The Finest Walk in the World

So computers can be a blessing at times and others just a pain in the behind.  I've spent about three days writing this blog and trying to use my gmail account as a draft to save the blog as we've had trouble with that site and saving what we've written but this time I must of hit ctrl A instead of shift A and the whole document disappeared and the autosave I was counting on backfired as it saved the two words I'd just typed.  And so, I sit with another blank screen trying to figure a way out to beat the computer so it doesn't happen again, but the computer always seems to find a way to win...I sit now trying out google docs hoping this will work....

The Milford Track: Take 2 (I'm crossing my figures for no more computer problems....)

Let's just say that the day of walking ended with me crying on the top bunk of a bed I could hardly climb up cursing and wanting to go home...

Day 1: The start of the walk

Started bright and early as we had to rise to catch our bus from Queenstown to Te Anu where we could get our tickets for this track.  As we walked outside to catch the bus, the droplets of rain where now pounding to the ground as we ran towards the bus, we're going to get soaked.  Who knows how bad Milford would be, is this an ominous start, after all Milford is one of the wettest places on earth (over 7 meters of rain each year)?

We dropped off by the DOC (Department of Conservation) which we later found out was lucky for us as a walk to town is about another 20 minutes.  Our bus driver happily told us about all the sites as we turned along Queentown's roads and later along the way.  At first, I found these drivers helpful, but the more buses we took the less pleasant all this noise was.  Some of the bus drivers simply liked to hear themselves talk, and well, if you want to take a nap or listen to your ipod forget it, as their voice just rises right over it so your forced to listen.  Though I'll admit getting the scenery notes is better than listening to a Chinese stewardess auction of airplane merchandise on the loud speaker in Chinese until someone brought an item.  Though one driver pointed out every item in town each time we passed in a different direction.  I must admit I won't miss the NZ bus drivers, they try to be helpful, but it's a little too much.  I'm just glad these are my first bus rides with them and I'm not having to take these all the time through NZ.

At the DOC, I stand outside as fellow trampers (NZ word for hikers) introduce themselves, but they rush off as they are on the early bus.  I'm a bit confused as I walk in to see Bill wondering if we're suppose to also be on that bus.  However, he's already been yelled at by one of the rangers who assumed we were suppose to be on that bus, but when she learned we were on the 1:15, her face turns from a scowl to a smile where she happily explains all about our upcoming track.  Though as she's explaining her face puzzles a bit as she explained that we might be walking in ankle deep water today.  The sun hard slowly started to come out along the way in the bus, but getting this warning didn't make me feel any better.  Maybe it would clear up by the time we left...

After getting all the lowdown, we headed to town which was a good twenty minutes.  We found a cafe were we ordered some food just in time to see a huge backpacker's bus arrive with a group who all entered to order food.  Glad we'd already order, but we saw one familiar face who was from our canyoning trip the day before. She said they were on a day trip to Milford.  I also offered to email her some of the pictures we'd had got from the day before as I knew she couldn't afford any, and since she's a lot more daring than me, there were some good shots of her.  I couldn't remember her name as we all went by our hats name and hers was Bunny.

Bill looked around the shops afterwards and found some gloves, but as he found gloves, I found some sheep toe socks and a vest.  Bill looked at me funny for getting the vest making the comment, "Vests look better on other people, but I'm just not a vest person."  Good thing he wasn't wearing it, but I thought it could help keep me warm on the trek without being too hot.  As for the toe socks, what better way to keep warm in the bunks as I walked around in flip flops.  Plus, they'd help keep the sand flies away.  I later found out that sand flies can worse than mosquitoes as you don't necessarily notice them, but the bites they leave show you've been tagged.  And boy do they itch...

We rushed back to the DOC to see the movie that a guy had recommended as it was on the now playing sign in front of the DOC.  He told us it was the perfect way to see Fjord-lands.  He's been living there his whole life and still can't see all that this movie offers, and there's no words but it shows the best of New Zealand.  We thought it'd be good to see and we had time to kill anyhow.  We get back to see the movie and we end up seeing an informational movie the DOC offers; we start to wonder if there's a difference theater but there's only one.  Then we finally look closer at the screen to realize that the movie was at a theater in town and if we'd just have stayed there, we could have seen it.  But alas, it's time to catch our bus to the ferry anyhow.  So 0 for 2 on movies in New Zealand that were recommended.

The ferry to the start of the track was manned by yet another "so funny" New Zealander who must be bored at his job. He spends most of the time making wise cracks.  Such as, "There's dolphins to the left of the ship."  Now, the comments seems harmless enough, even informative if you think about it but it's followed by, "I even got a guide on that one, there's no such thing as freshwater dolphins."  Well, that isn't true either, but who'd want to burst his bubble.

We get off the start of the trek to quickly put on our gear and get started.  It's probably good the first day is only 4.5 km because it's hard to get into a walking mood after be shuttled on buses and boats all day, but nevertheless if I want a bed to sleep on today, I must walk.  We stop to let our fellow trampers by as getting use to my heavy pack makes me walk quite a bit slower.  After twenty minutes, we see smoke coming out of the chimney and decent looking bedrooms but we have to keep going as this is the guidewalkers first cabin for the night.  The guidewalkers cabins are first along the track, but on the last day they have to walk more than us.

So onward we go over our first suspension bridge, the first of many bridges.  As the bridge sways back and forth as we track our heavy loads across it.  I kept thinking, this first day with be a piece of cake because after all it's 1/5 of the walk we'll be doing the next three days.  But it was harder than I'd anticipated...but we finally made it to camp, but the best part was that they wasn't any rain.  It had cleared out be the time we started trekking, so we were pretty luck for the first day.

We threw our bags down and Bill went to find out if there were any available bunks as we had no idea how it worked.  He found one bunk still empty in the back, and before I had the chance to sulk, I sat on the bed and was greeted by a cheery Anita.  She'd taken the early boat with her friend, Dani, and they were all too happy to get us chatting.  The conversation started off slow as I was still tired and not sure what to say but before we knew it, we were being told it was time for a guided walk that our ranger was offering.  We learned that they're both from Tasmania which is that little island below Australia.  Anita is going for her PhD which in Australia seems like it takes more field work that classroom work but still sounds hard, more power to her.  And Dani is in her second year of uni as they pronounce it.  They had taken the early boat, and it seemed like they wanted to get to know new people.  I opted on dinner instead as half the camp or more went on their walk with the ranger.  Bill and I had our steaks as it was the only night good for fresh food we'd just brought in Te Anu. Though we realized the hard way that we didn't think of plates or bowls, so we just ate out of the pots which was less trash to worry about anyhow.

Of course, since this is a Protected Area, we must take out all of our trash.  And the brochure had mentioned flushed toilets, but that didn't mean toilet paper was provided.  But it actually was, so we carried it for no reason as all the out houses had toilet paper as well.  It turns out that they don't want you to use your own as they want their own biodegradable one instead.  Same goes for the dish soap, that was provided as well.  And luckily the only trash you don't have to carry out makes it easier for a girls during that time of the month.  But it'd relieve some anxiety if they'd mention some of these things in their brochures.

We head back to the common room for our first hut talk which we later learn is mandatory.  This is where we're introduce to Ross, our ranger.  Now a fellow tramper from Australia has a different description to describe him since NZ is the land of Lord of the Rings.  So Ross is at least 6'5 if not taller with long lanky legs and the two days I saw him he wore olive green pants and an emerald green jumper.  His face had those hard lines of age and lots of sun showing how old he is.  But if you haven't guessed by now, my fellow tramper called him an Ent or maybe Treebeard more specifically.  He did seem kind and friendly like one of them and full of all kinds of information about the forest which he shared in great detail with us.  He went into a long speech about the blueduck and how it's population was doing better in this protected area.  The protected area meant that he and fellow rangers were planting traps to capture rats and smots, which are only indigenous to NZ.  He proceeded to pass out stuffed smots for us to all see and feel these creatures, it was quite interesting to see them, they looked like little ferrets.  Then he told us about the kea, weka, and all about the glow worms we should go see that evening.  We did go out to see the glow worms and they looked like little stars hidden in the dirt, but really not that exciting plus we were so tired after such a long hut talk.  Off to bed with us so we'll be ready for our first big day of hiking...

Day 2: The start of the real walking

Let's just say that the day of walking ended with me crying on the top bunk of a bed I could hardly climb up cursing and wanting to go home...

But I'll go back to the beginning of the day where the day started off with us getting up around 7:00, Bill made breakfast which consisted of oatmeal and toast, yes actually toast and butter.  But it quickly went downhill as we tried to repack all of our gear, and just as we were getting close to finishing, Bill couldn't find his GPS which led to a search and throwing all our packing back on the floor. Meanwhile, the bunks all around us were clearing as people started trekking, I started to feel quickly behind the pack.  Anita and Dani, who I might add rose from their slumber after us, tried to stall a bit to wait for us but realized it'd be awhile so off they went as well.  The tears started early as I worried about finishing the day.  Bill calming reminded me that there's plenty of sunlight in NZ so no to worry. But I also worried about the weather as I knew it could turn at any minute and so far there wasn't any rain.  Rain fall can instantly turn a nice peaceful walk into a drudging waist high water experience.  I wasn't up to that type of experience just yet.

And so, finally around 9:20 we set out being the last to leave our camp.  The first part of the walk was actually quite pleasant as we walked along side the river crossing streams at time and then we took the scenic route back to the lakes and actually saw two blue ducks.  Bill identified them as female based on Ross's talk about how they marked these ducks with color anklets, but that was all lost on me.  But as we were winding out of this area, I could start to feel the weight of my pack and kept focusing on it so it just kept feeling heavier and heavier.  By now, I hadn't even noticed that my foot hurt from the canyoning trip. I was glad that wasn't hurting, but I was replacing that pain with my shoulder pain.  Bill even took my pack for a bit to give me a break, but even that didn't really help, and then I felt like I wasn't pulling my own weight so I took the pack back.

Luckily, a lunch spot came up and we saw 2 girls from our group as they were finishing up their lunch. And shortly, we were joined by the guide walkers who had caught up to us already.  After lunch, it just went further downhill as we saw the guidewalkers lodge and all I wanted to do was sneak into their cabins because I wasn't sure I could make it the rest of the way to our camp.  As after a long day of carrying my pack, it was now time to go uphill.  I hadn't expected any uphill until the 3rd day which we'd already been warn that this is the hardest day.  And so, if I can't even get through this day, how was I suppose to get threw tomorrow?  And so, we slowly keep walking, I'd even given up on using my i-pod to keep me going, I just wanted to see the camp.  I was also worried that since we were the last ones to get to camp, which beds would be left.  I guess at this point, I should have just been grateful I had a bed waiting.

Soon, we saw blond hair bopping up and down.  We looked at each other and both guessed that this was probably our ranger, Katie, that Ross had told us about.  She turned around to give us a cheery hi and asked us how our day was going.  My reply, "tiring," which turned her bright smile into a whimicle puzzling look as she remark, "You don't have far now."  That meaning 2 more km isn't far!  Since that's how far we still had to go, but hope got slowly deflated as I kept thinking I saw our camp to the right, but Bill informed me it would be to the left.  Sure enough I was just seeing mirages, I thought you only saw those in the dessert.  I guess I was tired enough to see anything.  And so finally we arrive...the only blessing being that the rain didn't start until we were insight of our camp, we'd made it just in time.

But my fears came true as there were only two top bunks left.   I broke down into tears as I tried multiple times to pull myself up this bunk, and to sit on the top without hitting my head.  Bill tried to comfort me, but nothing was working.  I went to sit on another bed as we tried to sort our stuff out in the corner, and out came Victoria, the owner of the bed for the night.  She could have cared less that I was sitting on it, as she was too focused on the fact that she was freezing cold and could hardly move her legs, how would she make it through tomorrow.  And then, she said, "This was a great b-day present for myself."  And so, voices came from the beds where people had taken naps because they were so tired and start lamenting about the day and we all wondered why we were doing this and worse yet, why we paid to do this.  I guess misery really does love company.

Bill finally rounded up the dinner supplies and we headed down we I joined Anita and Dani who were already sitting with Johanna & Jonna (the two Swedish girls traveling for 3 months), Jeff & Paulie (the married couple from Colorado whose friend's are jealous that they do all these adventurous trips) who I started to get to know much better that night.  It turns out Jeff forgot that he had already met Bill and I he had accompanied us to see the glow worms the night before.  We all sat and enjoyed talking about our day and getting to know each other.  Everyone seemed interested in hearing about how we decided to take this trip around the world. Bill let me stay and chat with everyone as he kept bringing over food for me to eat. Jeff pointed out how spoiled I was and I'd have to agree.  Bill's response, "I just boiled water and mixed stuff up and you seemed a lot happier talking to everyone."

Soon our ranger who was sporting her wet fresh showered self making me jealous she had a shower but she had lived up here for the last eight years. She was also so excited to tell us about the water as it is still drinkable from the river and all the taps are fresh rain water.  She also preformed the female kiwi's response to a male as it's a vial sound but she didn't want us to be scared if we heard it that night as the kiwis only come out at night.  So it'd be worth our while to check them out, but after the day we had, bed was on my mind first.

Though after the hut talk we heard the two Israeli girls go up to her and ask if it's easy to go back as they were really worried about tomorrow.  Katie gave them a pep talk, and they were on the trail the next morning.  I felt a bit better as I thought I'd done so bad that day, but I wasn't quite ready to give up, I just have to get through tomorrow as that's suppose to be the hardest going up the Pass...two days of good weather so far so I should be grateful!

Day 3: The McKinnon Pass

After starting so late the day before, I was even more determined to make sure we got on the road early today especially because the sun was shinning and it could turn at any point.  Katie told us to start early if the sun was out as it would be an 8 hour day if we took the optional walk to the waterfall which I knew Bill wanted to take.  And so, we started off early but as the sun was shinning and we'd worn our thermals preparing for the high winds at the top, we had to keep stopping to take layers off.  And we did so, our fellow trampers kept passing us.

But after a few breaks, we'd made it to the top of the pass in a couple of hours.  The sun was shinning brightly, and we were going to relish in the fact that most people do not get to see these peaks in their full glories sun as most of the time it's raining or unpredicted snow like the week before.  We spent a good 45 mins just taking in the sites and watching the keas.  We'd been warned not to leave stuff unattended especially at the camps at night as the keas are know to take items away or destroy them.  But the two girls from the Australian Navy (there were four total in our group) purposely left their bags unattended, so they could get pictures of these cute birds.  They look like large green parrots, but the hook in their beak is the deadly part.  And so, the kea hacked away at her rain protector on her pack find a banana peal instead but not content there kept going and going.  Meanwhile, we were getting pictures of us enjoying the sunshine and laughing at the keas.

We eventually realized we should keep going and made our way over to Pass Hut where we took a break for lunch.  It was here that Katie had told us about the wonderful view from the toilet here.  The toilet faces the view of the valley we'd just walked along, but there's a window to see the view, and if anyone walks up to the bathroom, they can see you right through this window.  So the window gives you a good view, but make sure you have a lookout so no one walks in our your view.  The keas followed us over, but our packs were safely in the hut, so they didn't have much to play with.  We ran into Dani and Anita here, as we were finishing up lunch, but kept heading on as I knew the dreaded part was coming up...the downhill...

Now, downhill normally sounds easy and so much better than uphill, but if that's the case, you haven't tried too many hiking trails that are mostly made up of rock and stepping down from rock to rock ways heavily on your knees and legs especially with the weight of your pack added to each of those steps you take.  And as Bill puts it, I take twice as many steps as I need to because I keep cautiously lining up my feet rather than acting like I'm going down a flight of stairs, I put both feet on the step before I take the next step. That probably doesn't help my knees but it's so hard not too.

And so, as we get to the other side of the mountain, there is no wind, and we are still wearing our thermals.  The sun and my pack were only adding to my uncomfortable state as I just want out of these thermals.  I can't take it any longer and just strip out of the top of my thermal to start walking again feeling relief for a moment but the heat starts again as I want the bottoms off too.  As I finally stop to do that as well, Bill gets frustrated with all my stopping that I just continue onwards. By this time, I've run out of water in my pack, but don't want to ask Bill for any.  So I finally get to a stream and I take the rangers advice and drink away, the water tastes pretty fresh.  This is when Bill comes to the realization that I'm really out of water even though I'd already told him.

He tells me that there's a hut coming up on the trail and I can change there and hopefully get more comfortable.  The downhill just seems never ending!  We'll get a patch of nice path and I'll zoom past in but then the rock bits come up again and I go really slow using my hiking sticks.  Meanwhile, Bill just has his head floating from side to side like a little kid in a candy store as he takes in the sites.  At times, I wish I could forget about the walking part and join him in this wonderment and at times I do, but then I'm brought right back to the sore knee or shoulders I was trying to forget.  We reach the hut Bill told me about to find out it's locked and meant for the guided walkers.  No matter we just strip right there hoping we're far enough in front of other trampers and just as we are back in gear two other trampers pass by.

Anita and Dani with Victoria shortly came by.  Dani's ankle had been bothering her so I offered one of my hiking sticks and she finally accepted.   We kept going while they took a break.  Bill and I shortly got to the part our ranger described as the cascades.  Luckily, stairs were put in so you could fully enjoy this waterfall without worrying too much where you put your feet.   We followed down one long waterfall for quite sometime, I was finally able to share in some of Bill's wonderment as we did this and just had to keep stopping to take this site in and catch my breath at the beauty.   Soon we were past it and the rocks started again as well as my pity party and readiness to give up.  I threw my bad down and took a break just as Dani, Anita, and Victoria came down our way and all talked about how beautiful the day was but how we were ready for the walking just to be over.  They kept on walking, and Bill suggested that we catch up to them as sometimes I do better hiking with others especially if I'm in conversation and not thinking about the pain.  And so, we walked quite a ways with them, talking a bit but mostly just following them down trying to forget about my knee.

And finally, we had reached not our camp but Quinton, the guidewalkers camp for the night.  But this is were we could take a detour for the waterfall walk.  Victoria was completely done and passed on the walk while the rest of us carried on.  To be honest, if I had not had to go to the bathroom really badly at that moment, I'd probably kept going with Victoria as it was another 45 minutes each way to the waterfall and our camp was still an hour away.  But to be able to walk without my pack was bliss until we started to go up hill again and I realized I'd have to go back down this way.  Was it worth it?

We ran into Jeff on his way back, and he said it was well worth the trip.  His wife had passed on the trip as she was waiting for him back at the Quinton huts.  And so, we kept going and finally we were almost there, we ran into the two Swedish girls who told us to be careful because in about 30 meters there was nothing you could do but get soaked.  And sure enough, the spray from this 585 meter high waterfall must  have covers about a 50 meter area of spray.  It was such a powerful waterfall.  I had wanted to get my hair wet and was getting all of me wet in the process, we looked over to the side and saw Dani and Anita completely soaked as they smiled in the joy of being wet and not walking.  It was worth the walk, and Bill graciously help we back down as I left my hiking stick at the hut and made sure I was back down.

And so, we headed for our last hour of the trek, but at this point, an hour seemed like a century.  And as we were coming down a rock path, we saw one of our fellow trampers walking up offering to carry our pack for the last twenty minutes, but at this point, I figured I could make it so I passed.  And I regretted that move, but at we reached sand and I didn't see Bill wondering if I was lost but still not hut in sight.  Finally, we ran directly into the hut and we'd made it to our last camp.   And two other trampers moved their stuff, so we could have a bunk while they hightailed it out of the room.  Later, we figured out it was because they didn't want to be near the Irish.  The Irish were harmless, but extremely loud in the morning and had annoyed people with their chatter of nothingness, but at this point I was so excited not to have a top bunk and we had space for Dani and Anita who were still behind us.

The only bad part came when we started unpacking our stuff, and Bill realized he'd left a bag back at the other hut as he never repacked after looking for the bug spray I'd asked for.  And so, he was going to trek back the hour and then quickly return.  But then 20 mins later he was back as the Australian Navy girls had seen it and brought it with them as well as a pack from one of the Israeli girls whose ankle was hurt, and she was waiting for her friend to return from the waterfall.  However, her friend was already back at camp and so the Australians headed back out to aid her while Bill cooked dinner.  And so, by the hut talk that night at 8, Dani and Anita had just made it in time and the other party still wasn't back.  The guy who'd offered to carry my pack ended up carrying Anita's pack and she's hurt her ankle a bit.

And so, that night people were a bit cheery as the hardest day was over and we'd survived with a wonderful sunny day, what a rarity in Milford Sound.  Our ranger started the hut talk apologizing for being late as she was copying a radio transmit from Ross that was eight pages long detailing the blue ducks and we could all read it if we were interested.  I don't know if it was her delivering or what, but I found it so funny and even brought it up the next day.  Bill said it wasn't that funny and definitely not funny enough to bring up the next day.  But shortly afterwards, the other party returned and we were all accounted for and got to enjoy our evening chats....

Day 4: The Final Walk Day

A quick 18 km walk to the boat through mostly flat terrain, sounds like a piece of cake right?  Well, actually it was the hardest day as we knew we were almost done, but not quite yet.  We walked the whole day with Dani and Anita who also felt the pains of the day.  There were a few tricky parts walking along side cliff areas above the water were the rocks became difficult, but it was just mostly how long it was taking.  We took pauses as there we beautiful waterfall and spots to enjoy, but other than Bill, we just felt like we wanted to be done.

And so, after lunch it just went downhill for the other two; whereas, I found my groove and just kept thinking that hot shower was finally coming and I'd probably never be so happy to see a boat again.  But Bill stopped to give the two Israelis a pep talk as we caught up to them and they were moving really slowly.  He put it straight, "You can keep going at this same pace but you can't stop if you want to catch the boat.  I can take your pack for awhile whatever will help you get through it."  My clueless to his little chat with them, but before I knew it, they'd caught up to us and passed us.  I guess the fear of missing the boat was all they needed.

As for us, we didn't make it to the 2 o'clock boat to see the rest of our fellow travelers, but we made it to the 3:15 boat where we rejoiced in finally making it to the end.  This was the first end point that came before I was expecting as the last 2 km were almost a paved road, so they were a piece of cake and I was at the 30 mile mark before I knew it.  The trail is 30.5 miles long.  It's weird that the accurate markers are in miles and not km.   And so, we finished the Milford Track with four days of sunshine which doesn't happen very often.  As the day before us, get knee high waters and the day after us got waist deep waters on their last day.

The four of us headed to our hotel for the night which luckily had a shuttle from the boat dock.  And so, we checked in and made plans to meet up around 7 for dinner.  Bill's reward for me was a fancy hotel room with a comfy bed and a gorgeous few of the Milford Sound.  I was in aw, but a shower at this point has precedent.  Though I was disappointed that they had free lotion bottles and no shampoo since we only had the dehydrated stuff, so Bill went to complain and returned with so much he dropped some off for Dani and Anita to use as well.  And so I finally was clean after four days.

Bill saw Anita and Dani's shared room and invited them over to our room since we had so much sitting area, and Anita took us up on the offered and we relaxed until it was time to get Dani for dinner.  And we ate at the one restaurant in town and took the shuttle our hotel provided as we weren't going to walk anymore, but we were going to enjoy a meal we didn't have to cook or clean up after.

Day 5: A Relaxing Cruise

This isn't part of our independent package but it's part of the guided tour package, but with the price we paid and the nice hotel room versus the guided walkers, we didn't do too bad.  But the four of us took a tour around the sound and witness the pouring rains of the sounds as it had grown immense over night and kept going throughout the day.  We were so glad we weren't walking this day, but we didn't get to see the beauty of all the waterfalls the rain makes.  Outside our hotel window, the waterfalls a tripled across the whole wall in the morning and the river had risen a great deal.

And so, from the comfort of the boat, Dani and I chatted with a Japanese tourist and saw some of the sights.  While Bill and Anita spent their time on the top deck getting soaked and seeing as much as they could.  A couple of times our boat went directly under a waterfall, and I rushed up to get a picture with Bill but kept missing them.  Bill spent so long soaked in his brown flip flops that the bottom of his feet turned brown.  And his "waterproof" rain jacket leaked through the zipper soaking him.

We took the stop that brought us to the underwater aquarium.  Since Milford doesn't have very much dirt and it gets so much rainfall, it brings all it's leaves and stuff into the water giving the top layer of fresh water an appearance of tea per say.  The unique shape of the enterance of the Sound also prevents the large ocean swells from entering and mixing the water.  The only places you could see mixing was near the waterfalls where the sea water churned up to the top would look like an oil spill on top of the dark fresh water.  This unique layering means that the salt water layer underneath has sea life that would be found a lot further down in the ocean since it's so dark and cold, so we had a chance to see this sea life.  The aquarium is a floating building attached to one of the cliff faces in the Sound.

Well, when we first got to the top floor, they had a round fan almost that created heat so we could warm up. We took our opportunites to warm up, but after viewing the sea life below, we returned back to the top where Bill wanted to dry off since he was still soaked from being on the upper deck of the boat cruise. Therefore, he got way too close to the heat and before he knew it the back of his pants had melted looking like a bear had just clawed the top part of his pants. We all couldn't beleive it happened, but as soon as we knew he was okay, the laughter started.

And later that day when he returned our gear to the sports stores he was still wearing the rain pants to cover his burnt pants, and when the girl asked why he was wearing it. He turned around and replied, "Because I burnt my pants." she almost fell over in the store laughing.

Michelle