Rest, at last

When we reached my car, we immediately dropped the pigs and collapsed on the ground. Aaron talked to his parents for a few minutes, but unfortunately they had to leave soon to catch a plane out of Sacramento. We both thanked them profusely for all their support throughout the whole week, for the food and board they had provided at the beginning of the week, and for taking all the pictures from the meadows while we were climbing. We said goodbye to them, and they took off.

We stayed in the parking lot for a while, resting our weary bones and organizing a few things. A few people approached to ask us about the climb, and asked the usual tourist questions. I disposed of our five “bottle rockets” in the dumpsters at the other end of the parking lot, while Aaron called his wife. I called my parents, who were delighted just to hear my voice, and offered congratulations and praises. While I was talking to them, Aaron went to dispose of some trash, and the guy we'd seen when we first got there gave him two cold beers to celebrate our accomplishment. That was really cool.

Our next immediate priority was to take showers. Long showers, for hours and hours. Then food, and lots of it. Unpacking the pigs and loading up the car neatly was the last thing we cared about at that moment, so we just picked them up and heaved them into the back of my Jimmy, on top of the piles of other camping and climbing gear already in it. We drove out of the parking lot, sipping our delightfully cold beers (and keeping an eye out for rangers.)