RAY MEESE

Donna surprised me with a weekend trip to Mt. Pinos for my 42nd birthday. The day started with a trip to The Barkley to drop off Buddy, then the 90-minute drive to Mt. Pinos.

The biggest surprise was the weather. Immediately after getting off the highway we stopped at a gas station, got out of the car, and realized it was cold! Not cool… cold! Temps were in the low 50’s and I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.

I asked a local if there was anywhere to buy some warmer clothing. He laughed, said he couldn’t believe how unseasonably cold it was, and basically said we were out of luck. I had an old wool shirt in the car, a cotton t-shirt from a bachelor party and the shirt on my back – so I layered. Donna had thought to pack a long-sleeved shirt.

So we headed to the mountain, drove part way up and started our hike. Not far into it, I was sweating but cold and getting chilled. Even worse was the fact that neither Donna or I could breathe. We were at about 8,000 feet and it’s been ages since we’ve spent time at that kind of altitude. We were also both getting dizzy. Before we reached the summit, I called it quits. I let frustration get the better of me.

Then the weekend took a dramatic turn for the better. We got back to the car, got the wet clothes off and warmed up, shook off the dizziness and continued to explore via the car. There were a number of scenic vistas and while I realized the weekend would be nothing like what I expected, it was going to be fantastic just having quiet time with Donna. We spent all afternoon just taking in the sights.

By early evening we were ready to head back into ‘town’ – which consisted on the Holiday Inn where we were staying, a truck stop, a gas station, a Motel 6 and a Mexican restaurant.

You’ll never guess where we went for dinner. For my 42nd birthday, Donna took me to dinner at the nicest restaurant in town. I joke about this only because it really was good! It’s not much to look at from the outside but the service was good, the people were friendly and the food was fantastic!

For dessert? Who needs a birthday cake when the gas station has candy bars!

We crashed at the hotel for the night after that. It really was a nice place to stay and must have been recently built.

Sunday morning we took our time getting up, having ruled out any hiking because of the cold weather and lack of cold-weather attire. We checked out, walked outside and realized it was already in the 70’s. We contemplated hiking again given the unexpected warm weather but knowing how the altitude was affecting us, we decided to explore the back roads between Mt. Pinos and Ojai. It was a beautiful day of exploration and we found a number of places that we want to return to.