Volunteer Vacation Part 3: Day Off

Day 6 - Off day
June 22th Wednesday

I just can't sleep in! Going to bed as early as we do every night makes for lots of sleep and an early rise just to get out of the tent. Fortunately Bette and Liz are also early risers, so I have good company while we wait for the others to rouse - Josh and Joni typically the last two to roll out by 15 minutes to 45 later. I don't mind though, I like relaxing over several cups of coffee and don't like to feel rushed.
This morning, being our day off, is especially relaxing. We have talked about what we wanted to do today. At first I thought about trying to do a strenuous solo hike, possibly hiking the Company Creek to Devore Creek loop, but after seeing how the trail is, knowing that the elevation gain would triple what we had already climbed, and knowing the mileage of 25 miles is as the crow flies - not including elevation (making it more like a 30 mile loop), I ditched the idea. I want to come back and do that loop... over the course of several days!
The evening before everyone had mentioned wanting to rent bikes. I had seen some bikes by the yurts that looked available to the trail crews, so we decided to check those out instead of renting a bike for $25 for the day.
Josh and Joni get up soon enough. We walk over to the yurts and check out the bikes. We find six that are in good enough condition to ride... but only just! Several don't change gears. Mine has only front brakes. Howard says he hasn't rode a bike in 30 years, and was a bit apprehensive about riding. He was going to take the truck and meet us where ever we were going if he didn't feel comfortable. But, as the sayings goes, he didn't forget. We all climbed on our bikes and biked across the trestle bridge and down valley towards the bakery. Since this was a free day no food was scheduled for the day, so I suggested we go to the bakery to pick up something for breakfast and lunch.

 The couple miles down valley to the bakery are incredibly pleasant. The morning air is crisp in the shade, and chilly when we pass by a creek - the glacial run-off water locally cools the area around the rushing of the water. We pass a sign for Bucknard Orchard on the right and Rainbow Falls on the left, the waterfalls is viewable as we pedal by it. We bike past the old school and the new before reaching the Bakery.
The experience of biking by the same things already driven by is very enjoyable. The breeze rushing by, the scents and closeness to surroundings brings everything in more focus. The old trucks, flower beds, lives and history of the people all become more apparent.
We park our bikes in front of the bakery and go inside. The sweet smell of baking goods fills the air in the shop. The display case has a large selection of huge delicious pastries covered in nuts, glazed in sugar, covered in fruit. All scream that they are the most delicious - I tend to believe them all! I settle on a sticky bun larger than a brick and coffee to wash it down. I also get two slices of cold pizza for lunch.
After we all leisurely eat we saddle back up. We have planned to cycle to Agnes Creek for an out and back hike once we get there, and a chance to see the PCT briefly. At breakfast we also decided to stop at the school house and Rainbow falls, since they were right off the road.
The old school house is unlocked and we walk in. There are historical displays inside, as well as pictures of classes past and a very old map of the world. Reading the history of Stehekin is very interesting. It doesn't take us long to read through the displays in the small schoolhouse.

A short ride later we take the cut-off to Rainbow Falls. The falls can be heard as a loud roar as we pedal to the trail head. The trail is very short to get to the viewing area for the falls. Later Bill explains that this trail was just completed a few months ago, allowing people to view the falls much closer up and in more of it's grandeur. The lower viewing area is gorgeous, and the temperature drops immediately by 10 degrees. As I take the trail to the higher viewing area, the trees begin dripping slightly then pouring like they are raining. The mist from the falls is thick, and drenching the trees. It becomes very cold! The view is gorgeous but so mist drenched I cannot linger! I snap a few pictures and even take a small video, but a few minutes is all I can take before I'm hurrying back to the warmth of the sun. The bracing coldness makes me feel wonderful! The warm sun dries me and my mind expands! I feel so ALIVE!!!

I pedal back down to the main road with a huge smile on my face. The ride back to Company Creek road goes quickly on the blacktop. Once there we continue up Stehekin Road, the road turning to gravel. Going up stream we go up hill slightly a lot. It doesn't seem like it, as the road goes up steeply and then has some descents. But we are constantly gaining elevation. Sometimes I ride in the front, and pedal hard to get in front and take pictures as the rest of the Crew catches up; at other times I ride in the back, slowly going and enjoying the surroundings and the day.
The road follows the river passing fewer and fewer homes and cottages as we go further. We pass beautiful sun-lite fields framed beyond in mountains, more wild-flowers by the roadside grassy swales and fields fill the view and complete the relaxation. Very little traffic passes a couple cars and the Park Service bus, everyone slowing and waving. We ride by the Ranch that we have heard about. There is supposed to be a restaurant there. The place looks great, cottages behind a field with the lodge behind.

The road passes through dark green forest bordering the river, and more open pine forest at slightly higher elevation. The road begins a more steep ascent, the river going from broad and winding to more narrow and much more swift. After some hard pedaling I arrive at High Bridge. This is where the Park Service bus makes it's last stop. We are also close to Agnes Creek Gorge Trail. Sanya is said to live at the Park Service cabin here. Very secluded, and very nice. I see a small water pump down in the river to bring water up to the cabin.
The bridge is very cool looking, over a high rocky part in the river. Here the river is noisy and has huge swells from the rocks just below the surface. After all arrive we decide to stop here for lunch and a few moments of relaxation after the stiff hill to get here.

After eating we cross the bridge and immediately run into a very steep hill. I know the trail should be very close, so I gear down and work hard to get the bike up the hill. Soon enough I cross the PCT and find the Agnes Gorge Trail. Happily, I get off the bike. A couple minutes later (the smart ones) Joni and Bette walk up the hill, "one look at the hill and that was it". Brilliant!
Bette didn't wear her hiking boots, so she has no plans to hike fast. So her and Liz hang back, Joni Josh and myself hiking off quickly in the front. The trail doesn't gain much elevation, mostly following the hillside elevation profile making for an easy trail. The 2.5 mile trail goes quickly - occasionally in old forest, other times the view opened up, leading around cliffs, crossing a few streams, and occasionally through hot meadows. In no time we get to the main attraction. The river goes through a squeeze, swirling and foaming over rocks, the other side of the gorge very steep. I climb down next to it and take many pictures. I climb over rocks and trees, looking down the river, beyond a few waterfalls and rapids, a waterfall streams down the cliff face joining the river. This marvelous glade is totally enchanting. Plenty of things to see and climb on over and around. Totally worth the hike out here!

 We stay for awhile enjoying the sights and sounds. Soon enough we head back down the trail. We stick together, I hang back to snap some pictures of the group. The hike is quick, enjoying the easy walking and light conversation.

 Back at the trail head we head back towards camp. Considering how long it took us to get there, we are expecting it to take as long. We are very surprised at how quick we get back. There was a lot more uphill to get to High Bridge. The uphill was deceptive though, and we didn't even realize it. Going back was smooth and easy. I got out front and tried to pedal as hard as I could, first to get photos of everyone, then just to go. I wanted to pedal hard and work my butt off for the fun of it. Liz kept up the entire way, neither of us were killing ourselves, just pedaling hard. I feel if she wanted to she could have passed me at anytime and left me in the dust!
Back at camp much quicker than expected, everyone but Liz and I took showers. We were just hungry and didn't mind going to dinner as dirt-balls! Once everyone was ready we climbed into the truck and drove to the Landing. Once there we met Bill's wife, whom works at the restaurant. Our server was a very nice woman by the name of Melissa. She mentioned her boy friend was hiking the PCT and I started asking a bunch of questions, "Where's he at on the Trail?", "Is this his first time?", "Did he meet you here while he was doing the Trail previously?". Bill was saying Stehekin is the last resupply stop for the final push to the termination of the PCT at the Canadian border.
We drank a few beers and had an excellent dinner. It was so nice to be served and not have to clean up dishes!
As we climbed back into the truck I got behind the drivers wheel and everyone else jumped into the bed of the truck, I got to chauffeur them all! Next time we used the truck I jokingly demanded that they all ride in the cab so I could have the back to myself!!
Back at camp I packed up as much as possible, transferring the gear I didn't want to carry into the back country into the duffel bag I planned on leaving in the truck. Tomorrow we backpack into the back country! I hit the pillow quickly, tired and content!

Next: Finishing Work

Leavenworth on Dwellable

Volunteer Vacation Part 1: Getting There

If you follow this blog, you know I have been planning this trip since January. I hadn't done much to prepare, beyond just really wanting to go and making an itinerary. Well the day rolled around, and came upon me quickly. I am so very glad I signed up for it. As quickly as this has come the AT trip will creep up just as quick!

Acknowledgments and Special Thanks 
First of all I must thank a lot of people for making this happen! I must thank American Hiking Society for being such a great organization and coordinating this opportunity, Libby Wile was very helpful in connecting and organizing us. Next I want to thank the National Park Service for allowing us to get in there and providing for us while we were there; especially Ranger Bill Fitzpatric for coordinating and working on this for 2 years. Beyond that Ranger Bill took us under his wing, showed us what needed to be done, worked side-by-side with us, entertained us with great stories and really made us feel like part of the Stehekin family! Sonya was a big help also, driving the boat, hiking up to check on us, and being a very cool person! Josh stepped up and was the crew leader/coordinator - he and Joni  went food shopping, and Josh sent many emails and interfaced with the Park Service and AHS for all of us. The meals all turned out great too!! Great trail and base-camp cooking, for sure! Also a big thanks to Jim - a resident of Chelan and Stehekin - for volunteering his time to drive us from Wenatchee to Chelan! I want to thank the rest of the Company Creek Trail Crew (CCTC) for being just so great! Hats off to Bette for going through Seattle to drop Liz and myself off as well as driving us to Lake Chelan! Lastly, but far from least: I want to thank Cara - for waking up super early to take me to the airport, taking time off to pick me up, watching the house while I was gone, and for missing me while I was gone but understanding how much I wanted to go! I missed you too! And thanks for pushing me to write more details to take into account all my senses and to be as descriptive as possible, truly appreciated.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way I will do my journal entries.

Day 1 - Travel day
June 17th Friday
The flight from Baltimore (BWI) left at 6:40am. Cara kindly dropped me off at the airport at 5:40. The flight was on time and connected to the next leg of the journey through Nashville (BNA). I waved as I went over my parents house! So close but unable to see them, was a shame.
After a while in the air, snow peaked mountains hove into view - I was getting close! The jet descended and soon Mt Rainer became visible - so gorgeous! Snow clad mountains, and that magnificent peak dwarfing them all! Mount Saint Helens was off in the distance. For some reason the snowy tops surprised me.

 Mt Rainer

The jet touched down and I got my bags. After the Zion experience, I always have a big sigh of relief seeing my backpack slid down the baggage claim! Especially this time, as I had a series of connections to make to get to Wenatchee still ahead. The first was to catch the LINK train to downtown Seattle. The first portion of the train ride was above ground, so I got to see the out-skirts of the city. There were obnoxious people on the train, and plenty of graffiti on the buildings - though some of the wall art was very pretty. Seattle is a city, like any other. Of course I knew this, but I didn't want it to be so - I wanted Seattle to be some kind of insular place. 

The train became a subway for the last few stops. I got off at the last and went up the stairs into the city. I pulled out the phone map and started hiking towards REI, about 15 or 20 blocks away. I went through the business district, passing multiple Starbuck's - some within sight of another! As I neared REI I came upon Feathered Friends an outfitters that I look at from time to time. Looking out for the little guy, I went in to buy fuel for everyone in the group. The store didn't carry Jetboil or Jetboil fuel, but I did get the MSR fuel for myself and Howard. After purchasing the fuel I grabbed my bags and headed across the street to the flagship REI. The store is surrounded by a park, with a bike path and a hiking path for testing boots and bikes. Inside the store there are two extremely large floors, plus a climbing wall. There was also a fountain with an array of water filters for testing. The place was busy, and carries most every product, I scoped quickly for what I was searching.

After pursuing for a bit I got a post card and a magnet as well as I broke down and got a pair of gaiters - I figured working with debris flying I would appreciate them. I got a Mountain Hardware pair - smallest I could find. I will review them as I go along.

After paying I picked up my bags from Customer Service and headed back down in to the city. I stopped by a non-Starbucks coffee shop and got turned around before getting to the bus stop about an hour early. Apparently Northwest Trailways has a corporate office, if you Google that it takes you to an office building not the bus station - the buses use the Greyhound Station, who knew? I saw the space needle on the way, so I can say I've seen all of Seattle... err maybe not! I'd like to explore the city more thoroughly in the future, there seems to be many districts and many touristy places that I didn't get to see at all.

Bus stations are odd places. They have the feel of a world left behind. It reminds of the Dark Tower Series in a way, or a post apocalyptic film. The world has moved on, the people, the fixtures, and the air of bus stations have an air of tiredness it seems. The bathroom art, though, is interesting.

A hole in the bathroom wall of the bus station contains art

The bus leaves the station and heads on to the Interstate 5 north, immediately running into traffic and staying in traffic for the next hour until the cut-off on route 3. Seattle further disheartened me. Miles and miles of Friday evening traffic, stretching through this large metropolitan area. The only difference between this Interstate, this traffic and this city, between Rio, LA, NYC, Baltimore, Washington, Atlanta, Honolulu, San Diego, Raleigh, or Kansas City are the beautiful snow-clad mountains occasionally seen in the distance (granted some of those other cities do also showcase mountains on their skylines).

I read while in traffic, once we turn on to route 3 I force myself to put the book down and soak in the mountains, fields, towns, and everything roadside, I traveled all this way to see Seattle, I picked taking the bus rather than flying into Wenatchee for that reason. The character of the state becomes more apparent as we wind our way along, the towns look liking working towns with many mentions of Big Foot, pick-ups and trailer parks, rural folks eking out a living on the scant tourism passing to better places.
The bus passes the flat land containing these towns and then reaches the mountains. The road follows a deep valley between tall pine covered mountains. The bus ascends for a very long time, following a roaring river, swollen from snow melt. Eventually the bus reaches a pass, with a ski resort situated in the saddle. I'm in the snow I saw from the jet!
Beyond the pass the road starts following another river down slope. On this, the eastern side of the mountains, the bus rolls into the town of Leavenworth, that has apparently reinvented itself as a tourist town. Everything has the looks of the Alps - Bulgarian and Swiss style roof lines, including the Subway and McDonalds.
The bus stops at a gas station, people jump off and run in the store for refreshment and bathroom or smoke breaks. As we re-board and get going again, one guy yells, "Hey driver! Hey driver!! I left my phone at the gas station, let me off, let me off!!" The driver pulls over and lets the kid out, "Your luggage will be in Wenatchee" 30 miles distant. I wonder how he made it, and I hope he made it without much trouble. The bus only comes through once a day in each direction. I feel bad for him - must have had important contacts he needed on that phone!

This side of these mountains is much drier, and apparently the perfect climate for grapes, apples, pears and other temperate fruits. The agriculture on this side sports dozens of wineries, in beautiful Mediterranean atmosphere. To be a tourist and cruise these wineries and orchards would be great! I'd like to come back for that... though I think I wouldn't come all the way out here just for that - unless I lived close by.
The bus arrives on the out-skirts of Wenatchee in short order, cruising slowly through downtown. Not a huge town, by any means, but apparently big for this area - it does have a regional airport! The bus station is down by some railroad tracks a block off of cuteish main street. I exit the bus and cross under the train tracks to get to a bike trail running along the Columbia River. After 3/4 of a mile, on a pleasant stroll down the path I come to an old, but renovated trestle bridge. The bridge was built to run a pipeline across the bridge to enable irrigation of crops on the other side of the river. The trestle allowed East Wenatchee to form. And that's where I head!

 Trestle bike bridge to East Wenatchee

The bridge has some great views looking up and down the Columbia, mountains and hills not covered in trees stretch to the horizons. The Columbia River looks swollen in her banks, but not to flood stage. On the other side of the bridge I cross a busy road to the Cedars Inn where I have reservations to stay for the evening. I check in, toss my stuff on the bed and look for a place to eat.
Fortunately there is a great dive bar that serves steak close at hand, very close, there is a back door into the place twenty feet away from the entrance to the hotel. After getting seated by the window I enjoy the banter of the bartender and locals that eat there often and the DJ that went out for a smoke break and let a terrible song come on. I drink a very good local beer, after asking the bartender what was good, and devour my steak; delicious!! After paying I head over to the 7-11 for Snickers bars to hold me throughout the week, I know I'll be craving one after a hard days work!

At the hotel I repack all my gear into my backpack rather than in the duffel bag I used to travel. I get to bed very late east coast time!

Day 2 - Travel day
June 18th Saturday

I sleep so well! Deep, dreamless, refreshing. I wake up with the alarm and grab coffee and continental breakfast. Listening to semi-local news I hear the Columbia is flooding down river, apparently it has rained a lot, further down! I have some time to kill so I go back to the room for a bit before catching a comped taxi/shuttle to the airport. While on the way there in the taxi (one of 2 in Wentachee) I hear that the other taxi is picking up, one, Howard Sherman from another hotel. I know that guy! He's with our group. Small town at work, news travels fast.
At the airport I sit for a very short time in the Pronghorn Cafe (like the airport, very short!!) and Bette arrives and introduces herself. We talk for a minute before seeing an SUV with a trailer pull up outside. We head out and find Josh and Joni arriving with Jim. We transfer some food items to the cooler Bette brought from her home in Portland. Josh and Joni bought food this morning - they have 4 large banana boxes full of tastiness! I hope we're not carrying all of that into the back-country. We wait for a bit, an airplane with Liz landing and disembarking in short order. Howard arrives about 15 minutes later. I climb in Bette's SUV with Liz in back, following Jim driving, Josh, Joni, and Howard.
Shortly out of Wentachee following the Columbia north, Liz's bag flies out of the trailer and hits the road, rolling to a stop on the center line. We jump out and retrieve it. It looks mostly unscathed, her having placed her gear in a laundry bag for travel protection. That's one tough bag and a good tip to follow!
We continue up the road and stop in a blip of a town, Entiat, for some additional groceries and ice. We go to a local coffee shop for lunch to get sandwiches - very quaint place, nautically themed, oddly enough. I figure Stehekin, having limited phone service via satellite, won't take credit cards, I get Jim to take us to an ATM also.
I notice, or rather continue to notice, that every few miles there are drive-thru espresso stands. Each very small, with room for a worker. This must be a Washington state thing. They love their coffee up here.
After getting back on the road we arrive at the cutoff and follow a smaller road towards the west side of Lake Chelan, following the lake for a few miles until we get to a NPS landing. We unload our gear and move it down to the dock using some carts left sitting around the landing. We use the bathroom and get some pictures while we wait for our boat to show up. There is a very cool map adjacent to the bathrooms showcasing the Lake Chelan area in raised topography, we pin-point where we are, where we are headed, and where Company Creek Trail work-site will be.
While on the dock, I look at a pylon and notice something very odd. A bell with a guitar pick stuck on it is pressed into the pillar of wood. Very strange, and it will make a small but good keepsake for the trip. I will have to pay it forward by putting something equally contrary to the surroundings somewhere else in the future!

Guitar pick and Bell

Our boat arrives with Ranger Sonya piloting and Ranger Bill meeting us. We load gear and part ways with Jim; thanks again! The boat trip will take around an hour to go up lake to Stehekin. Around every corner is a new and wonderful view! The southern end of the lake looks a bit dry like what has been seen since Wenatchee, more treeless Mediterranean looking hill-sides. At first there are many residences on the shore-line, especially on the western side of the lake where the road continues for another couple miles. The houses begin becoming much less frequent and only accessible by water craft. There are some beautiful homes situated with wonderful views and nice seclusion. The vision to have a summer home in such pristine surroundings is a spectacular idea, but one I doubt I will ever be able to afford, however I'm sure some of these get rented out for short terms - what a great retreat that would be! The further up lake and into the mountains we head, the lusher the hillsides become.

 I stand out back in the whipping wind sucking in the view, and maybe some diesel fumes.

The views are unlike anything I have seen. The water is choppy from the wind and the boat makes a lot of spray foam out the sides as we progress. Waterfalls can be seen descending rapidly to the lake in cuts into the hillsides. Up lake snow covered peaks can be seen making everything else look insignificant. The sky is gray and clouded, but it doesn't look like rain clouds. The forecast has called for a slight chance today and the rest of the 10-day to be clear and mostly sunny. I hope the meteorologist is right! The barren hills further up were caused by fairly recent forest fires, within the last decade. Ranger Bill explained there is one part that hasn't burned yet and everyone is waiting for it to go! Many of the burned trees still stand blackened on the hills, looking like silent sentries looking out from the ridges.
The boat ride, I am told, cost the Park Service a lot of dollars for the round trip up and down lake roundtrip! Gas is not cheap. Fortunately the NPS has a fund for each park ear-marked for volunteer programs, there is just mounds of paper work to file to get a sliver of that money.

Views from the boat

Stehekin landing comes into view on the east side of the lake, the end of Lake Chelan in view as we dock. We disembark, carrying our equipment to the end of the dock to be staged into vehicles. Bill gives us some time to peruse the 'bustling' landing area. I go in to the gift shop but buy nothing, and I wander briefly up a hill to the NPS visitor center to see another topo relief map more concentrated on this end of the lake. After a bit I wander back down and see none of the Crew have come back yet. The restaurant is just opening so I go in and get a Sam Adams Summer Ale and sit on the deck outside. As I sit there 3 rafts of rafters are towed into the landing from the mouth of the river, all look like they had a great time, smiles all around.

 I sit on the deck and enjoy the brew as I enjoy the view!

Howard comes by and asks about the visitor center and I direct him that way. A short while later I see that our bags are being loaded, so I put my beer bottle in the recycling bin and head down to put the equipment and food in the NPS pick-up truck. After everything gets loaded we hop in the trucks for a five mile drive up the valley to our campsite for the night. Bill explains some of the history of the place and points out the landmarks as we pass. The road follows the lake shore for a mile before passing into the woods and skirting the main river that fills the lake. I notice that many of the cars are old, still running but now infrequently seen. An old Ford there, a really old Datsun here. And sitting on front yards and abandoned in the woods are even older vehicles, the effect like stepping back in time. I suppose it is expensive to ship a car up lake so they keep the ones they have running for as long as possible.

 Keep it workin' til a tree falls on it

As we approach our campsite, we come to an intersection, our road is on the left, across the river. We cross a very interesting trestle-style bridge to the west side of the river, and take another immediate left into Harlequin Camp. First Ranger Bill drives down and checks out the large group camp, he says when the water is up that camp can flood. We use the turn around and go back the way we came a few campsites to smaller ones that are a few feet higher. We get out, as we get out Josh realizes that Howard was left behind! We clambered in the vehicles and got out of Dodge (Stehekin in this case) without doing a head count. Howard was still in the NPS welcome center. Opps!!! After picking the campsite and unloading gear Bill goes back for Howard in his NPS SUV. We are going to be lent the pick-up truck for the entirety of our stay - very nice!

We all go about picking our tent sites and putting up our tents, hanging clothes lines, and organizing food somewhat. Liz has a zippable net bagging that we put some beer and wine in and tie off behind so tree roots on the river bank - the water is frigid and will keep these beverages at a good temperature.

As we setup our tents we ponder how Howard will react to being left behind. Will he be a good sport? Will he be mad? Not knowing each other we don't know what the reaction will be. Soon enough we find out. Bill pulls up and Howard hops out. He goes to Josh and says something along the lines of, "is this how you're going to run this trip?!", and then moves down a couple campsites to make his tent site away from us. Ouch! Not off to a good start for Crew continuity.

After setting up camp and conversing a bit, one of the girls (I can't remember which one, sorry!) came up with the idea that all of us go up there as a group, a beer in hand as an offering of peace. We roll up and he accepts the apology. We get an assigned number, which everyone promptly forgets (expect me, I was number 4!) but the important thing is we will now be very aware to look for six people of the crew before heading off!

Bill showed a couple people the airstrip, and more importantly where the showers are. We trooped up there to familiarize ourselves with the area and see two large yurts behind the shower house. We peak in the yurts to see cots, couches, reading lamps - the works! The yurts are for summer seasonal workers that do some trail maintenance and other Park jobs.

The leather chair was VERY comfy!

We aren't staying in these, but the showers are a nice enough touch. I came out here to backpack and sleep in a tent, I won't turn down a hot shower though! I was mentally prepared to not have any creature comforts at all for ten days.

The area between camp and the showers is a pleasant walk down a gravel roadway. There isn't much traffic. The structures around are mostly owned by the Park. There is a mechanics shop and a recycling yard. A water pump stands in a field for car washing. Attached to the shower house is a pavilion containing a couple picnic tables, a refrigerator, a large sink, and a microwave - all outside but covered by a roof. We use the sink, but nothing else. Off to one side of the field, the grass chest high and richly green, lies a very nice looking house with a fenced in garden and a bus that resembles the bus from 'Into the Wild' in the front yard. The mountains beyond the large trees in the valley floor surround and permeate everything here. One cannot help but feel those old hills bearing down. Any break in the trees or any meadow or open space provides one with a great view. The air is crisp and clean without loud noises to distract. As the evening shadows grow long, and being in the valley the sun disappears quickly but stays light long, the air turns colder very quickly.

Alexander "Super Tramp" not included

At camp we eat a dinner from the box of food. Josh and Joni did an excellent job of making meal plans to fit the stages of the hike. Tonight includes a salad too! The Park Service provided a 2-burner camp stove with a 5-gallon propane tank and a couple large pots and a girdle to cook on.

After dinner and cleanup Josh outlines the plan for the week. Tomorrow we have some clearing to do by the airport and then we start up Company Creek Trail with Bill. We continue to work with Bill Monday. Tuesday Bill is off and we work by ourselves. Wednesday is our day off. Thursday we backpack into the back-country to get a full days work without the commute on Friday. Saturday we come back to the valley in the evening and leave on Sunday. The meal weights and plan are built around this, and this way we get some back-country camping in there too! So we will get the best of both worlds - showers at the beginning of the week, wilderness at the end.

I am beat from a long day of travel. Josh and Joni are even more beat though - their travel from Minnesota was delayed in Seattle and they didn't get in to Wenatchee until very late the night before. We all headed towards our tents after an eventful day. I noticed that, though it was late, there was still plenty of light. Being so far north and so close to the Summer equinox the daylight lingers until 10 or 11 - I never did see it get dark, I always fell asleep before it did and woke up in the middle of the night to blackness. My tent welcomed me, the new Big Agnes down sleeping bag felt wonderful to get into as the temperatures dipped into the 50's.

A small but comfortable home

This concludes Part 1: Getting There

Stay tuned for the next in the series as I go through my notes and write the rest! Next: Starting Work, Day Off, Finishing Work.

Thanks for reading!

Leavenworth on Dwellable

Stay Tuned

I will be posting about the Northern Cascades Volunteer Vacation with American Hiking Society when I get back.

Mid-week we will have a day off to go day hiking or whatever else we want to do. I haven't decided. There are quite a few trails around. I may go up the valley and try to set foot on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail - west coast equivalent to the AT), or I may try and climb a mountain and see a glacier, or go down the valley to see more of Lake Chelan. 

I am very excited to be going! I will miss the girl, and she knows it - but going here was planned before I met her and going to Washington State will be fulfilling dreams I've had for awhile. The amount of pictures I'll be taking is going to be amazing! I can't wait to soak in the beauty. The temperatures seem to be between 50 at night to low 80's during the day - good weather to be working and camping. The people element should also be fun, everyone seems fairly cool from the small amount of interaction I have had, all seem like they are avid hikers - but to belong and volunteer to a group called American Hiking Society, I guess you'd have to have some kind avid interest in it!

I am also looking forward to be trying out nearly my full range of equipment that I want to be taking on the Appalachian Trail. Early this year those were colder weather trips with more gear, also short travel day trips so I added more stuff 'just to be safe' or 'just in case'. This time my pack is slim and without extra items that I probably won't need. Base weight was ~20lbs, which I'm satisfied with. Also there was an abundance of room in the back for food for 5 to 7 days on the AT. I'm really psyched to try out everything! I'm hoping this trip will test my gear, myself, and my readiness.

Besides food (and that entails a LOT of expense - food storage bags, boxes, postage) and all the time and preparation that will go into that I have nearly all the gear I need for the Trail. I would possibly like new hiking poles, a SPOT device, a flip phone, extra memory card, Dirty Girl Gaiters, and a Packa. Oh, and maps! I have the all the ones from Maine and I have a scattering of VA and MD. I need to go through and make a list of maps I have to maps I need. Some hikers don't travel with maps, some will use just the guide book, others just go with it. But planning is fun to me. Pouring over maps is fun to me. I want to mark the maps as I travel for mileage purposes, to relate each day to my journal so I can be fairly certain of where I saw something or where something took place! Also it will be helpful to coordinate where I can meet people and how to get to Trail towns and Post Offices. On that note, I should probably get two sets of maps. One for me and one for the support team...

I have a couple of concepts for DIY modded equipment that I want to try out - I'm not going to even touch on them until I've tried it out - and if it really works then imma patent the ideas, and then sell them to you ;) I've looked around and they don't exist - that doesn't mean they don't. It may also mean they've been thought of but violate the laws of the universe - which won't stop me from trying to do it anyway!

I am off to finish preparations to go West! Have a great few weeks!

Updates

It's been awhile since the last post, and nothing too exciting has happened since the last post. Awesome things have happened, just nothing adventure related!

A couple weeks ago I went on a company cruise thru Key West to Cozumel and back to Miami. In Cozumel I went on the 4-wheeler jungle excursion. It hadn't rained in 2-months there, so the dust was prodigious, to say the least. Still a lot of fun, though rather outside the bounds of what I typically do. I did see some colorful birds and some iguanas and get to hear about some ancient local history of the ruins we visited while tearing around on the ATVs.

More recently I went to San Francisco with Cara. We walked around the city, felt the cold air coming in off the bay. I met her brothers and cousins, her parents were there, as well as her sister-in-laws family. A whirlwind of new faces and conversations.
As we drove south, I was reminiscent of the last time I was in San Jose, I had been alone there for work. One day I drove east and hiked in the brown mountains on that side of the valley. Arid qualities abounded, browned grass and earth, dust with rattler belly marks, coyote scat and tracks, and signs warning of cougars. The next day I drove west, to Big Basin, where I walked among the redwoods and sequoias.
Time was short on this trip, we were there only 3 full days; the activities were all family related, as was expected! I enjoyed meeting everyone, all very good people; I know this was important to Cara. The beach was gorgeous, the afternoon temperatures excellent, and wine tasting and lunch on the cliffs fantastic!

I received conformation concerning the Washington Volunteer Vacation. The planning of it was cumbersome, but I have laid out an itinerary, which honestly I don't mind doing, but would rather not as I like going places without a rigid plan - however, on this excursion I needed to be at a certain place at a certain time, and without taking extra days off and spending extra money on lodging/car rental/etc I had to have the events line up, while trying to find decently priced flights.
 I fly into Seattle and have a few hours to go north into downtown on the light rail to see REI (get fuel and whatever else I might need but don't have for the trip), from there I can sight see for a bit Pike's Place whatever else I can walk to - though I will have a full pack on all this time - so I gotta remember to pack light! Then I jump on a bus that goes east over the mountains to Wenatchee. Wenatchee does have an airport, but looking into getting a flight there was difficult, not only did all the flights come thru Seattle, they all had 6+ hours layover times from the arrival flight and I would need to get there another day in advance because of the wait times. From the bus station in Wenatchee - after a 4 hour bus ride thru the mountains - I will be in walking distance of the hotel I will be staying at for the night. The next day I will need to get a ride from the hotel to KEAT, the airport, for the pickup from the volunteers from AHS. From there we drive north to Chelan and get a NPS supply boat to pick us up and take us the ~40 miles up the lake to within 5 miles of our camp for the week.
On the way back it's not quite the same, first we get the boat ride back, 2 hour drive to Wenatchee by 6pm, bus to Seattle, arriving at 11pm. Jet leaving 1am to fly through Houston and then back to BWI by 2pm the following day. That is the marathon day of constant travel - start the day hiking, boating, driving, bus riding, light rail riding, plane riding to finish. Reality will be crashing down on me after a full week of blissful nothingness - no distraction, just waking working, soaking in the beauty. Currently there are 5 people confirmed for the trip. The group leader and another person have the same address in Minnesota. The others are from Flint and Philly.
I'm looking forward to meeting everyone, and working on the trail. The description reads: "Volunteers will perform trail brushing and clearing, and reroute a remote trail climbing toward Bonanza Peak in the Cascades. There is a cold glacier-fed creek flowing near the camp"

In a couple weeks I will be heading down to Trail Days with the Washington Backpackers. I am an organizer, so I rather feel obligated to help out, however, I'd like nothing more than some relaxing time. I do want to go see the ponies on Mt Rogers, logistically it's going to be tough if 20+ people actually show up. I may show up later than Newman, just so I don't have to participate in carrying the 4 metric tons of equipment from his car to the campsite!!!

Update: Volunteer Vacation

January 11, 2011

I just signed up for my first (official) volunteer vacation through American Hiking Society. I assisted in building and maintaining trails since I was a kid. I helped build a trail on a hill over looking the Susquehanna River for one of the Eagle Scout projects in scouts. Later I went on an Order of the Arrow work trip to Philmont, and while that trip showed me a lot of things about myself at the time and how weak I could be if I let myself, the work was great fun, I should have been in a better place to enjoy the trip more.

The trip is in Washington state. I have wanted to go there for a very long time, but one thing or another always seemed to stand in the way. This year had looked like it was also going to be a bust, as most of my days off had been planned for other adventures. But then a miraculous thing happened and my calendar is my own again, to be filled with other adventures; though the companionship will be missed.

Going on the volunteer vacation will do several things for me. The trip will get me out to Washington, give me a destination and a reason for going also since I'm paying now I won't back out. I will not need to depend on coercing anyone from the east to go with me, to align our schedules and hope we'd still be friends. I enjoy having things planned, it's impossible to plan things with people that you can not depend on for anything.

The trip is difficult, in the back country of the Cascades. Looking at the map I want to plan to fly into Seattle and rent a car a few days before the trip, drive around see the area, maybe Couch Surf or hostel around. From there take a bus to the pickup location do the trip and spend the weekend after backpacking close by. I am very excited for this opportunity! Also it will be nice to meet some new people. It is still several months away, but it gives me something to look forward to!

Update 2/24/2011:
So I am looking at the map of where the Company Creek Complex Trail lies... apparently from Wenatchee it's not far north to another town, Chelan, and from there 50 miles of a dammed river or float plane are the only means of accessing the Trail. There is a resort at the end of the lake where the dam is, close to where our trail work will be done, with rates of $200+ with min of 5 day reservation. And I'll be in the, it seems like, very wild mountains that surround this end of the lake for practically free!

From Wikipedia:
"There is no road access to Stehekin, though several miles of road exist there. It is reachable by passenger ferry, by foot over the Cascade Pass, the Lady of the Lake, or private boat from Chelan, or by floatplane. The vehicles in Stehekin have been barged there on Lake Chelan."

 

I am very excited! Even more so than before.

So once we get to Stehekin there is a 5 mile hike to where we will be going. I know it's on Company Creek Complex Trail, which is visible on the NPS website, though I will need to get a better map with some topo. Google Earth allows me to see a bit better detail, it looks like a creek runs up through a valley towards Bonanza Peak, the elevations looks easy, actually. We'll be at 3600' while the peaks surrounding us will loom to 9200' (WOW that's huge!!!) I cannot wait! this actually may change things, depending on expense of using the ferry and timing, I may opt to stay up there afterwards and do some exploring, or even hike out over the Sierras, hmmm.