No Dumping in the Woods

Finally, the day arrived, and we were tearing down I-5 South in Andy's red, 1985 Pontiac Trans Am.We made good time, reaching the access road in less than three hours (eat our dust Donny!), thanks in equal parts to the V8 engine and Andy's general lack of concern about things like speed limits or life expectancy. Reflecting back, it is also very probable that we spent much of those three hours looping Metallica's "Enter Sandman" on the car's aftermarket, anti-theft "detachable faceplate" stereo, so you can imagine how pumped we were by the time we got there.Very pumped.Upon reaching our destination, we were, however, less pumped to find the five-mile access road to the trailhead closed due to snow and fallen trees. This was a significant, unanticipated setback. We could do the math. What was supposed to be a simple two-mile hike to the lake would now be a seven-mile death-march in snowshoes.But the Vow had already been made, and there was no turning back. -- Thirty years in the making, a powerful tale of backpacking, suffering, and brotherhood.