54 TH
the Mystery Man. We all
hiked down the hill in the
darkness and were greeted
by little flying vampires who
wasted no time in sucking
our blood and leaving us
itching. Everyone seemed
ready to crash, but I wasn't
tired at all. I started to won-
der if the other two carloads
would make it. All the mel-
low guys had arrived first,
and I wanted some excite-
ment. The troublemakers
were on their way, and I
knew when they arrived
there would be some fire. I
laid back looking up at the
stars and waiting.
Most of the guys were
asleep when I saw the head-
lights strike the abandoned
building behind us. I jumped
up and started running up
the hill towards the lights.
When I got to the cars, the
first thing I saw was a girl
lying on her back in the
dusty dirt. It turned out that
one of the cars had broken
down on the way and so Red
had pulled one of his classic
rig jobs, this time with a
piece of string and a pencil.
I introduced myself as their
trail guide and off we all
went stumbling down the hill
to the pool. Everyone down
there was asleep, but I knew
they wouldn't be for long.
Dodgy and Red Immediately
started harassing the sleep-
ers, and the smart ones got
up right then. The others
were in for a long night.
It wasn't long before a nice
fire was burning on the deck.
and we all sat around drink-
ing beers while the two bul-
lles heckled the sleepers. The
ones in the shallow end got it
the worst with a flashlight in
their eyes and beer cans
landing on and around them.
The girl that had been lying
In the dirt was talking about
swimming in the river that
ran right next to the house.
When we went down to
It was getting hotter and
brighter, and I was start-
ing to hallucinate from
lack of sleep.
Top: Richard Kirby soars above the
crowd with a big frontside ollie at the
Salem, Oregon, park. Above: Even
though Morris Wainwright rides
Trackers, he can still pull some nice
frontside grinds.
check it out, she just fell
right in. This was the first of
many dips to be taken, but
the only unintentional one
as far as I know.
When we got back, the fire
was bigger, and Red was
breaking apart the broken
plenic table for wood. I
couldn't see how people
were trying to sleep. Large
metal objects and burning
pleces of wood were thrown
in the deep end, but no one
in the shallow end budged.
Inevitably, the subject of
rolling in came up, and peo-
ple started putting up money
for the feat. This was not
your average roll in. The
facewall had the best transi-
tion, but the coping was.
missing, which created a
sunken in area that was
barely wide enough to roll
on. The sidewalls were
death. Munk seemed to be
the one for the job, but he
was asleep with his girlfriend
in their car (probably the
only ones who really slept).
Everyone was either too
drunk or too scared, so it
didn't happen that night.
People started to drop off
one by one, and Dodgy was
the only one left heckling.
Then the fall down drunk
girl, Red, and Dodgy went
swimming, leaving just me
and Mo sitting around the
fire. We decided that it
would be silly to go to sleep
when the sky was already
showing signs of dawn, so
we smoked a little herb and
waited for the light to come.
There were three of us left
when it got light enough to
ride, and we stepped down
among the sleeping giant
slugs in the shallow end. I
wasn't sure if I could navi-
gate my board in that deliri-
ous state, but it had to be
done. The crisp morning air
felt good as we got used to
that weightless pool gravity
that to me is the best feeling
Mike Swim takes a dip in the West Seattle Bowl.