Big Basin Bachelor Party

So last weekend I flew to California for my bachelor party, which is probably the only bachelor party anyone has ever heard of where everyone was asleep by 1130 or 12 each night. It was a fantastically fun weekend, and huge props to everyone, particularly Dave, Neal and Dan, who turned out and made it a truly memorable experience.

If you know me you know that I am not a stripper kind of guy, and while I appreciate female form as much as the next guy, I did not want to spend my weekend ogling women. I also did not want to spend it yelling over loud music or being sick in random bathrooms ... I wanted to spend it having quality conversations with my best friends, which is exactly what I was able to do, as we spent the weekend camping in Big Basin State park in the Santa Cruz mountains.

As it was a bachelor party, I am not going to describe it in any detail, but suffice to say it was rather tame by the standards of bachelor parties. We were camping, so it was early to bed, early to rise, and there were no strippers ... I mean, I can't really see any girls coming out into the woods to do a strip show in a tent ... but there was considerable inebriation (I gotta have scotch), a fantastic hike, some cribbage and a lot of laughs. And most importantly, I got to spend a good amount of time with all of my best friends.

The focal point of the weekend was the hike on Saturday, which took in three waterfalls and 13 miles of redwood forest. Here is a map of the hike


It was fantastic, and gave me the opportunity to take a lot of waterfall pix, which is really one of my favorite things to do in the world. In addition, we spent some time at a great brew-pub, grilled some burgers and told stories by the campfire, ate a bunch of burritos and played some bacchi ... a fantastic weekend.

Finding our way - we were only a bit lost at the beginning of the hike


Berry Creek Falls ....



Golden Falls ...


Majesty of the Redwoods ...