Yes, you can bet your sweet Thermorest that Troutman and I had a rough time finding a substitute this year for the heretofore reliable Skip. Actually, what we finally decided to do was to take...a goat. The goat, unlike Skip, sat quietly in the canoe and did not criticize our direction nor did it seek to repair our J-stroke. Furthermore, the goat cleaned up around the fire pit, didn't use much toilet paper, licked its plate clean, didn't mind the black flies, and, as an added bonus, did not smell as bad as Skip. On the other hand the fishing, save for the hour surrounding the sunrise and the sunset, was quite slow and the goat seemed to have no knowledge of nor affinity for sports angling: just no help whatsoever (at least on that point, Skip and the goat fare equally). Of course, if things had gotten really bad, we could have eaten the goat, something we could never imagine doing with Skip ( Heck, getting the Y-bones out of him would have taken a week). All in all, the goat was fun to have along; but, it just didn't offer the elements of surprise, variety and just plain stupidity that Skip brings along on these trips. So, next year we'll take Skip too.
Rockhead

Posted by Rockhead on September 29, 2000 at 17:18