Burned Socks

Finally Jared made it back to our spike camp from base camp after hauling meat & Bill down the range.  After returning from an evening hunt, I see Jared in camp stacking firewood and I notice he is alone, so I inquire as to the whereabouts of Bill.  Jared says, "Man, I put that dude in the hospital!", thinking he was exaggerating and that Bill must have been too fatigued to hike back, I laugh and then notice Jared is shaking his head and he says, "I ain't kidding, that dude is in the hospital with a blown knee!".  Apparently during the hike down, Bill tore his meniscus and could hardly walk.  Jared got him down the mountain and met Brad in Durango.  Brad took Bill to the ER where after examination, the prognosis was delivered.

Fresh bear track just outside camp.

I was happy to see Jared cause I was getting tired of talking to myself and I was out of food and had been eating grouse and elk steak for the past two days.  He had replenished our supply of oatmeal and ramon noodles.  So food was taken care of, but I was still in need of socks.  The night previous, during some alone time by the campfire, I had rigged a contraption to dry my socks near the fire.  Apparently at some point during the drying process, an ember popped from the fire and scorched a tennis ball sized hole in the calf of my cotton sock.  So at this point I was wearing burnt socks and was on day six with my underwear!  I hadn't packed much clothes to cut down on weight and the original plan was to return to base camp after three days.

View from spike camp