Mexcians, 'Mallows, and Mountains

After a beautiful good morning (thanks Dropkick Murphy's), we gagged the lolly and eventually made it to the church where our clansmen awaited our arrival. Jorge made a dash to get the vittles, while I legged it to get the real grub (fresh, hot tortas). Alma Rose also slipped me a packet of Hall's cough drops to cure what ailed me; I can't say the pineapple flavor went well with the Ritz(ish) crackers I bought for each van but hey, it's the cough, I mean thought that counts.
After a gentle wait we arrived, goodbyed, and made our way home. again. We reconoitered with the other vehicle, generally shifting and transboarding, and at last with U2 we set a course up. The road was beautiful as the day was mild, and as we made our ascent the temperature made its descent. It was a beautifully fresh and cool afternoon.
After a rather unsuccessful barter and the forking over of superflous funds (as if funds were ever superflous) we made our way up and around down and through a rather pleasant wooded scenescape. We found our cabins which were incredibly nice, and having laid our burdens down, made our way to the trailhead. After an hours hike down through treacherous terrain and vicious wild(ish) animals (the cow had horns and a look in her eye), we summitted a small hill that had a rock outcrop to one side. We had a short bout of rockclimbing and made our way to see a peculiar sight. A tree that seemed to have grown parallel to the ground though the ground began to slope downward a just after the trunk so that the tree, at its end, was almost 15 meters above the ground. Naturally Beto was the first to walk out going maybe a fifth of the way (I don't encourage them to have fifths), who was quickly one-upped by Eric making his a full fourth. Enter Wisdom. Jorge makes his ascent with a quick well balanced attack between one third and half the way out on the tree, a solid 8 meters up. There happened to be a normal tree at this juncture to which he was able to grab a hold of. Turning, he began to come back but quickly lost sight and confidence in his destination and ability to balance. After a few wobbley steps he set off gaining speed nearly plummeting with every step still feet away he made a leap for the bank with his last balanced effort and hit the dirt stumbling forward into safety. (I personally thought this ploy was a dare to cause personal injury to Jorge so that I might be guilted in to staying and taking up the preaching ministry during his recovery (regardless I was thankful for his safety)).
After the near death viewing, and go at some trout in some tanks, and a long hike up, we returned with little incident and I with a pair of flat rocks, hoping to do a little rock-top-cookin'. We gathered firewook and after too much trying a laid down on a log, and watched as the smoke turned to fire and began to pick up (steam?). The more you rush with making a fire the longer it takes; it's better to light it and lay down. After having the rock stove stepped on a broken a number of times and being unable to easily transfer fire I gave up. Oh well.
After a delicious dinner of tasajo tacos and juice, having more marshmellows than we probably shoudl have we went to gather more wood for each of the cabins as it began to rain. The rain didn't last but neither did the warmth of the individual (since every individual was telling me how cold they were (not miserable, but cold)). A fire was lit in the cabin I was to stay with three of the guys and all the youth huddled inside to play spin the bottle. THIS IS A DIFFERENT SPIN THE BOTTLE. (I just wanted to mention that); it's like truth or dare without the truth option. I supervised the game and gave suggests. We had quite a few singers make a very rough debut, as well as a Michael Jackson impersonation. There were push ups and marshmallow eating, all in all a pretty good night once I helped the creative juices get going. The crowd began to filter our around midnight.
After gathering more wood, a wolf found its way near the cabins, howling every so often and keep the kids pretty frightened. The woodland creatures did not sleep well that night for all of the yelling and screaming. Apart from the wolf I did hear something very reall approaching me in the dark; it never showed itself in the light but I know, I know...
After closing the door, checking the fire, the bed, and getting in it I laid down the ultimatum: the door will not open unless you are ready to sleep. With no fire outside and the cold night air I knew they wouldn't last thirty minutes. So twenty nine minutes later (I love to be right) there is a knock followed by guarantees swore in blood that it was indeed bedtime. So after much of the typcial camp pre-bed rituals all were in bed and the lights were out. I, rolling over and getting comofortable, heard a lot of popping coming from the fireplace followed by a crack. I look over to see a flaming log in our floor (which is stone so don't freak out), however during the bed-prep one of the young men (Ricardo) had put his pants right next to the fire. Remembering this event I sprang out of bed to remove said burning limb from his pants (which were thoroughly soaked from the rain) and return once more to capture the evasive sleep. Once I fell asleep it seemed the wolf had moved on.