SODIUM:1 Harbinger (4 page)

Everyone had a good laugh and given Kyle’s good nature, after his first moments rage, he soon calmed down. He shook his head and admitted to how gullible he had been. With the prank complete and our feet rested it was time to get back on the trail.

I was sometimes superstitious, so after making sure Bull was not close enough to give me a dunk, I went over to the water’s edge, leaned over and said my own couple of “Minhafa”s. Kyle looked at me and shook his head, knowing that I was sometimes a bit quirky. The way I saw it, if there was such a thing as a spirit protector, or if we came across a mountain lion, I wanted it to be on my side.

As we put our packs back on Bull continued talking about how even though his scoutmaster had dunked him, as he had just dunked Kyle, that he had told the kids that the story was true. It had been passed down through many generations of the Ute Indians.

As we began our walk back along the river Bull turned back towards us to speak and suddenly put his arms out stopping our progress. He pointed downstream from where we had come. We turned to look and just down the river about 75 yards, up on a large rock overlooking where we had been, stood a large mountain lion. Chill bumps rose on my arms from the coincidence of the lion and Bull’s story. I had a death grip on my bat even though the big cat was far away. I grew nervous thinking that I would only have one swing at protecting myself. And here I was, in the woods with another large animal.

As quickly as Bull had stopped us, the mountain lion looked our way for a moment and then casually turned and strode off into the woods in the other direction. We stood for five minutes looking back for any sign of its return. I suddenly came to the realization that my seemingly secure place in the back of the pack was not so secure. In a cowardly move, I stepped up and began talking to Allie to help secure my spot in the middle. It was not a moment to be proud of, but it was who I was.

With the immediate threat diminished we hiked for another hour before stopping to find a spot to set up a night’s camp. When we came to a shallow area of the river we decided it was as good a place as any to cross. The footing was dicey and the water was frigid cold, but we managed our way across without incident.

Since evening was approaching and we were ready for a rest we selected a site by the river. We found a flat area about 30’ from the river’s edge where we could tie lines between several trees to throw our tarps over. It took 15 minutes from the time the site was selected until a camp fire was lit.

Bull unpacked a fly rod and was once again at the water attempting to stretch out the food that we carried. The trout from Basecamp the night before had been delicious and everyone was eager to have more.

As Bull fished, Allie and Susi began to scout the surrounding area for small game. She was a crack shot and used Susi’s .22. The small caliber would allow the bulk of the animal to be left for cooking if she happened to get lucky. When shooting at squirrels and rabbits her 9mm would have been overkill.

Kyle and I had firewood duty and gathered more than was necessary to get us through the night. The temperatures during the day were reaching the upper 60s and at night it would drop down near 30. The low humidity and our new nylon sleeping bags would make for a comfortable night’s sleep.

Bull landed two trout and Allie and Susi managed two squirrels while gathering a load of gooseberries. Our meal was set for the evening. The skies got dark quickly and it was a moonless and cloudless night. A few feet away from the fire the Milky Way was clearly visible. Our high altitude and ultra-dark skies would have made any astronomer giddy with excitement.

We chatted around the fire for a several hours and then each rolled out their sleeping bag and slid into them. After the day’s journey, all except for me were fast asleep. I was a light sleeper and could not shake the sight of the mountain lion from my head. Every little bump in the night had me sitting up and looking around.

An hour after the others were fast asleep the fatigue of the day finally took hold and I dozed off. It was just about midnight when my slumber was first disturbed. I awoke feeling something moving in my left hand. I felt around slowly for a flashlight with my free hand, fearing that I would end up with a snake bite or scorpion sting.

When I turned on the light and shown it on my hand I froze in terror. A big, brown, hairy spider was sitting square in my palm. It took me several seconds to return from the panic of terror to reality. I let out a high pitched squeal and shook the spider from my hand. Again the terror set in as I looked back at my hand and a thousand baby spiders were then scurrying in every direction.

The others were now sitting up and reaching for their guns when I jumped up and ran over to the last few embers of the fire. I pushed my hand close to the heat in an attempt to drive the spiders off. My misguided attempt only made them scatter further and begin to move up my arm. For whatever reason, I was too overcome with fear to just brush them off with my other hand.

I next ran to the river and almost dove into the frigid mountain water to wash them from my arm. The bitter cold did not deter me from getting rid of the thousand tiny terrors. I splashed around letting out numerous squeals for several minutes before I emerged from the water soaking wet and shivering.

The others were all standing at the river’s edge with guns drawn and puzzled looks on their faces. When I told them of the spider they all howled with laughter. When I added in the thousand babies Bull doubled over on the ground and began to cry as he laughed.

Whenever Bull laughed you could not help but want to join in. So, I had a good laugh at my own expense while putting more wood on the fire. I needed to warm my chilled body. It took another half hour before the camp was once again settled down and the adventurers were dozing off. By 2AM my eyes were again too heavy to remain open and I drifted off into a blissful sleep.

I wasn’t sure how long after that it was when I was awakened by a loud crack and a bright flash. Through my fuzzy, sleepy eyes I could make out what looked like the last of a shooting star dropping over the horizon to what seemed like only a few miles away. Little did I know that it was a harbinger of things to come. After looking around at the others as they slept, I pulled my sleeping bag up under my chin and I soon returned to that blissful place beyond consciousness.

Chapter 4

Dawn came early and by the time I opened my eyes Bull and Allie were already up and catching breakfast. Kyle came over and frizzled my hair with his hand while telling me it was time to get up. I rolled over to shield the early light from my eyes in an attempt to catch those last few zzz’s.

After my roll, Kyle decided to have a little fun by telling me to not move because there was a spider on my sleeping bag. I knew it was not real, but the thought of the night before had me wide awake. I got out of my bag and moved over to warm myself by the new morning campfire.

Susi had packed a small tin of ground coffee that was brewing over the fire. It was a surprise to me and as an avid coffee drinker I was salivating at the thought of a nice cup-o-Joe. The coffee was black and it was harsh, but it was heaven in a cup.

By the time Bull and Allie returned with our morning feast of a jackrabbit and two more squirrels I was ready to get at the day. The catch was skinned and gutted in the river and then staked out over the fire. Small game was plentiful in the Yosemite back-country and it had not been a particularly harsh winter, so we hoped to not be bothered by hungry beasts.

As we sat around the fire eating, I told the others of the bright flash from the night before. Kyle quipped that perhaps I was hallucinating after being bitten by the spider. The more I talked about the event the more it made me wonder.

The loud crack and the flash had awakened me, but all I had seen was the tail end of the streaking light. It struck me as funny that even as close as it seemed to be there was no noise or vibration from an impact. The others had passed it off as a shooting star, but for whatever reason I could not agree.

We broke camp soon after breakfast and began our day’s hike to our first real landmark, Lake Eleanor. The nearby reservoir of Cherry Lake had just been dammed a year earlier so we left it off of the trails we had chosen. Lake Eleanor was 26,000 acres in size and provided both water and power to San Francisco. Since this was supposed to be a wilderness trip we branched off early from Eleanor Creek to bypass the dam.

It was mid-afternoon when we reached the southern edge of the lake. We broke for lunch and a brief rest and then quickly got back on the trail. The scenery from the edge of the lake was stunning.

The pure blue sky reflected off the glassy motionless water. You felt as though you could pick up a flat rock and skip it all the way to the other side, nearly a quarter of a mile away. The wildlife was plentiful along the lake as we startled many jackrabbits and spotted many hawks. Wild turkeys were occasionally seen scurrying in and out of the brush.

The woods were bountiful this year and on our second encounter with a turkey; Allie bagged a ten-pounder. Again she used Susi’s .22. The unlucky fowl was plucked, cleaned and packed away for dinner later that evening.

We spotted a red fox which Bull looked up in his ‘Animals of Yosemite’ book. The book said the fox had likely been hunted to extinction and had not been seen since the 1920s, but there it was, quickly scampering out of sight before Susi could snap a picture. The rediscovery of the Nevada Red Fox would have to be left for another day.

As the hike continued we reached a sandy beach where Frog Creek would lead us up to Laurel Lake. Once at Laurel Lake we would make camp for the evening. The terrain that day had not been difficult, but it had been a long hike and we were all eager to sink our teeth into the turkey.

When we reached Laurel Lake Allie dressed the turkey for the fire while Bull and Kyle had their go at some fishing. We ate well that evening and sat around the campfire afterward talking about the day’s rewards. As darkness once again fell and the fire began to die down we each made our way into our sleeping bags under the tarps.

In another cowardly move I had managed to position my bag between the two couples. If something was going to invade our campsite I did not want to be the unfortunate person that it attacked. I was still unable to fall asleep as easily as the others and lay awake thinking about where we were and what we had seen that day.

It was then that I got an urge for nature’s call. I would have to go into the woods by myself in order to drain my now ready to burst bladder. I cursed myself for having not gone when everyone was up and the campfire was still going strong, but nature had a way of not cooperating when the time was most convenient. I slid out of my bag, picked up my bat and walked into the edge of the dark sinister wood nearby.

I leaned the bat against a tree and began to relieve myself. I was startled when I heard a rustling sound off to my left. I peered into the dark wood while attempting to hurry as fear began to get the better of me. In my state of nervousness I could not finish my pee as the darkness seemed to creep ever closer.

It was then that I had to pinch off in mid-stream… there were two deep red glowing eyes that were looking in my direction from about 40 yards away. The red devil eyes then turned into brighter fine points and narrowed as if focusing on me directly. I reached for my bat and knocked it over. I then fumbled on the ground in the darkness trying to find it. When I finally got a grip on the handle I jumped to my feet and ran back into camp.

I quietly awakened Bull and the others and began to tell of what I had seen. Kyle immediately pointed out to me that my fly was open. Their first reaction was to laugh and again tease me about the spider. But I persisted in my story, so Bull and Kyle got their handguns and followed me to where I had seen the red devil eyes.

We stood for ten minutes, looking and listening, but nothing moved or made a sound. When Kyle had seen enough he turned with a huff and made his way back to the tarps. Bull stood with me another few minutes while I swore to him that I had seen two red eyes. I described how they had focused in on me.

Bull gave me the benefit of the doubt as he knew from my reactions that I had indeed seen something. Sometimes an animal’s eyes in the wood can reflect light and appear to glow, but that would only happen if a light was being shown in their direction. There were no lights around other than the dull embers of the fire and I had come to relieve myself carrying only the bat.

I felt bad for waking the others and then not seeing anything. I told Bull we may as well wait and come out to look in the morning. He agreed and sent me back to the tarps while he stayed to take a break of his own. I was almost back by the smoldering campfire when five loud shots rang out striking fear into my heart.

The girls were instantly up and with their guns at the ready they and Kyle hustled over to where Bull was still standing. I then realized that I was standing by myself in the camp with only my bat. I made haste to join the defenders.

As we approached Bull had one arm out with his hand facing back at us telling us to stop. He then brought one finger up to his mouth to attain our silence. We all listened intently and heard nothing but crickets.

Another five minutes passed and we moved back to the tarps. We sat up for several hours discussing what had happened. Bull had seen the red devil eyes too. He said they appeared to be moving slowly towards him so he had drawn his .45 cal and fired off the five shots we had heard.

He thought one of those five rounds may have hit its target as whatever it was had jerked quickly. It then let out a hiss and turned away. He could barely make out the sound of it moving quickly off through the woods. We re-lit the fire and decided that two of us would stay up and keep an eye out for the intruder.

Bull and Allie would go first while Kyle and I would take the early morning watch. It was again difficult for me to get to sleep, but the fatigue of the day soon took its toll. I dozed off soundly. It was 3AM when Bull awakened us for our monitoring duty.