The last 64oz. to Freedom was held on March 19th, 2016.
The Death March was so much fun, that there was call for other yearly marches under the Death March banner. While this gave birth to the fairly successful Seasonal Marches, none have been quite so loved than the blue collar 64oz. to Freedom. Of course, it was an homage to the sublime song 40oz. to Freedom, but it came about very randomly when [displayname id=1] had his “Cavalcade of Melancholia” rained out. Rather than go crazy with planning and such, he came up with a simple, yet enduring, idea. Buy a growler and finish it by the end of the hike.
The first 64oz. to Freedom was held on Friday, March 4th, 2011. This is considered the first official seasonal march. Being a night hike, one could trace its ancestry back to the March of Antithesis or the fact that [displayname id=1] grew up near the end point, but the real sparks that started this hike were 1) the dedication of the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve in 2003 and 2) the opening of Ladyface Ale Companie in 2009. These elements together proved to be fertile spawning grounds for Death Marchian pursuits. 11 hearty souls performed this first hike and received dog tags for their trouble. These 64oz. to Freedom dog tags are some of the Death March’s rarest and most sought after schwags.
The second 64oz. to Freedom was basically due to popular demand. Many who went wanted to go again. Many who didn’t go wanted a chance after hearing the stories. Whatever the case, it was decided that it would be held (and once postponed to) Feb. 11th, 2012. [displayname id=1] planned on starting a tradition of busing to Ladyface, but a Metro mishap caused [displayname id=1] to just drive everyone to the starting point. One nice thing about starting near Kanan and the 101 is that 1) there is a Metro bus that goes there and 2) there is a Park N’ Ride right there. Nine marchers began and ended that night. After dinner at Freebirds, growler fill commenced and the troupe began walking to Ladyface. They saw a weird statue and ended up in the wilderness. They made some poop jokes. [displayname id=18] chased off a pack of coyotes singlehandedly. The cave was dirty as usual. They probably finished relatively early.
The third 64oz. to Freedom was much smaller (and this level kept for the next many iterations). One thing that changed was that when the Grand Marshal instituted Seasonal Marches to be run by the various officers, he assigned [displayname id=22] to Spring. That being said, since no 64oz. occurred in winter, [displayname id=22] kept the tradition alive and held it on Saturday, June 1, 2013. It was warmer and not as dark. Also, this marked the first 64oz. to take the Metro bus to the beginning. Some fun times were had by the five marchers. Some heavy dirt moving equipment and EL wire gloves made for a fun event. The end was lackluster as they ended up at White Harte only to be denied entrance for some weird reason.
The fourth happened on Saturday, June 14, 2014. Since the author of this post was not on the march, he has nothing he can say about it. :(
The fifth happened on Saturday, June 20, 2015. Since the author of this post was not on the march, he has nothing he can say about it. :(
The sixth happened on March 19th, 2016. Since the author of this post was not on the march, he has nothing he can say about it. :(
(Seriously [displayname id=22], would it kill you to update this entry with some deets?)
Growler logo courtesy of [displayname id=193].