Date: 2003-06-02
From: Lick Creek

To: Davis Farm Campsite
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

Moo!Today started out as such a normal day...I slept in till 8, mainly because it was so COLD last night I couldn't sleep. I was wearing almost every piece of clothing I owned and I just couldn't get warm. We were up and ready at the usual time, 10:30. The only difference was, this was the first morning that I ate a hot breakfast...I just needed something to warm me up! We went only about 1 1/4 miles when I needed to eat something...I was starved! We had just finished our short break when The Dude came by. He told us about a pond at the top of our first climb that was good for swimming. That sounded good to me, although it had only warmed up slightly. We started to ascend and I've gotta tell you, it was a hell of a climb...long and steep. We haven't done anything like this for quite awhile. The more we hiked, the more I wanted to go for a swim...I was roasting! We had been passed by almost all the people who had been at the shelter, and they had all already gone in fo!r a swim by the time we arrived at the pond. I was psyched for a dip, but Blip didn't want to go in. I put on my sandals and went in...it was cold!...but not as cold as the ocean in Salem on New Year's Day! I didn't stay in for long, but got wet, then went to lay out and dry. The sun had been out all day, and it was beautiful and warm. We had lunch and just hung out for over an hour and a half. Finally, we decided to get going...we were shooting for 15+ miles today, and had only done a third of it. We stopped briefly at the shelter at the top of the mountain to use the priy and read the register (Blip is as much of a register junkie as I am), then kept on going. We still had over 9 miles to get to the next shelter, but they looked like "easy miles". Don't ever believe the profiles!! Sure, the downs were fine, but the part in the middle that looked almost flat was filled with PUDs!! It stretched on interminably. That was when we decided to hit the camp site befor!e the shelter, rather than get into the shelter at 9:00. We were bothexhausted from hiking on no sleep and we just wanted to be done and set up camp. We heard from some south bounders, though, that the campsite was filled with boy scouts...now what? When we came to the turnoff for the site, we saw scouts by the Trail...turned out the place was too small for them, so they were relocating. Yay! We headed down to a small spot with a gorgeous view and set up camp. We went to get water and came back to start supper. That's when everything started to get really bizarre. Blip noticed that the cows that had been afar in the fields below us had moved...closer. All of a sudden, as we were sitting and cooking, a cow appeared nearby. Then another...coming closer. We had jut been talking this morning about the cow/alien episode of South Park, so we were sure that these were alien cows. More kept coming up the hill; they converged on the fire ring just below where we were camped, and proceeded to eat all the ashes therein. We were feeling really!freaked out by all these cows (at least 13) at such short range and getting closer...coming up on the Trail leading to our site, and approaching from that side. We decided that we needed to make them go away...we needed to eat, and our food was currently boiling onto the pots on our stoves...we couldn't even stir it! We started yelling at the cows and banging our poles together. This by itself didn't work. We tried adding in barking, howling and growling and that finally worked. We were able to make them go away with a banging and growling combination. We returned to preparing dinner. Suddenly, they were back, in full force, coming at us from a flank position! We went after them again, banging sticks and growling. I yelled at them, really meanly, as well. They went away again, so we could finally eat and get ready for bed. We bear-bagged our food and put everything into our tents...just in case. We had gone into our tents and were talking about what to write, wh!en I heard something outside...a bear??? No, two recalcitrant cows...we are almost too tired to deal with them. We discussed with them the importance of sleep and bad time for us, but they didn't seem to care. We're at the point where, as long as they stay away from our tents, we're fine with them. I'm now so tired I can barely write, so I'll hit the hay...Moo!