Why I Had an Outdoors Bachelor Party

I'm getting married in less than three weeks. What a trip.

July 7, 2017, this road out of the Alabama Hills winds its way over to the Manzanar Internment Camp

Here We Go!

This road, here, in the Alabama Hills, is perfect. Not for where it leads to, but for where it goes. It's not paved. It's rough, imperfect, and dusty. It's perfect. I’m not going to throw clichés at you, that’s insulting. And/or basic. So why am I starting this story with a picture of a road in the Alabama Hills? A road that leads to a reminder of a pretty bad spot of domestic policy in our history? Because we all, as people, have bad spots. But we grow and improve, learning important lessons. The road takes you from the Alabama Hills towards Manzanar, though not directly. There are a few twists and turns. They symbolize the windy path we take to self-improvement. Without those dark parts of my own life, I wouldn't be who I am today, marrying the most wonderful woman in just a few days.

This whole area, and everywhere we went, is a special area for me and my fiancée. The Eastern Sierra Nevada, and the Alabama Hills, are really out-of-this-world locations. So when we drove in here, my friends, who had never been there before, were completely blown away.

Hard to wonder why...

In Town

Crowley Lake off in the distance.

At Vons in Mammoth Lakes, we told the cashier that we were up from LA for my bachelor party weekend, and that one of the guys had never been in an alpine environment, ever. She cautioned us,"don’t drink too heavily tonight! Or at all!" That night, we had chicken, local beer, apple pie moonshine, beef, ravioli, asparagus, and salad. We took care of ourselves. The next day, we embarked upon the first step of our journey: the Eastern Sierra Brewery Tour.

Again, we ate well. (Wait, why are you talking, even in vague terms, about your bachelor party? Shouldn't that be some kind of a secret?) We had beards - as the bachelor party princess, it was one of my two requirements.

I'm pretty certain, though, that the beer helped us adjust even faster to the altitude. Something about vasodilation. Or whatever. Not a doctor. Probably the opposite of that. Not a physiologist. Also, I weigh considerably less than I did the last time I was there, and the time before that. I do know that being in better shape helps.

So what do you do for a high altitude bachelor party? If you aren't into night clubs of any sort, short of maybe dive bars and pubs, what else but relaxing, hiking, and fishing? You stay in your lodging or campground, you eat, you watch movies, light a small fire in the fireplace because reasons, wake up, and go hiking and fishing (realizing only too late that you forgot your Garmin in the cabin).

Honestly, it was the best send-off I could have imagined. Maybe more fishing, but after having been away from these areas for so long, I just had to soak it all in.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you Adam, Dave, Daniel, and Rob (not pictured).