understand how the American Indians worshiped the earth, sky and water. As we contemplated our spirituality, all of a sudden dark clouds formed and lightening bolts started hitting the mountain right near us. We grabbed our packs and started running down the mountain as fast as we could. But just before we ran, Kooster yelled out that our hair will stand on end just before we get hit by lightning. We swiftly made it to tree line and thought that we were safe and by then the lightning had stopped. We sat on the edge of Cathedral Lake and let the adrenaline subside before trekking back down the mountain to our campsite.
Girl in Window, Mill Valley, California Photo by Barry Epstein
Our extended road trip then took us in a southerly direction as we drove to Phoenix Arizona to visit another ex-girlfriend from New Jersey who was enrolled in an advanced cardiothoracic nurse course. We then visited one of my Aunts who kindly put us up in her house with a pool. We had to pay for some engine repairs at that time which put a strain on our travel funds. The next stop was in San Diego to visit my good buddy John Vitek who as studying oceanography at Scripps Institute. The university was located in a prime position overlooking the ocean and it was beautiful. We were thinking that California is the place to be. A short trip up to Los Angeles to visit another ex-girlfriend of mine who was very excited by the drop in.
One of the key highlights of the trip was the next person we visited- Eddie Pacio- who was another high school buddy. Eddie and I had quite a history together in New Milford where we used to take his very big 1963 Buick Riviera for long rides, fitted out with with 1 / 4” phono jacks and toggle switches for front and rear headphones that was hooked up to an 8 track player. Hash pipes, LSD and Led Zeppelin probably summed up these rides that were always fun and attracted many others. I still have flashbacks of these rides today every time I hear Led Zeppelin. But the police had no clue back in 1968 and 1969 what was going on so we cruised around and around. Eddie was and is extremely bright and he was studying for his masters degree in filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute when I first visited him in California. He rented a beautiful house in a Northern suburb of San Francisco called Mill Valley. Eddie has had a great career in film and animation and is an accomplished sculptor with major galleries in Los Angeles representing his work.
Visiting Eddie in Mill Valley on my way back to Alaska was memorable on so many levels. He had a non stop host of beautiful girls at his house in the spirit of peace and free love. He invited quite a number of these girls over to meet Dick and myself. Eddie introduced me as Dr Barry, PhD, a famous Alaskan bear researcher. The introduction paid off and we had lots of fun at Ed’ s house! There was an endless supply of drugs, sex and rock and roll. The many beautiful girls were seemingly very aggressive as they had to be to attract the small number of straight guys in San Francisco. This was unprecedented. Beautiful girls who actually chased us. It was difficult to leave Mill Valley! Many times after visiting Eddy, I contemplated that I had chosen the wrong university and that I
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