Bidwell Park

Saturday, I managed to convince Chelsie that the afternoon would be better spend hiking through Bidwell Park as oppose to watching her brother Eric draining away at the Playstation. It was a sunny day so it only took a little convincing. Eric hasn't left the television screen since he arrived at our house on Wednesday, except to smoke. I was happy that we were getting out of the house. I hardly ever get to go out with Chelsie and my boyfriend anywhere because she isn't a big fan of being the third wheel of any party. It came in handy that Justin and Eric were with us, and that Justin hasn't ever been to upper park before. I mean Justin was here visiting her, does she think he'll want to sit around the house all day? The comedy began when Eric agreed to come on the trip. He wasn't use to walking, nor hiking up to the top of the North Ridge. And So the trip began...

Me and Patrick drove our own car and Chelsie followed us in her bright red 2008 Jeep Wrangler. At first we thought maybe we should just go off roading with the 4 wheel drive, but the day was too beautiful to spend it in a car. We arrived at the park and Eric's whining began automatically. We climbed the North Ridge and enjoyed the beautiful view that it gave us of Chico. The Sun was high in the sky and the wind was really blowing on top of the ridge. We enjoyed the view while waiting for Eric to make it to the top to catch up with us. Justin took pictures of rocks and and so did Patrick (they do everything alike). We made it to the top of the ridge and walked on for a while after Eric caught up with us. Chelsie and I wanted to stop for a smoke break so we had to huddle behind a rock to shield us from the wind. Sitting there looking out at the top of the ridge it looked like a deserted land. Now that Chelsie was high, she wanted to forge her own trail to the bottom of the ridge and back to the road. Despite all of our suggestions, she did it anyways. Now that we were back to ground level we hiked along the Yahi trail being that its much more level and that would help to minimize Eric's whining... until he realized that he dropped his cigarettes somewhere within the last two miles... The group was ready to call it quits and start walking back to the cars (via Eric's manipulation) but I convinced the group to keep going until we got to Diversion Dam. Its a Beautiful place that Justin hasn't ever seen before and I do love to be there and enjoy natures beauty, plus we totally had enough daylight left! When we made it, everyone was happy that we forged on the trek. The Creek was flowing viciously, and it was about 4 o'clock so the sun reflected off the water like some sort of Hollywood Heaven. After that, we walked back to the car and went and got some Pizza at Left Coast. We were starving after our long four hour hike. I'm glad that I was able to enjoy this day. It helps remind me not to take anything for granite. The beautiful day, the fresh clean air, the view, the company of good friends... sometimes its the littlest things that we forget to enjoy. The jokes we shared about Eric being out of shape, watching Chelsie scale down the North Ridge, seeing the similarities between Justin and Patrick. How many of these little things do you let fly past without thinking about?