Adventures of Jeff's socks

When Jeff’s possessions were dispersed I ended up with a pair of socks. Nice warm wool. No holes. New… somewhat unexpected if you knew what his t-shirt collection looked like. Whenever packing for an outdoor adventure, I started gravitating towards these socks. Soon it became a ritual. If Jeff wasn’t accompanying me on the hike, at least his socks would. This spring, Jeff’s socks wandered through wildflower covered canyons in Anza Borrego State Park and kept my feet warm high up in the New York Mountains of the Mojave Preserve while trying to locate one of the few populations of two-needled pinyon pine found in California. In May they headed over to the east side in search of corn snow, and were on my feet for descents on Esha Peak and Mount Starr. It was fun to reminisce about our ski trips on Mt Lassen and the Carson Pass area while in grad school. They enjoyed hikes to Bingham Lake and South Sugar Lake in the Russian Wilderness, places Jeff surely had been with family in years past. The socks came along on a hike into the Illilouette Valley with Kristin, where we observed two bears, probably recently awoken from their winter slumber, tearing up a soggy meadow in search of fresh green shoots. They helped me escape the Redding summer heat by hiking up French Creek in the Trinity Alps, in search of the perfect swimming hole. Here the socks became a human dispersal mechanism for the prickly Torilis seeds… I spent what seemed like hours picking the darn things out to make them wearable again. They cushioned my feet against the granite on a backpack trip into Young Lakes, the base camp for a climb up the west ridge of Mt Conness. A few weeks ago, I was again reminded of Jeff when putting on my boots to go out on a prescribed burn. One of our last work-related discussions was about fire and goshawks. Would the birds stay when a burn went through, or would the smoke cause them to abandon their nest? What better way to set fire to the woods than to have Jeff’s socks on my feet. Thanks Jeff. Hope you enjoyed being along for the ride as much as I enjoyed the memories that accompany these socks!