Page 17

Wyatt

I walked with Timmy who I knew was struggling. We were similar in the way neither of us did many things that were either outside or physical. But I did run on my treadmill at home a few times a week so at least I had some endurance, but the rough terrain made it challenging.

“Okay, everyone, we’re going to take a water break at goat rock,” Gavin said as he slipped off his backpack and set it on the ground near a big rock that was just off the trail.

“Where’s goat rock?” Lyn asked.

“It’s right there, see how it sort of looks like a goat head?” he asked, pointing at a rocky outcropping above us.

“I guess,” Lyn said tilting her head.

Gavin chuckled before making sure everyone sat down and drank some of their water.

We’d brought plenty, and it was starting to look like we’d need it.

The weather was definitely heating up and I knew by the time we were heading back to camp it would be much warmer than it was now.

“Be sure to watch your surroundings. There could be snakes around rocky areas and watch for ticks and poison oak,” Gavin reminded us.

We all spread out and found either a rock or a soft spot to sit on while we each drank some water which had to be the best tasting water I’d ever had.

Timmy was quiet as he drank but he hadn’t sat down, instead he wandered over to the edge of the trail.

I glanced down just as his leg brushed up against a plant I recognized.

“Timmy, that’s poison oak,” I said and stood to walk closer to him.

“Where?” he asked and spun around in a panic.

“Right there, it’s still green but I’m pretty sure that’s the same stuff. Leaves of three—”

“Oh shit,” Timmy said and started to reach for his leg.

“Don’t touch it,” Gavin said, and hurried over to where we stood.

“Use this, it’ll get the oil off your skin before it can irritate it.

” He handed him a small bottle of clear liquid and some gauze.

“Don’t worry, as long as you get it off fast you should be fine.

” Gavin showed Timmy exactly what to do and everyone else stood around and watched.

“Are you sure that’ll take care of it? My cousin got poison oak a few years ago and had it really bad. He had to go get a shot and take steroids to get it under control and before that he was miserable.” Timmy’s eyes held a bit of panic as he spoke.

Gavin patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we got it early. If anything, you might have one little spot that’s irritated but usually if you get the oil off early then you’ll be okay.”

Timmy gave the area another critical look before nodding his head and holding his hand out to be helped up. “I guess I’ll know soon enough,” he said and shifted his backpack into place.

“When you say check for ticks what do you mean?” I asked.

“They look like a flat spider. But sometimes they can be very small so just be sure there’s nothing crawling on you.” I checked my shirt and pants before looking at Gavin again. “Your shoes too. They love to get on your socks and stick to your leg hair,” he said.

“Oh god, I wish I didn’t ask.” I really didn’t need to know about ticks. After checking again, and double checking, we were all ready to keep hiking.

Joe was at the back of the pack making sure we didn’t leave anyone behind.

He also pointed out poison oak and I hoped we didn’t have any more encounters.

Eventually everyone forgot about the ticks and poison oak and went back to chatting as we walked.

“Watch it, Wyatt,” Gavin said and pointed to a small patch of poison oak.

“I thought there wasn’t much around here?”

“We usually clean up the trails before the first camp but with starting earlier we weren’t able to. If we left it to grow, there would be a lot more once it really heats up,” he explained

“Isn’t that a miserable job to clear it?” I asked.

“We’re careful, and we’ve all done it before, so we know how to avoid getting it. Although, it seems to get one of us every year.” He chuckled at something, and I told myself I’d find out what it was later.

“When are you doing it this year?” I asked.

“The week after this camp. We have two weeks until the season officially starts so we’ll do trails and any other maintenance we need to do.” He glanced around and I wondered how far we were from our destination.

“Can I volunteer?” I asked, surprising myself and probably Gavin too.

“You’d want to do that? I mean, we do pay but it’s minimal.”

“I wasn’t looking for work, I just really would like to help if I can.”

“That would be great, we can always use more help.” I hoped he meant that because I really did want to spend more time here. “Can you take time off from work?”

“I can work from here at night if that’s okay?”

“Of course. We have very good Wi-Fi so it shouldn’t be a problem,” he said and glanced at me. He smiled but didn’t look up from the trail, which was smart as my foot caught a rock, and I stumbled.

“Watch it,” he said, but all I could focus on was two more weeks with him.