Chap. 16 – Pack up and say goodbye

Well, I hope it’s not goodbye. We’re thinking of it as more of a «see you later» situation.

Tomorrow

Rawhide and her puppies took our sweet moment this morning. The ranger station at Whitewater Preserve didn’t open until 8am, and we had to wait to ask about leaving our tents and other things at the campground. When the station opened, we sent the two Australians to inquire. It sounds like a stereotype… but Americans love accents, so we thought our chances would be better if we let Aussies talk sweetly.

Our plan worked: we were able to keep our things in order. That meant we could pack for the day! I left my tent and all my sleeping gear at the camp, and the group took two ferries from Gandalf to get to the city. Boostie, Marathon and I restocked at Dollar General with Bliss in tow. Everyone else went straight to In-N-Out and Taco Bell. As soon as we finished our resupply, Gandalf also took us to lunch.

At In-N-Out we make the most of our time with Bliss. His mother booked him a flight home to have his Achilles tendon examined by a physical therapist. It was a tearful goodbye, but hopefully just a see you later. If she can be cured in time, I know we would all love to meet her again in the future. I’m so proud of her for doing what’s best for her body and taking some time off. It’s really hard to do, especially with such an amazing tram and having to miss parts of the trail you were probably waiting for. However, it is what you needed and you will be able to enjoy the trail much more when you are no longer in constant pain.

Late

We returned to the trail around 1:00 pm to head from the road towards the campground. Gandalf even took our bags of food, so we were really relaxed! The day had a lot of cold trails with only a few steep climbs and descents. We also saw a lot of wind turbines today! The side trail that took us back to camp was the trickiest part of the day. We veered off course and hopped over rocks most of the way back. I have a feeling it helped us prepare for tomorrow when we take on the infamous Mission Creek!

Back at camp, we took a short walk to the kiddie pool. Frodo and PB (Squirrel’s new trail name, we’ll see if this one sticks) completely immersed themselves, while the rest of us just walked up to our knees. It felt great on my legs to have cold water surrounding them after a short but intense day!

The campground was busy until quite late as it is the weekend and a lot of people showed up for an event the reserve was hosting tonight. A few of us checked it out, but we were all feeling very tired after such a hot day! Sleep is the new top priority!

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