Friends and Happiness and Electric Fences

It took just about as long as you’d imagine it took – getting out of town and getting the goats fed and loaded up. But it took longer than you’d imagine it took to actually figure out gear and weigh everyone’s packs and argue about water for the 79th time and hunker down for additional Water Weight Math Marathons.
We dumped out liters and liters of perfectly good water because we just needed the bottles. We’ll have a two day water carry in just a few days and we will need them then.
I felt like I’d throw up for most of the morning, and mom gave me lots of hugs and sympathetic glances and that helped a lot. Joshua gave Sophie lots of hugs too and then we were alone on a dirt road headed to a camp in unfamiliar territory doing a by-now-very-familiar thing.
The vet said I could dope up Bosco every day with L-tryptophan, so I’d done that and was really enjoying hanging with a stoned goat. Look how compliant he is! Sophie said, and I smiled. And Bosco ate a little tree.
Quaking aspen exploded all over the place and blue and purple flowers didn’t bother to ask if there was room for them. They just squeezed on in.
It was sunny and cool and the mountain bikers were polite. Packs of women and packs of men, and packs of mixed company.
We made it to our intended camp at 11:45 and there was no water, so we pushed on to our intended camp for night number 2, Marlette Peak Campground. The handpump was impossible to work with just one person, and Sophie came back after twenty minutes, tired and frustrated, with half a liter of water.
So we brought down all the goats and they fiddled around while we got water together. I pumped the handle and Sophie lifted the thing and held bottle after bottle under the stream. Prep work for tomorrow.
Later I met a PCT thru hiker alumni named Joe Dirt and his two companions. We all got more water together and they visited with the goats and we laughed and chatted and felt right at home.
In the wilderness.
In the bitter cold.
Friends and Happiness and Electric Fences