Carne Mountain to High Pass (page 30)

Trinity fish pond

I sat next to the pond for about another half-hour before Paul came striding strongly down the trail. I popped up and immediately approached him for a ride out, striving for a mixture of desperate and politely apologetic.

He'd been up on a job for the Forest Service, monitoring ambient sound recording equipment. He gave Mica and me an appraising look. I loosened the laces of my boot and showed him the ankle bandage, which fortunately still had enough dried blood on it to justify the presentation. He thought it over for a few seconds, then said he'd take us to West Seattle. Woo-hoo!

I thanked him profusely and quickly went to gather my gear before he could change his mind. Just as we started walking over the bridge to the parking lot, a car drove up with a pleasant looking older gentleman at the wheel. It turned out that he was the absent caretaker on his way home from a trip to town. I quickly told him that Greg and Bill might be asking after me, and to tell them I'd made it out safely and was headed into town.

Several hours later, I stiffly climbed out of Paul's rented car at a small business park in West Seattle. After making a phone call to C&G asking them to come fetch me, I sat down on the sidewalk next to my pack to await their arrival. Naturally, Seattle's finest came by to roust me out.

The squad car rolled up and the window rolled down. The officer assumed I was some sort of homeless transient taking up residence. I explained my predicament and once again presented the bloody bandage and told him I had a ride to the hospital on the way. He grudgingly gave me the benefit of the doubt, adding that he would check back later to see if my ride had arrived.

C&G arrived with a mixture of curiosity and concern. I admit, I hadn't exactly told them a lot over the phone, just, "I'm in West Seattle and it's no big deal, but I need a ride to the hospital."

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