Tour One

(First 10 day tour on the trail crew. Myself and the crew leader were sent out on an 8 day trip base camped out of Domke Lake).

Unoffical Day 1-
Arrived in Chelan right in time for dinner.
Love Aunt Kathryn.
Early man for rehearsal joined us for dinner.
Wine and Lively conversation.
This is going to be a great summer.

Day 1-
Lots of paperwork.
Checked out gear.
A quote in someone's office "Everyone is born righthanded. Only perfect people overcome it." (makes me feel special being a lefty)
Packed all my gear- pack weighs 55 lbs, I weigh 138. Adding tools will not be fun.

Day 2-
Uplake to Refrigerator Harbor. 3.5 mile Hike to Domke Lake. .5 mile hike to campground.
I hate my pack.
It must weigh at least 70 lbs.
Wondered if I would survive the short trek.
Nothing like Florence, but uphill and heavy pack come close. Never been this miserable on a hike. Must find a way to pack lighter (although everything in my pack is either a basic necessity or tools).
Campfires are good. Talked until dark.
Hopefully no bear, wildlife or tic disturbances to ruin the fun.
It started raining this evening, hopefully will stop by morning, working in the rain will not be fun.

Day 3-
Hiked up Railroad Creek today. Mission was to log it out.
Silky saws were our best friends. Only had to crosscut one tree.
9 mile hike round trip.
Saw wildlife on the way up - a very small frog.
Saw more wildlife on the way back -Deer hid on the hill and we stared at each other as I walked by.
The trees talk. They make pleasant and eerie creaks.
Today the hike was mellow, felt rather good at the end. Then hated my dinner. I didn't cook it right. Forced some down then burned it in the fire.
Campfires are good.
Drying clothes by the fire.
A rainy morning turned into a pleasant afternoon. Want it to get warm enough to jump in & out of the lake.
Feet are happy I brought camp shoes.

Day 4- The Log From Hell

Beautiful Morning. Hiked 2 miles out to the trail junction, about 25 paces up the Emerald Park trail, and that is as far as we made it.
A decent sized log was in the trail, completely blocking the path. 2 cuts and over with. Nothing to it. Or so we thought.
We ended up having to chop half way through the thing, saw a little, chop some more. Guess that's one way to spend the day. 6 hours on one stupid log.
Hot, sweaty and dirty, so I decided to swim in the lake. 2 steps in and decided it was a bad idea. Quick dunk and jumped out to dry.
Disturbed a few sunbathing lizards on my way back to camp.

The Call of the Wild. That's what we've decided to call the sound an unidentified bird makes. We think it's a loon. It's a very wild sound. Hear it at all hours, but haven't seen it yet.

Day 5-
A deer went boinging into the woods today as I walked by.
Went up Emerald Park trail, about 3.5 miles logging it out.
A little steep, but uphill only one way (Railroad was uphill both ways).
Used my first aid skills to tape up my heel today. I think my achilles has a little tendonitis, not fun when I must continue to hike and irritate it, but my skills worked (more or less).
My dinner refuses to cook, and is making me angry, dessert first.
The fish in the lake jump all the time. They are fun to watch.
Made friends with a couple of frogs when I went to pump water tonight. They are rather large. I talked and they stared.
The stars are beautiful out here, and the lake is stunning any time of day.
It is so silent out here.

Day 6-
We went up Emerald Park again- maybe a mile further. Didn't make it to the meadow, or see the creek- Snow in the way.
Did some minor mountaineering across three snowfields. Stopped at the 4th field adn turned around.
We named a creek on the trail Icy Creek and call it the watering hole.
Drinking from a Camelback makes the water taste like plastic so I stuck a teabag in there. Much better.
Lots of mountain frogs on the trail. They are leaf brown and about the size of a quarter.
The trail does not joke about going up. We gained 2000 feet in elevation before lunc-about three miles up. Went from 2200-4200.
Trails around here have one general direction.
When you get high enough up the hill you can see Domke Lake below and Lake Chelan on either side behind a hill.
Dipped in the lake again. Another icy shock.
Had another conversation with a frog. I talked, it stared.
Stars and campfire are wonderful.

Day 7-
Hiked up Emerald Park trail one more time. Gardening in the wilderness.
Feels weird to use loppers out here.
My heel doesn't hurt anymore, but my hands and feet are sore. Lopping for about 6 hours today. My forearms will feel it soon.
Almost out.
Up Railroad again tomorrow, then down to the boat the next day.
Two people working on two trails is a lot of work, but we're trucking along.
Met the guy who owns a few cabins up here. Very interesting fellow. In the book Mountain Air, he's the forest service guy in it. He inherited the cabins from the homesteader Gordon Stewart.
A jet flew by when we were up the trail today. We were right above it.
My large frogs are actually toads. So we have named them Mountain Toads.

Day 8-
Big windstorm last night- we heard trees crashing-so I carried the crosscut up one more time just in case. Trees have a way of finding the trail.
When trees fall they go boom. Even if no one was around to hear it. It makes a lot of sound.
Gardened in the wilderness again today. My forearms really hurt, slow going, but the time does fly.
Cedar smells wonderful when you saw it.
We've been seeing hummingbirds whizz by our heads. They sound like large bumblebees when they get really close to you.
Took a canoe out on the lake today. Very windy, so no fish.
I've been inhaling my meals lately, they are either really good-or I'm getting hungrier.
Out of the woods tomorrow. Looking forward to a hot shower and a real meal. My hands are covered in dirt that just won't wash off.
Have to pack my mountain pack again tomorrow-only this time it will be 25 lbs lighter.
Ducks on the lake tonight.
Sat and chatted around our last camfire until the coals burned down.

Day 9-
Packed our camp. On w/ the Mountain Pack again. I still hate it-but not as much.
Gardened from the trail junction to the wilderness boundary. Grabbed our packs and headed down to Lucerne to catch the Lady of the Lake. 3.5 miles downhill with a mountain pack.

Finally back to civilization! Hot shower and hot meal. It's good to feel clean again, and to sleep in a real bed.
Unpacked and sorted gear to repack it for the next trip.
Lost 3 lbs and am slightly sunburned- but otherwise survived my first tour.

Day 10- Office day.
The boss talks a lot. And when you are in a vehicle with him there is no escape.
One of the office ladies had a good laugh at us today.
We were hovering over the copier and she walked by and started cracking up. She said it was funny to see two trails people looking like the copier might explode if we hit the wrong button.
Off for the weekend. Back to Seattle, folklife, and dancing.