The Apprentice and Nearly Losing Bosco

Day 9

Miles 8

Oatcake whacked somebody.
What are you, Bosco’s Apprentice? Sophie asked.
There was finally some good grass to eat, and the boy went for it.
Vista after vista, and then a beautiful cliff with a mountain beyond. We encouraged the boys into the clearing o we could get a good picture. Sharkey climbed way out on the ledge and made us uncomfortable, so we called them and headed down the trail again. Bosco didn’t understand. He was at the edge of the cliff and wanted to come straight to me. So he jumped over the void. With his panniers on. And landed clinging to the other side with his saddle stuck in a tree. I ran to help and tried to break the branch but it wasn’t working. He found one foothold and worked his way around the tree and back on to safe ground. He had a stick caught on his halter that was poking his eye. I pulled it out, then had to power walk for a while because I was all upset.
His eye was a little swollen for a short time, but he got over it way before I did.
Aidan came to resupply us. We trailered the boys and he drove us past the busy roads. Past the road crossing. Past the drama and activity of a tourist town.
We tied the goats up and gave them calf manna and water while we sorted gear and food for Desolation Wilderness. 8 days of, well, Desolation. I got my dehydrated food all sorted out. I traded out my hammock for a tent since there’s not many trees in Desolation, and we loaded up what we thought was 16 pounds of food for the goats.
All the bags seemed so. heavy.
Some asshole and his asshole family came barreling down the trail on mountain bikes. Sophie asked them to stop and they did, but they had dogs. The guy said, “Let’s just make this as quick as possible” and raced his bike and his dogs past us. The goats freaked out, as expected, and bolted. If I would’ve know he was going to do that…
If Only…
We made camp in a meadow and I had to lay on the cold, hard ground. Poor, poor, miserable me.
It turned out we’d taken 28 pounds of feed from the resupply, not 16, so Sophie is gradually feeding the extra to the goats now to lighten their load.
We are just so grateful their is still a Bosco to feed.
A Bosco who can have an Apprentice.