2 months ago I went for a solo hike up to San Gorgonio to practice my ice axe skills. I was hiking for a good while and felt quite alone (it was a weekday), until I came across an older hiker coming down. This was bad timing, but just after I noticed him and before I consciously realized how it would look, I was reaching to unsheathe my ice axe from my backpack. I'm fairly certain it looked like I was going to murder him. (Dude hasn't spoken a word and now he's reaching menacingly for a rather sadistic looking tool.) I realized what I'd done by then, but I couldn't put the axe back, or it would've looked weird. And I couldn't say, "I swear I'm not going to kill you." cuz also weird.



But the hike was good, even though I couldn't make it to the top, even with a full day's walking. But when I turned around, I could see the sun set on the ocean, 90 miles away through OC's haze.