The first 9 caches in this series are placed along the 1-mile long Byron Glacier trail near Portage. This well-maintained and mostly level trail is stroller friendly. Magnificent views of the surrounding mountains, waterfalls, and glacier are a great backdrop for skipping stones, walking on the snowfields, or seeking out remnants of the ice caves.
Wherries are one of the main foodstuffs on Pern. When I think of Wherries, I think of Thanksgiving dinner (still on the hoof) ......
EXCERPT
Wherries and runner beasts generally made their way there about mid-morning, to wallow in the water and the cool mud. There would also be sufficient open space for the bigger dragons to maneuver and permit their riders good casts.
Sure enough, herd and flock were wandering about the river meadows, where the land sloped from the trees to the flood edges of the river in a series of banks where successive rainy seasons had made it impossible for trees to root. Grass abounded now, about to turn sere as the hotter weather burned it relentlessly to hay.
We are to hunt singly. F’nor asks that we get a large wherry. They will try for a buck apiece. That should be enough for today.
“If it isn’t,” Jaxom replied, “we can always go after one of the big fish.”
In fact, Jaxom quite looked forward to the opportunity. He had never had occasion to use a spear-headed rope but … He spotted a wherry, a fine big one, fanning its tail spines as it stalked majestically after the wherry-fens. Jaxom tightened his legs on Ruth’s neck, tested the weighted loop end of the rope in his hands. He pictured the wherry-male to Ruth, who turned his head obediently to point. Then Ruth dove, his wings back to give Jaxom room to throw, his tucked-up legs nearly touching the meadow grass. Jaxom leaned forward over Ruth’s near side and threw the loop deftly about the wherry’s big ugly head. The creature reared back, helpfully tightening the noose. As Jaxom dug his heels into Ruth, the dragon soared upward. With a deft yank, Jaxom neatly broke the wherry’s neck.
It was a heavy bird, Jaxom realized as the dead weight pulled his arms almost from the sockets.
The previous paragrahs are excerpted from The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey Copyright © 1978 by Anne McCaffrey.