 