Day 1.
Working 23 days w/ only a 2 day break in the middle. It sucks, and it still involves horrible training.
Kristian and I had first aid already so we lucked out and only had to get re certified in CPR in the afternoon. We did odd jobs until then: took the Tahoe to get an oil change. Walked back to the office. Checked out a bookstore. Took a drive to echo ridge. Cleaned some toilets and did trash detail. Got milkshakes. Then to the dreaded CPR class.
Day 2.
Please! No more training. District Orientation today- then defensive driving. The only good thing was we got to see everyone who works in our district, and there was a potluck lunch.
I spent the time practicing napping w/ my eyes open. It didn't work so well, so I just let my imagination wander to more creative ideas.
I think they taught us how to back up a vehicle in defensive driving. I can't really recall. I doodled amoebas. Kristian was drawing a design for our t-shirts & as I started to draw she asked if I was helping. I explained that I was creating amoebas and she thought I was joking. She was impressed w/ my page of amoebas I had by the end of class.
Day 3.
Another office day- but it was trip prep. Communication is good. Day before the trip, we finally learn when we're leaving, where we're going, how long we'll be out, if we're in split groups, and who we're split w/. Kristian and I get to head up Prince Creek while the guys go to Domke Lake.
We spent the afternoon building a wallowa toilet, along w/ trying to convince the boss to buy us kayaks. Over the course of lunch and the afternoon, we developed a wonderful scheme that involved basing the crew out of Lucerne, matching bathing suits, opening up an icecream empire and ferrying people in our kayaks on our days off. The boss was not convinced, but we built a really cool toilet.
It is made out of cedar. The design is from a plan that was last revised in 1929. We thought that was pretty awesome, and by the end of the day (which we had to stay late to finish it) we had our wilderness toilet.
Then the boss took me swing dancing in Wenatchee! It was a sweet treat after the past week and a half of torture. And it's our last night in civilization before hitting the trail tomorrow, might as well dance.
Day 4.
My pack only weighs 40 lbs! I'm so proud of myself. Loading up this morning, Kristian hefted my pack to compare weight and was shocked. So was I (my pack is normally heavier than hers). So I pulled the scale out of the fire cache and our whole crew weighed in packs (mine was lightest). This was before tools were added though. (I was really glad for this on the hike up Prince Creek.)
Finally- into the woods again. Get dropped off at Prince Creek- walk the plank- and then the 4 mile hike was Brutal. We started at noon- wrong time of day, this area has burned a couple times, not much shade left, and it's our first time out w/ our mountain packs in a month. (We've gotten used to the soft life of base camps).
At mile four is a creek crossing w/ a broken bridge. We had a good scramble up and down the bank trying to find the best crossing. Finally settled on a cottonwood that had conveniently fallen straight across the creek. (We found it first, but continued our search for two hours to find a less risky crossing). Our mountain packs were too unbalancing so we had to make multiple trips across the log to get all our gear to the other side.
We like this side of the creek better. It has a sweet campsite on a sandy bank (that we envied the whole time we were trying to cross). Although the creek is loud and the constant sound of running water makes me have to pee constantly. We were beat when we finally sat down. We averaged about 1 mile/hour. And we even had a mile detour in the beginning when we went the wrong way looking for the trail junction. Slow moving as we got our bodies re hydrated and made camp.
Our bear tree branch broke as we tried to hang our food. That was an excitable moment. Didn't know we needed to wear helmets in camp.
Day 5. Legacy Log (Another log from Hell)
This time the log won.
We woke up excited for the trail on this side of the creek. 50 yards up a giant log was completely covering the path. We figured it would take until lunch. We were wrong.
It was probably 3 ft. in diameter. We could also see our tents below us the whole time we were working.
1st cut took 2 hours. Then we spent 2 hours using wedges and levers trying to make it move. After lunch we broke down and made a second cut. We tried every angle and combination of wedges and levers and it only budged a smidgen. We called defeat at 5. But we'll be back in the morning. One way or another we are going to make it move.
Day 6.
I found huckleberries! Maybe they'll be all the way ripe before we leave.
We spent another hour on our legacy log. Finally w/ chopping, levers, and turning green and muscling it- victory!
We got 8 logs today. Maybe made it 1/2 mile up the trail. Only two more before lunch. Every time we think it looks easy, the cut works, but moving the damn log is hell. We stopped at a nice mess of trees all piled jackstraw. All set to spend a day in that mess. Out of a reported 36 logs, we still have 28 to go and so far they are not small like we were told.
Kristian and I have a bet for how many visitors we'll see- it's for icecream. I said zero but she's hoping for at least 2. We're still hoping to see a bear and I think we have higher chances of that than seeing people.
Something bit me today-I was just minding my own business too. And I tried to squish my finger between the pulaski and a tree branch. It stings.
We had a nice campfire tonight. Pulled out the cards and played speed and Egyptian ratscrew.
In bed early again in my brand new tent! I love my tent- it's the first tent that's actually mine- I was sick of the faulty one I was issued. My new tent is very lightweight and still spacious.
Day 7.
We found more huckleberries! This time they were ripe. Snacked on them on the way up and collected more on our way back to save for dessert. I have this idea in my head to take some home and make huckleberry cobbler.
We got 20 logs today. Maybe 1/2 mile further up the trail. We joke that our productivity is increasing exponentially.
Still no bear. Or any signs of wildlife (aside from bugs & squirrels & birds). There aren't even mosquitoes.
A small bird yelled at me today, hopping from branch to branch. I was confused until I saw it's nest on a branch right by the trail. So I politely excused myself.
I finished catch 22 tonight and am now wrapped up in the count of Monte Cristo. Reading by the fire until dark.
Day 8.
Our work really is increasing exponentially. 32 logs today, 1/2 mile further up the trail, and maybe 1/2 mile left until we hit the junction. The numbers stand: 1st day-0- 2nd day- 3 before lunch, 8 total- 3rd day- 3 before break, 9 before lunch, 20 total- 4th day 9 before break, 22 before lunch, 32 total. We'll see what tomorrow has for us. (We did skip one log because a bee bit me while we were sawing. We'll sneak attack that log tomorrow morning while the bees are still asleep.)
Our trail is also heavily overbrushed. Ceonothis is sometimes taller than us and we lose the path. It's really bad when we're returning to camp on path we've trod on already today, and can't tell which way the path goes, there's just a wall of brush.
Since Barbara isn't w/ us this trip, we are going to compose a note on our boat ride asking her all of our random wilderness questions like: why is there beach sand on a ridge that is all rocky? She will love it.
On our trek back (we got more huckleberries), we were contemplating having to go on a special trip on our off days to see a bear. Kristian was saying w/ all the brush a bear might just be chilling and we'd walk by it w/ out even knowing, or walk right into it.
Right then I saw something brown moving 20 feet down the path in some brush. "It's a bear" I say. Kristian looks too and says "no, it's just the wind.' And then a bear walks into view across the path. We were thrilled.
We started whistling at it and talking to it asking it to please mozy along. It looked at us and slowly ambled up the hillside pausing now and then to watch us. I think it might have thought we were a strange, loud animal. I definitely got pics of it.
Our trip is complete now. We finally met our goal and saw a bear. It seems more realistic now to be on the watch for bears. Now the wilderness seems wild. We were glad it was a small bear and we saw it before beating down the brush and running into it.
We played more Egyptian ratscrew tonight while watching a single ant drag a mostly dead moth across the campsite. We were impressed by its strength- until it dragged the moth straight into a small plant and got stuck.
And we saw a bear today!
Day 9.
We finished logout today. 10 logs. We made it up to the trail junction and the wilderness boundary. We debated whether or not to hike another mile to cub lake, but it was hot and the hike looked steep so we decided against it.
Close to the boundary, we took lunch at a campsite and I found a social trail that led to a waterfall- it was a series of falls and chutes. It was pretty gorgeous. Tons of wildflowers.
We did a minor deforestation project on the ceonothis covering the trail. We gardened it clear to our huckleberry snack spot, collected more berries- I think we have enough for a cobbler- And whistled our way home hoping to see the bear again.
My squished/mangled finger keeps getting dirt in it, so I duct taped a cast over it. If dirt gets in there, I give up..
We are looking forward to hiking out tomorrow and having icecream and pizza. In that order. As soon as we get back.
Day 10.
We packed up camp. Then unpacked everything to ferry it across the creek. Multiple trips across our cottonwood. Repacked, and headed down the trail. We took care of 4 logs on our way down. They weren't there before, and one we had to saw above our heads. That was a little tough. But we also saw a very small fawn go boinging into the woods. Once more our only sign of wildlife.
I managed to trip and fall face first w/ my mountain pack on not once, but twice. Apparently one fall wasn't good enough for the trail. On the second fall my mountain pack was trying to drag me down the slope and I couldn't stand up by myself. But my knees and hands did a wonderful job of saving me from eating dirt.
We saw a jet cruise right through our valley. We were almost level w/ it on the trail. We thought wilderness was a no fly zone, but the jet didn't seem to care.
We were guessing what time we'd hit the trail junction, and we kept lowering our guesses. My guess was spot on at 12:03. 4 miles in about 2 hours. Much better time than on the way up. We enjoyed cruising by each shade spot we stopped at to rest on the way up. Going up, we'd pause every single shady spot. It was slow trudging, down was a breeze.
Left our packs at the junction and wandered over to the campground by the lake for lunch. Jumped off the dock a couple of times. Cold, but bearable, for a few seconds anyway. Just chilling for a couple hours waiting for the boat pick up.
The boss understands about icecream. He was coming downlake too and we insisted on making an icecream stop at Pat and Mike's (our favorite cashier was there as usual- he knew we were coming for icecream and he gives big scoops.) Then home to real food sunburned and scraped as usual, but perfectly contented w/ life.
Prince Creek is a really nice hike. I would recommend camping by the lake the first night and doing the first stretch early in the morning before the heat hits. There's a great campsite four miles up the trail. Lots of huckleberries in the next 2 mile section if you're hiking in July. No mosquitoes. A cool waterfall by a camp by the junction. Cross another footlog and you can either hit the summit trail, or head over to cub lake. It's a really gorgeous hike, one I wouldn't mind hiking for fun.
Day 11.
Once again, my week is not over yet. We did a few odd jobs. Sent some more tools up to the NYC crew that is working at our lovely camp in Fish Creek (Hell). The boss has decided to call the camp Dilly Dally camp after my suggestion.
In a safety meeting last week, I was bored, so I asked if 'dilly dally' is official forest service terminology because it's on a few signs I've seen that say 'Don't Dilly Dally in the drainages..' and explain that a fire had been through there and it's not safe to linger. The answer to my question was no, but when the signs were made, the boss was talking to someone, used that word, and it seemed to fit the message.
So we've built a camp in a drainage you're not supposed to 'dilly dally' in so I said we should call it that. The boss loved it and told the NYC crew that's the name of the camp, and then we here them check in today and they say their exact location and we cannot help but laugh. The whole forest listens to the radios and I wonder how many people are rather bemused that someone is calling from dilly dally camp, and where in hell it might be.
Kristian came over for dinner tonight and we made our huckleberry cobbler. It was fantastic.
Day 12.
And my week continues. But I get overtime today so I'm not really complaining. We started building another wallowa toilet yesterday, and I volunteered to finish it today. Put my carpenter skills to work and made a lovely wilderness toilet all by myself! (although I'm not quite patient when it comes to being exact w/ measuring and cutting straight, and lining things up straight, so my toilet is a little uneven and crooked, but it's going into the wilderness.)
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