A group of friends from England came over for a two week vacation. The lads (Stephen Rutherford, Matt Clemitson and Andrew Hopper) are diehard English Civil War reenactors and members of E.C.W.S. (English Civil War Society). Within the society, they are all three members of the Fairfax Battalia in Fox's Regiment.
Knowing they'd enjoy it, I suggested a short 18th century trek. They were eager for it, and with the consent of the ladies we headed off to Keddie Ridge/Homer Lake. Armed with three bottles of the shrub, and Matty's assurance that he'd brought his infamous collection of regimental song books, we grabbed rifles, tumps and snapsacks and set out for the three hour drive from Sacramento.
After an afternoon of learning and practicing to shoot flinters, we made the ascent to the 7,500 ft summit and made camp. No luck with the fish (nothing unusual there), but that night we feasted on crawdads, sweet sage-fed venison and mushrooms sliced and fried up in salt pork. Eatins' don't often get much better. We spent the next day fishing, hiking and swimming in the nearly bath-like waters of the lake. None of us wanted it to end so soon, but the stage was set for longer, future treks on their next trip over "the pond." |
