A perfectly lovely day. Instead of moving camp as we usually do, we stayed in the meadow. Had fried potatoes, zucchini, onion, summer sausage for breakfast; Melina refused to eat it. I'm not sure what she lives on. (I did make her Top Ramen for dinner, which she wolfed down). For our day's entertainment we decided to hike to the top of a small nearby mountain. Jeff had Melina on his back so we went slowly, bushwhacking up the grassy slope. About two thirds of the way up it got steeper, so we stopped for a break and took turns scrambling to the top alone. On the near side we could see our tiny campsite, with the llamas, in the vast meadow far below; on the far side was a severe landscape of rugged granite mountains and glacial cirques. You would never guess, standing in this peaceful meadow, that the other side of the mountain would be so forbidding.
Afterward, we scrambled back down to our camp (much easier than going up) and attended to various camp chores (dishes, laundry, watering the llamas, dinner). I had a hot cocoa with kahlua. We went down at the creek to wash the dust off Melina (who had been taking dust baths, very much like a chicken), and returned to our camp to find it overrun with cows. There were about 15. They had been circling for a while, and finally, in our absence, they got up the nerve to come stare at the llamas. It was funny to see how the calves were fascinated by the llamas, while their mothers rolled their bovine eyes and ambled away, unimpressed. The herd wandered off when we returned, but is now camped out on the hill above us. The llamas are bedded down, an untouched bowl of water between them (they seem amazingly indifferent to water). When I look over with my headlamp I can see their eyes glowing.
No coyotes tonight, at least not so far. Instead I can hear Melina begging for "a really really scary One Day about goblins" as Jeff tries to get her to sleep.
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