1,200 zigzag climb

 

Anthony and John Crossed Panther Creek, stopped to replenish their water supply. As John was pumping water through his water filter he looked up at the mountain they were about the climb. Anthony is going to beat me to the top, he thought.  Anthony did beat him, as they both breathed heavily as they trudged up the zig zag 1,200 feet rise from the bottom of the creek up to the top of the ridge. It took them an hour and 15 minutes to climb from Panther Creek to the top of the ridge. When they reach the top that had already hiked 13 miles. Anthony didn't wait too long for John to reach the top. "Why do you think they call that water creek we crossed down, there, Panther Creek?" Anthony asked. 

"Because this mountain range has mountain lions," John said. 

"Are you sure?" Anthony asked. "I didn't see any big cat paw prints on the way up here."
"Was going to point out the ones I saw," John said, "but you were already way ahead of me."

Anthony squinted his eyes, not wanting t believe what John had told him. 
They stopped hiking at 7:03 PM. As Anthony set up his tent, he looked around all around on the dirt for mountain lion paw prints. John watched him. "What are doing?" he asked. 
"Nothing," Anthony replied immediately. "I'm just making sure there are no sharp rocks where I am going to set up my tent."
John rolled his eyes and said, "Just make sure you don't have any food in your pockets before you go to sleep."
Anthony ignored John and went about collecting crunchy leaves and twigs. He placed them all around his tent.

"What are you going to do if you hear something walking on those noise makers?" John asked. "You won't know if its a mountain lion, a bear, or a marmot."

"I wish I could scream when I get scared like Mushroom does, Remember when I hid behind the tree and scared him? He screamed so loud, he scared me."

They brought out their mini stoves, heated some water and made dinner. As they were putting their food in the bear canisters, Anthony stopped. "Did you hear that, John?"

It was already dark. The moonlight cast long shadows on the ground. John listened. "I don't hear anything except your heart racing around the inside of your chest."

"Let's walk together to put our bear canisters away from our tents," Anthony said.

As they were walking back to their tents, Anthony shained his flashlight ahead of him. Two glowing eyes light up.