A few candy bars, ice cream, coke, and other goodies later the Lizards were ready to move on to the camping area. The morning hike had started with diesel fumes filling Lizard sleeping bags and a new rule, "If you're going to sleep in a parking lot, don't sleep where the buses park." A few miles of downhill switchbacks and across the valley floor had brought the Lizards to this side canyon off the Colorado River.

The next few mile revealed one beautiful view after another... waterfalls, rock walled canyons, the young ladies from the buses (a private girl's school on vacation). The Lizards had died and gone to heaven... But not for Doc Lizard...

Now don't get me wrong, stupid Lizard practical jokes form the fabric of Lizard society, but Crazy Dave and Head Lizard John were going for a new level of stupidity... It seems Dave and John during the ice cream debacle had discovered that many of the locals had "converted" to the Rastafarian religion shortly after being visited by no less than Bob Marley himself. Mixing in a little of historical legends with Rasta lore, the locals had come up with an interesting spin on the history and the end of the world. It seems, the locals now regarded themselves as the last of the Ancient Ones (Anasazi... pre-Pueblo people) and it was to be their lot to repopulate the world after the scientists kill everyone off in some evil techno war.

All of this had been too much for the dim witted duo... a scheme was hatched. After the initial cultural exchange (Lizards buying beads), Crazy Dave convinced the "Ancient Ones" that Doc Lizard was indeed the "Scientist Mon (man)" that would cause the end of the world, and, of course, Idiot John provided even more details. With the seeds of ignorance planted, the pair sat back to enjoy their ill conceived plot...

Doc Lizard and the rest of the crew reached base camp... A quick setup... No tents because of the warm weather, but bivey sacks instead... a kind of waterproof human sausage thing over the sleeping bags. But then something new! A new Lizard marvel! Doc Lizard, also know as the Eddy Bower of the woods, had brought a new mosquito screen that had built-in supports for over his bivey sack. The Lizards laughed at this new contraption, but Doc knew better... a creek bottom + middle of summer = lot's of bugs at night. And then the Indians arrived...

At first look, a typical welcoming party, but evil Dave and John knew better. Since Doc was sitting at a picnic table, the Indians sat at the table. As Doc got up, the Indians got up. Then the questions began... "Are you the Scientist Mon?" Doc replied, "Well... ya, I work with computers and stuff." And then the heavy duty questions, "OK, mon, tell us the secret." Doc was now sensing trouble, "A secret? What do you mean?" "You know," they presses forward, "The secret about how you gonna end the world?"

Doc was now swallowing lots of spit, and trying to figure out what the @#$% these guys were talking about. The grilling went on for over an hour with no breaks in understanding on either side. Then they left...

"What the %&$! was that!" Doc exclaimed. The evil duo were now laughing uncontrollably and more that willing to confess to their deed, since there was now no chance of "fixing" anything. "You guys really are idiots," Doc was mad, "They're going to kill me to save the world. I can see it now... Asleep in my bag and they cut me up and throw me in the creek... All to make world safe." Doc's angry retorts only served to push the group into higher states of laughter and mimicking of the lethal blows.

The day proceeded as any other Lizard day... swimming in crystal clean waters, eating sausages and cheese, enjoying the views (friends from the bus), and all the time "they" were watching Doc.

The evening meal was one of the Lizard specialties... rock spaghetti. Frozen hard as a rock, the first night treat was thawed out and eaten with garlic bread and cheese. More goofing around... Crazy Dave fell in the creek while showcasing his new down filled booties. And then lights out...

The Lizard crew collapsed at day end with Doc in his sleeping bag, inside a bivey sack, wrapped in a cocoon of self-inflating mosquito netting. With the addition of ear plugs, Doc was cut off from the world and safe.

2:00 AM, Doc awakes to find a hand on his shoulder shaking him... The ear plugs work great... It's one of the Indians knelling over Doc! Doc panics and tries to protect his throat, but gets caught between the bag, the sack, and a piece of the netting for good measure. The Indian thinks Doc is nuts, and cann't figure out why he doesn't answer. Doc was now yelling something about dying and help, and the Indian still cann't figure what's happening. But God really does protect fools and idiots... one of the ear plugs pops loose and Doc hears, "Hey mon be cool... You got any of that spaghetti left?" from our midnight muncher.

The Lizards shared the left over spaghetti with the visitor, he thanked them, and as Lizards drifted back off to sleep, you could hear cries of, "Oh, the bad Indian is killing me...", "He's beating me with spaghetti...", "Help me... Help me..." And lots of laughter.

There were no further panic attacks or interrogation episodes. And the locals did eventually discover the truth, but could not figure out why anyone would invent such a stupid story. A lot of goody trading went on and sharing of stories with new friends... And the Lizards survived yet another adventure.