THE WASABI KING: Mr. safety and E-ROCK '09

Just what is it with some people? This morning I opened the door and stepped into an solid cloud of fog. It reminded me of a white-out while driving in heavy snow. Absolutely 0% visibility. Moments such as this would cause one's senses to slightly raise the bar when it came to common sense and their surroundings. Not so much when I'm traveling down HWY 121 and was lucky enough to see a construction worker not even looking and taking all of his sweet time as he moseyed across all the lanes of traffic! Luckily there was nobody behind me while I was destroying my brakes trying not to kill this potential candidate for the Darwin Award of the year. Sheesh!

Recently I took a grand vacation with my buddies Nathan and his bro Josh. Due to scheduling conflicts and not to mention a minor set back due to a particular person crushing his abdomen on a pole, this was a trip 6 months in the making. I left Dallas around 12 p.m. on a Thursday, drove the 4 hours to Houston, met up with Nate and Josh and headed out on the 5 hour drive to Enchanted State Park Natural Area in Fredricksburg, TX. This place is one of our all time favorite places to camp since we've all been there camping since we were about 5. Plus the place is just freaking awesome. The drive out was great, low traffic, only a couple of cops in sight, perfect weather, a Jack-in-the-Box that took almost 20 minutes for service, and my GPS that was telling us every route except the one which would take us straight there, lol. Nate showed off some of his flash-like reflexes as he was driving at about 45 mph and as our eyes unveiled over a rise, we saw part of the road had been completely flooded over ***BOOM*** and we just stopped and sat around staring at one another trying to register if that had just happened. lol.

We unpacked upon arrival at the park around

midnight and began our ascent to our favorite spot. We have several traditions at E-Rock. What's so nice about this midnight hike is not only how refreshing it is, but also the unveiling of the park's beauty the next morning when you step out of your tent.

All three of us picked up our daypacks and raced down to the ranger station to snag our food and take care of the parking registration before you wind up with a big fat nasty ticket at 8 or 9 a.m. (we can never remember which adds to the fun) For the first half of that Friday, we mainly just

laid around and relaxed. All of us had been under a lot of stress recently, so this trip was totally therapeutic, as it always is. At some point, Nathan I headed out for a few other traditions and scramble over the boulders a bit.

After racing up a particular shortcut of ours which will about send you into cardiac arrest (as shown here with Nate), we then took a minute to chill and enjoy the sights before attacking the cave. In the cave, there is absolutely zero light, except for what you bring in (so don't let the flash fool you, we can only see what your light can dish out).

After the cave, we decided to run around a bit on the surrounding rocks along the outer edge of the summit and explore a new route to the top.

We realized that we needed to get back to our camp in time as darkness and a massive drop in temperature comes instantly once the sun goes down a bit. We decided to get a little adventurous again and discovered a new route down, which was itself a big pain in the butt, but a ton of fun. Dinner was a feast, which was unusual, but a great way none the least. Twizzlers, freeze-dried camp food, hot chocolate and chillin with some good buddies around a tiny citrinella candle in the middle of nowhere away from everybody and everything is hard to beat.

The following morning we all took the chance to just sleep in and be lazy. Eventually, we knew our time was short, so we packed up and headed back to the car.
Some of you may be thinking, "That's it!?" Of course not. It's never a bad time at E-Rock. This trip in particular was far too long overdue, and within a small window of time to be possible. Hands down this was an awesome trip. No arguing, no whining, no bickering, no drama or stress of any kind. Just 3 guys who love to camp at one of their lifelong favorite places with flawless weather and low population.

Here's some more pics, enjoy!

Entering Echo Canyon