Whew!

We made it! Got home in relatively one piece, though tired and strangely numb. The Forest Service meeting went relatively well. I got to crack a few jokes to lighten the mood. No blows were exchanged, and in the 3-1/2 hours without a break we actually got some good business done. Hands were shaken (not fists), and some actual hugs were exchanged. (Hugs with our friends, not the Others.) Finally, we arranged for a meeting in March to catch up with the decisions discussed in yesterday’s meeting.

One of the grumpier members made a comment comparing the FS’s handling to hospitals charging $10 for a Band-Aid. Later I corrected him, saying that aspirin is $10; Band-Aids are $20. Another member thought his pack station shouldn’t be deducted one service day per person (the measure of how many people we can take into the wilderness on a horse or mule) when he is hauling in state agency personnel, such as Fish & Game, Department of Water Resources, and so on. I suggested that he ask the agencies to provide exempt license plates which he can attach to the pack stock’s tails. When another’s cell phone rang for several seconds without a pause while he kept talking, I asked him if that sound was a phone or if his defibrillating pacemaker was about to fire. He grabbed his chest in jest and writhed in his chair.

As to what we actually discussed during the meeting, I forget.