Wilderness Romance

[Bad Man From Bodie]

Wilderness Romance…..funny topic, but as for me, it was the only way we could score dates. My early teen years were spent prowling the camp grounds for ladies camping with their parents. With the lack of young females in the Lee Vining area, we looked forward to the summer months when droves of them would ascend on YNP and often would take refuge in one of the Tioga camp grounds. The gig was simple. Cruise the camp sites until you found a candidate, then a dusk, drive through and fake a break down or flat tire next to the site that contained young ladies. We would then go ask their dad for a flashlight or for help. This was a good ice breaker and led to a lot of successful missions. At some point we all got girlfriends and the campground tours and techniques were passed to the next generation.

Although I met my wife at UNR, it was a mutual love of the Eastern Sierra that brought us together. When she got a hold of a photo of me and my buddy at Kirman Lake with a couple large brook trout and called me out on my “secret” location I knew I was dating someone special. Both our families history are ingrained in the Eastern Sierras. We have two beautiful children and a dog named after Eastern Sierra lakes (Parker and Leavitt) and little Ellery.

My brother has the best Wilderness Romance story tho. He is the only one I know who asked his wife to marry him via big red letters painted in the snow on top of the Mono Craters. He did this via snowmobile so the letters were huge and visible from 395.

[quentinc]

Against all possible probability, I actually met someone at Kearsarge Pass about 15 years ago, but I have to say that this thread (although potentially hilarious) is a little too personal for me. Suffice it to say that we broke up a year later, on an absolutely horrendous trip out of Pine Creek (as if though I needed another reason to hate that trail ). That trip could actually go into the "trip from hell" thread instead!

[oldranger]

AlmostThere-- Maybe hang out at the TH? I remember that before I met Kathy I had made a conscious decision to quit my job and live in the mountains where I could and did meet a woman with similar interests. Meeting on the trail, while romantic, often means that somebody will have to change their itinerary and/or may have a commitment to their group.

Quentinc--It seems you owe us another trip from hell!

Mike

[AlmostThere]

AlmostThere-- Maybe hang out at the TH? I remember that before I met Kathy I had made a conscious decision to quit my job and live in the mountains where I could and did meet a woman with similar interests. Meeting on the trail, while romantic, often means that somebody will have to change their itinerary and/or may have a commitment to their group.

It probably does not help me that the folks who backpack with me most often are other people's husbands.

Would you approach a gal surrounded by guys? :retard:

[rlown]

kind of a tangent, but I always take off my wedding ring on trips, as it's a little tight and my hands swell. I suggested that to my friend when we hiked up into Humphrey's basin last year. He did, but i guess his sunscreen didn't work very well. I guess he's never taken off his ring. So, long story short, he had a big red blister around where his ring was usually. A scary, bright red blister.

[oldranger]

AlmostThere

Go solo! That's what my wife was doing when we met. Actually that was pretty important to me because it was clear she was going because she wanted to and not because someone was dragging her up. I also like independent women who don't "need" a man to get along in the world.

Mike

[maverick]

Or another woman, if solo feels uncomfortable.

[AlmostThere]

At risk of taking it further off the topic... I scheduled a women's retreat this year, a hiking group first. I suggested one of the guys set up a men's and the response from the men was less than enthusiastic. The general consensus was that outings just aren't fun without the women.

Requests for specifics resulted in vague responses.... It makes me real curious about men's retreats now.

More on topic... I have hiked with two other women on a backpack - unfortunately, always limiting trips to women is likely to fail, since it's hard to find anyone to hike with sometimes. And then there's always the danger that the guy will follow one of the other women off somewhere... Has happened too...

Looks like I have more solo hikes in my future.

[hikerchick395]

Looks like the Rae Lakes/Kearsarge Pass area is the hot spot to find romance.

We didn't get married in the wilderness, for the sake of our families' wishes, but we did get married in the Yosemite Chapel.

Last time that I went with just one other woman (2006,) there were a lot of friendly mens in the Dusy Basin...chatty, offering cocktails...

[maverick]

Hikerchic395 wrote "Last time that I went with just one other woman (2006,) there
were a lot of friendly mens in the Dusy Basin...chatty, offering cocktails..." I have heard
of stories about parties in Dusy.