Rock Lake Surprise

Usually on the trails, especially this one, I am the only human being for miles. Most often I am comforted to see fellow trail travelers (of any kind - I am not biased at all) because though accidents don't happen often, just the right precarious situation could be really scary way out in the middle of nowhere with nobody around. These fears are particularly present during my evening trail runs because the sunset adds an entirely new potential danger.

When I run I usually let my mind wander unless there is something specific that I want to mull over. I have my shuffle in and all I worry about is the next few steps. Usually about 3 miles into a run I am very relaxed and my body has settled into its rhythm and I am focused on pace and strength and the joy of my warm, fast-traveling blood and breath. This is usually my favorite part of the run. Nothing hurts yet. Between miles 3 and 12 the run feels great. Early in the run I have the energy to sing (yes, embarrassingly out loud to music other people cannot hear) to a favorite song on my i-pod. This was the case tonight. Weezer's song "garage" came on pretty loudly and I was descending to the Stanislaus River.

When I got to the river I thought about the siren scene in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou and how hilarious it would be to find people bathing or swimming in the river. Then I thought to myself how infrequently I even see anybody out there. Yes, still singing to none other than Weezer, loudly. Chester and I cross the river and there they were. Not the sirens, two backpackers trying to enjoy serenity in the great outdoors. I was so embarrassed I couldn't do anything but laugh. I paused my music and apologized, profusely and promised that when I ran back through, I would not be singing so invasively loudly. Luckily, they were laughing too.

That was my Rock Lake surprise. Company.

Through all of the embarrassment, I was so glad they were there because they might be alarmed if I didn't come back through. Or so I'd like to hope.