Andy Beal is back in Texas. The Big Game is over for now. I have the feeling that some of the players may strike out individually and go to Texas to play him, on their own. Just a feeling…but if you read Daniel’s blog, you’ll understand why I can see that happening.

Me? I went for a hike this a.m. with Greg, Amy, and Mark AKA Kram. I didn’t think I was going to make it…out the door. I spent about three hours on the phone, late Saturday night, with Michael Craig (yes…we are long time friends) and during that session, I drank a bottle of wine. I finally realized that it was late and I had to get up early to go hiking…and I was drunk. I got very little sleep, woke up with a wretched headache, and promptly threw up. Wow! How’s that for a crappy way to start your day? With the aid of Motrin to kill the headache, I knew I’d be OK once I got started. I was. What a beautiful day. We went to The Anniversary Narrows out by Lake Mead.

I try to visit that place at least twice a year. Rocks had fallen into the Narrows in different spots (since my last visit) and certain spots held more gravel, making the trail through the Narrows much higher than I remembered it from other visits. It’s always incredible.

From a hike I did with Wayne in December of ’04. It’s the first time I’d ever been there when water was moving through the wash. BTW, none of these bowls can even be found right now, they are full of gravel from flash floods.

One of the most interesting parts of this area, are the mine tunnels in the walls of the wash. These two links help solve the mining mystery. The kids I hiked with had to climb up the side of the wash and explore one of the mines. Their camera battery was dead…DRAT! I waited in the wash as I’m not a big fan of mine tunnels and strange places that one can’t easily get out of. The Mine tunnel is behind them:

This is a great picture. It shows the beginning of the Narrows, the walls as they twist and wind through the ridge, and Miss Amy is the star of this show:

This particular place is where we ran into the first obstacle that wasn’t there on my last journey. It’s not a huge deal but big enough that it’s a nuisance and also introduces the thought that boulders and rocks do fall into the Narrows…YIKES!

Mark was romping and stomping, picking up rocks and stuffing them into his pockets. He probably weighed 40 lbs. more than when he started. I’m surprised his pockets didn’t rip out with the weight. 🙂 He said he was taking the rocks for his poker play. He would use them as ‘card protectors’ and if they weren’t lucky, he’d try another one. *laughing*

The Narrows is about 175 yards long. At points you can reach out and touch the walls. When we were approximately 20 or so feet from the end, the wind turned into a gale. It was as if someone flipped a ‘wind switch’. After we cleared the Narrows and hiked a bit further up the wash, we stopped in the sun and basked on rocks for a few minutes before retracing our path. There was no wind where we were lazing about. As soon as we hit the entrance to the Narrows, the wind was in full rip and shred mode again. A short distance into the Narrows and we were, once again, wind free.

There were quite a few people hiking the area, young and old. As we neared the exit into the wash that holds the mines, the sun created a spectacular halo effect:

Time to head back to the city. Greg and Mark are poker players, Greg deals tournaments and is on Bellagio’s roster. Amy listens to our poker tales. I’m sure she feels we need a ‘couch’. And hey…that’s what she does. It was a great day and a great time, shared with great people, in a great place. If you ever hit Vegas and want to do the hike, just LMK.

Tomorrow it’s back in the box for this kid. C U there!