DSCF4838 Photo Courtesy Bill Bushnell

Security

Stella and Frank commune on a granite slab for a bit. She secures his water bottle with a carabiner, after it comes out a second time.


The first time the water bottle worked its way out of the backpack pocket was on top of one of the deep steps of Conness with dropoffs on either side. Frank had knocked the bottle against the rock wall, dislodging it, and standing on the top step had to put it back in the pocket of the pack. While his nerve had been excellent the whole climb, imagining standing on that top step, watching the bottle fall down the cliff, clanking against projecting rocks as it falls into the depths, could have been sickening.


That could have been kind of cool, actually, Stella commented later.