Allen The Mountain Man (Squaw part 2)

About two years ago I picked up a hitch hiker named Allen. He was 83 and has lived up a dirt (snow) road near Squaw Valley in a cabin since 1963. He worked as a DMV examiner in Truckee or Reno, can't remember which. Retired now. He hikes the 2 miles to the road and back to his cabin three or four times a week to get grocercies and check his mail. No phone. No electricity. He said he fell walking out of his cabin the other day "it was snowing, and I just layed there, I said well maybe I'll lay here and die. But I didn't."

He is a very nice guy. He told me that he wanted to get to Santa Cruz to see his last living relative, his siter, who lives in a convalecent hospital. I always felt bad that I did not offer him a ride down there.

Well this weekend I saw him again! We left Los Gatos at 10AM and rolled into Squaw at 5:30Pm (huge traffic) Kate had had about enough of the Squaw kiosk. It was broken again. Anyway, when we were driving past the place I dropped Allen off two years ago I saw him. I slammed on the brakes (Kate was really getting ticked off now) and ran up his road to see him and say hi.

He looked the same (super thick glasses, unnerving for a DMV tester)snowshoes and a bag of groceries, three newspapers. He said he got to go see his sister. He was amazed that he made it to San Jose in just 35 minutes (he must've flown). I ran back to the car totally stoked to have seen him. When I got to the car, Kate just said "He fell" I looked up the hill and he was laying face down in the snow. He slowly got up and started trudging up the hill.