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Show Remember? 71 What about Jim and Kate? she asked as they stopped. Won't Kate worry about you? She'll be fast asleep in the motor home by now anyway, all relaxed after the hot shower she's been wishing for. Jim is the one who could get obnoxious. Jim knows better than to wait up for me, she offered. I'm always slow hiking uphill. I'm slow at everything, he t e l ls me all the time as he rushes off to nowhere. You did t e l l him that we wanted to talk, didn't you? That we were going to take our time? As i f he didn't know, she said. The evening blues and purples were darkening, and the t r a i l , busy during the day, was deserted. Most hikers had either made camp at Saga Springs, three miles below, or had avoided the harsh afternoon sun by early rising and fast hiking before noon. Mark and Anne had spent the entire day identifying every variety of desert flora with their Guide to Western Wildflowers in hand. Their spouses had perspired and run out of patience. Jim had f i n a l ly given in to his disinclination to savor t r i v i a . See you later, he said with • i some f i n a l i t y . Kate had seized the opportunity. Four days is enough backpacking for eternity, she had said. You don't mind i f I go on with Jim do you? The thought of running water drives me back to civilization-you know me. Why is i t we love to go so slow? her brother asked. |
