Awoke relatively early and enjoyed our morning cup of tea watching the fog burn off the mountains and enjoying the antics of a mole foraging for his breakfast. Our campsite is dangerously pockmarked with mole and ground squirrel holes and, every morning, a fresh crop has sprung up around our tent. American moles are nothing like British moles; they are closer to large gerbils. Relatively timid, it’s quite unusual to see them out their holes although occasionally their heads will pop up. This morning our local mole became increasingly confidently and came right out his hole to gather fresh leaves for his breakfast.
We packed up a picnic lunch and, in the company of another family the children had become friendly with, we set off to the Rock Pool. Set off the backcountry trail, the Rock Pool is a large and very deep pool surrounded by cliffs and large rocks, perfect for ‘tomb stoning’ off into the clear water. It’s not something the rangers encourage but, in true California style, they can’t stop it so now they just embrace it and remind people to look before they leap. The pool is most famous for possibly the first tomb stoning shot on celluloid; Paul Newman and Robert Redford leaping off the rocks in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. That scene was shot here and the locals have been doing the same ever since.
It was another beautiful location and, thanks to it being a weekday, not too busy. The boys were straight in the water and desperate to follow the tricks of the locals who were scaling the rocky cliffs and doing swallow dives from about 20ft. Needless to say Mummy the Fun Sucker put a stop to that and limited them to a couple of ledges and feet first. Mark and Merryn soon plucked up courage to follow suit and I paddled around in the shallows. A glorious way to spend a couple of hours in the sunshine and not a raindrop in sight!
Today’s Tune: Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Wildlife Watch: The Mole who lives in our hole!
No comments:
Post a Comment