Lake Katherine
We drive five hours north-northwest. We park at the foot of the mountain trail, haul out our gear, and prepare for the climb. El, Tv, May and I each take one gram of dried psilosyben mushrooms::::chug water and juice to get them down::::awful taste::::grimacing::::fake vomiting, laughter. Ally abstains. We start up the red dirt trail. A vast field of yellow orange red wildflowers; a moose standing chest deep in a small reservoir ducks his head down and pulls up something nice, turns toward us chewing, unconcerned; vibrant green canopy, small, swift birds, dark thick tree trunks, delicate seedlings, firey brush, dense weeds, tall grass, red earth, chocolate brown earth, black oozing mud. About a mile in El starts giggling. Tv says he feels a little weird. May and I feel nothing. A while later we drop our packs and sit in sunshine on a flat gray boulder in the middle of a shallow stream. El's giggling finally infects Tv and May. They all challenge my assertion that I'm not feeling any effects::::Tv sticks out his tongue, makes gurgling sounds twitching his head: "Look! My ears wiggle!" Everyone bursts into laughter. May takes out her camera. Ally shakes her head and pulls on her pack. I ask her to wait up, pull on my pack::::seventy pounds::::I lost at cutting cards and am packing in the 2 litre jug of wine:::: we start hiking. The trail becomes a series of tight switch-backs as we climb higher and higher. Though far behind us, we clearly hear the others goofing off. I am grinning, concentrating on the path ahead. We arrive at Lake Katherine::::a brilliant, calm, surreal blue surrounded by a vast field of gray boulders, steep glacial walls, and a patch of dense forest, a long thin waterfall falling into rocks perfectly centered across the lake. I join Ally by a fallen tree and drop my pack, the drug hits, I laugh, eyes swell, I snort, cough, roll on the ground laughing holding my stomach. I recover somewhat as the others arrive; once they drop their packs they break into laughter::::the four of us roll laughing on the ground for more than twenty minutes. We pass the jug of wine and wipe away tears and spittal until we finally settle down. El leads us further up the trail to a campsite he knows from family camping trips. We set up the tent, gather firewood, explore; we fish for several hours::::none of us getting so much as a nibble. Roasted bratwurst for dinner. It begins to sprinkle lightly. We gather in the tent and each take another half-gram of mushrooms. We play Spades. The sprinkling stops. Ally curls up and falls to sleep. I prop up a flashlight and read in the tent. The others put down a ground cover and crawl into their sleeping bags under the stars. They perform an hour-long opera of melodious fake farts and bursts of laughter.
Ally leaves camp before sunrise. The rest of us get up late and prepare a huge breakfast. Around noon we look up to see Ally waving to us from next to the top of the waterfall::::we could see but couldn't hear her yelling. We explore near our campsite. When Ally finally returns, we start down the trail just in time to reach the car before dark.
©2006 wfairbrother
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