Goonies never say die!

In 1985, an antique map discovered in an attic launches a group of youngsters on a thrilling adventure in pursuit of long-lost treasure, pirates, crooks, and monsters. In 2010, a map on an old bandana given to a member of the team leads a group of team in training hikers on a thrilling adventure in pursuit of a cure for blood cancers. Big Santa Anita Canyon was the 9.5 mile “tunnel” we trekked in our adventure. Although we did not encounter the Fratelli’s, along the way we did face booty traps (“that’s what I said, boobie twaps!”). There were a number of obstacles we faced on Saturday in our hunt for a cure. Our first obstacle was parking. “There’s plenty of parking at the top!” said our fearless leader. He was mistaken, although the joke was on us. We parked adjacent to a mountain side that could theoretically come tumbling down at any moment. Phil had to climb out the window (Dukes of Hazzard style) because he couldn’t open the door. We “hiked” to the trailhead, where we began our 9.5 mile journey, climbing over 2000 feet to Zion Peak. As we trekked alongside a creek, we were enamored with its beauty. That was until we came across Chester Copperpot’s remains (not really, but it was an effigy - a dummy-like representation of a person) near one of the old cabins (like the old, abandoned restaurant that matched the coordinates on One-Eyed Willie’s map). As we continued on maze filled with traps and skeletons (er, effigies), we had to find ways to entertain ourselves, as the uphill climb is always daunting. This week we kept our mind off of the climb by asking “If you could be punctuation, what would you be?” (sounds bad, but at least we weren’t trying to outrun the Fratelli’s).

At one point along our journey, we nearly got caught up on some trip wire booby traps (that could have only been set by One-eyed Willie himself). And just a few moments after avoiding the first set of trip wires (there were a few), we suddenly felt like someone was playing the organ, but missing notes, because it seemed the earth was falling from right under us. Damn, Andy, get the notes right! And when we weren’t almost falling down a cliff, we were dodging swinging machetes (ok, so they were speeding mountain bikers, but they felt like machetes and they could have just as easily ended my life!). The final booby trap was the snakes. None of us encountered a snake this time, but the fear of snakes was alive and well on Saturday. Just when we thought we could take no more, we came around a corner only to see a sight as majestic as One-Eyed Willie’s pirate ship itself…the parking lot! So, the end was near. A skeleton-filled maze, trip wires, machetes, the Earth falling from under us, and the snakes. All this and we keep going week after week! We keep going because we know that out there, it’s our time. It’s our time out there! Goonies were on a quest to save their town; we are on a quest to save lives of cancer patients! And we do it week after week in hopes that our efforts will make a difference. This is our dream, our wish! Maybe Rosalita will find a handful of gems in Mikey’s marble bag (that’s donations in our team’s accounts), so we can all enjoy Yosemite together!