| Home > Bob Marshall > Bob Journal Vol 3 Most Grammar mistakes are intentional, typed as written in my journal The Bob Journals 5/19/06 - 8/25/06 Volume Three: My Summer as a Trained Government Killer Written by Eric Kroeger 1/13/07 Check these out: Travel Log - Injury Log - Animal Log ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Journals of Eric Kroeger: Summer of 2006 as a United States Forest Service employee in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, working on a backcountry noxious weed crew on the Spotted Bear Ranger District in the South Fork Flathead River Valley. This was Eric’s Third season on the district. He was hired chiefly to spray noxious weeds such as Spotted Knapweed, Yellow Toadflax, Sulfur Cinquefoil, Houndstounge and Leafy Spurge. These weeds are mainly found along the river corridor. However, Eric and his “partner in killing” also got to do many other things besides spraying weeds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Day 1 5/19/06 Well here I am back for another season at Spotted Bear. Woke at 6:00 this morning and finished up a gift for Jess. Then I took off for Shotzberger’s around 7:30. Once there, I helped them get ready for there volunteer hitch, move cows and whatever else needed to be done. Then we took off and arrived at SB (Spotted Bear) at around 17:00. We checked in then went to the barn. Had to fix the broken leaf spring part on the horse trailer. Got greasy and dirty doing that. Oh, I busted a pair of HUGE bolt cutters. Cracked one of the blades clean in half while trying to cut a welded bolt. The river is SO high right now. The highest its been in a long time I guess. Could make for some very interesting stream crossings tomorrow. Especially Mid Creek and Black Bear Creek. It’s been pretty fun hanging out with the girls lately. Haven’t had that since high school. But that’s a whole other boring story. So here is the crew: John, Deena, and Jess Shotzberger, Jess Noble and myself. Oh and Zippy. Can’t forget Zip. So anyway we went down to the footbridge and stood above the raging, muddy South Fork. Good times. Not too many people are at SB right now. Only saw a few. Well, bunking up in the girls’ bunkhouse tonight. (Just cuz it is empty though, so don’t get any ideas). Anyway, it’ll be a fun ride/walk to Black Bear (BB) for the weekend. Then I start work in Hungry Horse on Monday. To bed at 22:06 Day 2 5/20/06 Woke at 6:00. Went with Jess to the barn to feed horses and saddle Snickers and Karen. Met up with Bill Workman then had breakfast. The group and I loaded up and went to Meadow Creek. Had to make two trips cuz we only had one horse trailer. The ride to BB sucked at first because I was in the back and Snickers was walking SO slow. But I got into the center of the string and he did alright. The stream Crossings were like nothing. We stopped for lunch at BB creek and moved a huge rock off the trail. And that is where I figure my watch band broke. So, no more watch. The elk and camp deer are hanging our here at the cabin. The group and I talked for while then brushed the short trail to Hungry Creek. Then the girls and I looked for sheds on the airstrip. Saw a pretty monsterous grizzly track near the cabin. I’m heading back to SB with Snickers tomorrow, my longest solo ride. Hope it goes well! To bed at sometime before dark. Day 3 5/21/06 Woke up and ate breakfast. Got the horses ready, then said goodbye to Shotzbergers and Nobie. I waited for a bit for Snickers to settle down after the other horses left. Then we rode back to Meadow Creek. A pretty boring ride, not too exciting. Had to take a few breaks here and there to wake up. I’m pretty sure I saw a wolf pup. It was the size of a coyote but had no guard hair and had a very young looking face. So that was pretty cool. Got to Meadow Creek, fed Snickers and got him ready for his night alone at Meadow Creek in the corral. I got back to SB, showered, ate, and then drove to Hungry Horse. I set up my tent under some trees by the government housing. Drove to go get some more food. Then back to my tent. To bed around 21:00. Day 4 5/22/06 Had a restless night last night. Getting used to sleeping on the ground again. Went down to the Warehouse and waited for the Tally Lake Weed Crew and Holly. Started work by going through JHA’s, then ended with Herbicide Labels. Pretty boring stuff, but it is all safety. I got a flat tire on my truck, so I put on the spare and went to a tire place in C- Falls after work. I was so bored this evening! I ran around C-Falls for a while then ate dinner up at Hungry Horse Dam then drove up to Coram… Nobody is at HH(Hungry Horse) after hours so it is really boring. So I started making phone calls for something to do…To bed after 10:00 Day 5 5/23/06 Woke at 7:15. Went down to the warehouse to do more training. Discovered that I locked my keys in my truck. I got some tools from the main desk and managed to get my truck unlocked. We really didn’t cover much today…Spray conditions, spray rates, spill plans, and some weed ID. I’m starting to see that I may be in for a long summer. The main reason I’m doing weeds is so I can see Jess this summer. Contrary to other reasons I have made up. But now it looks as if our schedules won’t match up hardly at all. Frustrating. So anyway, I went into Kalispell for the evening. Bought a new watch and a Terry C Johnston novel. Slept for a while in the mall parking lot. Almost got hit by a water balloon randomly. Went back to HH and cleaned out my truck, then played some guitar in the wind. Still very bored. Wishing I was in the backcountry with my friends, or at least at Spotted Bear where there is something to do. To bed at 21:32. Day 6 5/24/06 Woke at 6:00. Met Holly at the station then headed to Tally Lake R.S. Met up with the rest of the crew there then headed to Ronan for the weeds convention. There were crews from all over NW Montana there. We basically went over all the stuff we already did at HH. Except they had noxious weeds that were grown in greenhouses so we could see the live plants and make distinctions. I saw Jack Poppen there so that was cool. We got done at Ronan around 16:00 then back to HH at 18:00. Tonight was far less boring because I dwelled on the thought of being able to winter over at Big Prairie to protect the station from visitor misuse and bear break-ins. I started to plan it out and how I might propose it to Deb. That made the evening go fast. Downed some cold raviolly from a can, read on the novel a bit then to bed at 20:32. Day 7 5/25/06 Woke at 4:45. Started at 5:30 by getting ready to spray around the warehouse. Did some spraying. I had all the PPE but I’m pretty sure I got Tordon all over me. Man. Mosquitoes love weed sprayers! After we triple rinsed our backpack sprayers, I went into C-Falls to get a head net for mosquitoes and some barn boots for spraying. Then I packed up my tent and headed back to SB. The drive seemed long, but it was worth the wait to see some old friends and some new faces. Finally the boredom has ended! I’m crashing in the men’s bunkhouse for June. Crew leader orientation tomorrow. To bed at 22:25. Day 8 5/26/06 We started crew leader orientation today. Did a lot of talk about bears and conduct/ethics. Went over some things about how the district is gonna start using electric fences to deter bears from cabins. After work we hung out at the men’s bunkhouse. I was feeling a bit tired so I went and played flute by the river to pick me up. Around dinner, an incident occurred at Meadow Creek and Alert was called. About 2 hours later, Deb gets on the radio and says they need the crews to help haul the lady out on a litter. So we get some headlamps and drove to Meadow Creek, hiked at an amazing pace to reach the litter coming out. They were relieved to get the back up help. So the crews (including myself) hauled her out to the trailhead and loaded her into the bed of a FS pickup. I hopped in with the paramedics, Bill, and Andy to support the patient while Klug drove to the airstrip over the bumpy road. We loaded her into the helicopter then headed back to the bunkhouse. I’m pretty sure my lats were on the verge of separating from my shoulders on the trip out (I was in the heavy spot) I’ll be a hurtin’ unit tomorrow. To bed at 0:14 on day 9. Day 9 5/27/06 Woke at 6:45 and drove to Meadow Creek to have bacon and pancakes with the Backcountry Horsemen groups. I then went with a bunch FS people a few miles past Meadow Creek to fix some turnpike on the mainline trail. The Backcountry Horsemen were hauling the gravel by mule and we unloaded and spread it out. It was a rainy day and there was plenty of mud to go around. We got back and called it an early day at about 15:00. I immediately went for a nap, then shower, then dinner. Did some guitar and flute playing. Then hung out. Oh yeah, I spotted a good sized black bear just on the other side of the bridge at Meadow Creek. I got a good look at him, only being 40 yards apart. He ran then cut across the trail in front of us. A very good sighting. To bed at 22: 42. Day 10 5/28/06 Woke up in time to start work at 8:00. Today was incredibly exciting! Just kidding. In the morning, Holly and I drove around looking at places. She was showing me places that we would spray later on. Not really sure why. Nothing else to do I guess. But anyway, it was raining today, so we couldn’t spray. After lunch Rich Sievers, Holly and I flagged weeds on the North end of the compound. Then pulled toadflax from the rock bed in front of the station ‘til 16:30. Pretty much hung out after work. I played guitar on the bench overlooking the footbridge for a good 2-3 hours. Then checked my email, came back to the bunkhouse to shoot the breeze, then to bed at 22:18. Day 11 5/29/06 Happy Memorial Day! It was raining again today. It looked hopeful that we might be able to spray so we mixed some herbicide. Never got to spray it though. Holly and I drove up Quintonkton Creek and explored for more weeds to finish off the day. Played horseshoes with Chris Beatty, then had dinner over the campfire. Klug busted out a keg he bought for some reason. It made for a fun but late night. To bed at 23:52. Day 12 5/30/06 Started work at 8:00 today for 1st Aid/CPR training. It went well. I think I was the only one in my row that stayed awake all day. It was a good session though. Wild Bill Tidwell does a good job of teaching. The MCC crew rolled in today. It’s good to meet some new people. I played some guitar on a sweet rock I found up river from the footbridge. Then I explored in the area burned near the barn last week. Scared up some deer. Then we had tons of homemade pizza and hung out in the cookhouse until bedtime. I was talking with Deb our district ranger, even she says that weeds isn’t all that interesting and thanked me for stepping up to the plate. She also said that it is what I make of it; I decided that I must find a way to make this fun. So that’s the plan! To bed at 22:48. Day 13 5/31/06 It felt good just to lie in bed this morning. But I got up in time for work at 8:00. The saw class, however, didn’t start until 8:30. The class was slow. Talked about lots of safety, then maintenance in the afternoon. We went down to the saw shop by the barn and got some hands-on practice with maintenance. Immediately after work, I gave Brian Roat and his girlfriend a ride to Meadow Creek for their little end-of-the-week trek. Then I stopped near a harvest unit a few miles from meadow creek and searched for antlers. Found nothing but a few cool camp spots. I saw 5 elk on the drive back. Once I reached SB, I grabbed some food then headed to the cookhouse to play “pigs” with Cindy and Brad Donaldson. It was a good time. I got second. The Bob Marshall Foundation crew came in today. Haven’t really got to meet them yet, a lot of familiar faces though. Read an article on the Donner Party, took a shower then to bed at 22:54. Day 14 6/1/06 Started saw class again at 8:00 this morning. Talked about techniques and fireline processes. Also, we touched on some crosscut usage. After work, I cleaned up my bunk then headed to HH to meet my mom. Everyone else is doing their chainsaw and crosscut certifications tomorrow. But I will be flying to Boise to be the best man for my friend Scott’s wedding on Sunday the 4th. I will make up my saw certs later. So I’m at the Days Inn in Kalispell now. I shaved off my beard. It’s gonna take a while to get used to how I look since I had jaw surgery. The facial hair covered it up before. Anyway, we have to catch an early flight tomorrow, so to bed at 23:04. Day 15 6/2/06 Woke at 5:00 and went to the airport. Got our tickets, then waited for a while to get on our plane. It was pretty sweet flying out of Kalispell. The first time I have ever flown over Montana. Landed in Salt Lake City, had a very quick turnover, then a flight to Boise. We landed, got a rental car, then headed to Scott’s. Went and got our tux’s fitted. Then I went back to the hotel and took a long nap. Went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Then I went and hung out with Scott at the airport. He works on the non-commercial side. So we got the full tour. Mom went back to the hotel. So Scott and I hung out in the rain, moving Pilatus charter planes into hangers. It was pretty sweet. Then we came back to his house at about 11:00 and played guitar. To bed at sometime really early on day 16. Day 16 6/3/06 Woke around 8:45. Hang out until about 11:00 when we went to Scott’s church to watch their worship practice. Scott has become quite the guitar player since we started playing in highschool. Then we had rehearsal. Mom and I got lost in Ann Morrison Park. Too many one-way streets. Finally rehearsed. The maid of honor looks exactly like my ex- girlfriend and the ring bearer just needs a tic-tacto make him stop fidgeting. Then we ran off to the Bachelor Party which turned out to be a huge Tekken 5 tournament. It was a good time. To bed at 01:00 on day 17. Day 17 6/4/06 Scott’s Wedding day. Woke at about 9:00 then went to worship at Scott’s church. A very good message. Marty is a kick-ass preacher. Then we setup for the reception. There was only one goldfish casualty. Then we set up chairs at the park for the ceremony. Then off to Scott and Marc’s for more Tekken 5 and to change into our tux’ s. Then we took lots of pictures at the park. Trying to coordinate so Scott and Stef wouldn’t see each other until the ceremony. The ceremony went very well. Kinda windy. More pictures afterwards. Then we had the reception back at the church. It felt good to be the best man. I’m glad to do anything for Scott. He is one of my greatest friends FOR SURE! And always will be. So we decorated his car with shaving cream and condoms. Then sent the two lovebirds on their way. Very tired mentally and physically tonight. To bed at 11:54. Day 18 6/5/06 Travel day back from Boise. Had a stressful morning trying to get the tux back to the rental place and trying to get other things done. Then before I knew it, we had landed in Kalispell. Mom dropped me off at Hungry Horse where my truck awaited. Drove to Spotted Bear. Lots of new faces! Played some guitar then to bed. Day 19 6/6/06 Woke at 6:45 for breakfast. Had stock training in the morning, then tools, GPS and other trainings in the afternoon. It feels pretty good to be somewhat of a regular around here. Spotted Bear Olympics tonight. [I rigged up the Spotted Bear Olympic Torch by putting a roll of toilet paper on a stick and dousing it in lighter fluid and white gas. It was awesome until it burned the stick off. Need a metal one for next year.] My team took 3rd. Oh and we cruised on the log carry…11.5 seconds. HOOYAH!! Took a walk to the barn afterwards to unwind. Then to bed. Day 20 6/7/06 Everyone else had 1st Aid/CPR today. The crew leaders did work projects. Holly and I sprayed weeds. First around the fire cache and Stalog, then across the river to spray at Spotted Bear campground. The handle broke off my backpack pump just as a small T- storm hit. So I got pretty wet. ALERT flew in to do their presentation. Then I played guitar until dinner. My body is not up to par. I had a cold sore last week and a cold this week. Not a good run. So my voice is very low and the coughing is rough. Thank God I have a bit of medicine in my first aid kit. After dinner, Jess and I met others at the barn to load our packs for the pack test tomorrow. Then we came back and listened to the FWP guy talk. I randomly won a rod and real from him. Then I played guitar for Jess over at the trailer. Talked a while, then I took a shower, then to bed at 23:34. Day 21 6/8/06 Pack test this morning. My goal was to catch Jess by the halfway point. Which I did, so we hiked back and ended in 41 minutes or something. Then there was defensive driving which was boring, but I managed to stay awake. Then it was “round robin” after lunch with bear safety, weeds, food, river crossings, fire and other various topics. Took a short nap after work. Then ate dinner and hung out till the barn dance. I got slightly intoxicated tonight. Jess, Brianna and I worked on a half bottle of whiskey after a few beers. (So I’ m still a little tipsy as I write.) I got tipsy, but not too tipsy. So I figured that was a good time to stop. I must say that the alchol made the barn dance a lot more fun compared to barn dances in the past. Well, I’ll be in a world of hurt tomorrow if I don’t get some sleep, so to bed at 1:23 on day 22. Day 25 6/12/06 Nothing journal worthy happened in the last few days. [The front country isn’t nearly as exciting as the backcountry.] I figure this being my 3rd season I will leave the boring stuff out. We had a good spray day today. Used the boom truck and slayed a bunch of weeds. Day 26 6/13/06 Saw a huge bull elk on the way to Meadow Creek today. The widest rack I have ever seen! Holly and I sprayed around Bunker Creek, then made our way through part of Outfitter’s Roost for the day. Came back and fished at the confluence. Got some bites, but I don’t think the torrential downpour helped much. So it turns out my crew will be having a mascot. A very habituated young gopher who snores. [Oh excuse me…Columbian Ground Squirrel.] Smerf is his name and he kicks ass. We are devising ways to be able to take him on hitch. It will be fricken sweet! All right, anyway, to bed at 23:25. Day 27 6/14/06 Still spraying on Meadow Creek Road today. Saw a big herd of elk and a bull moose on the way up. Finished Outfitter’s Roost and spent lots of time at Meadow Creek Trail Head. I did some exploring while I sprayed towards Lost Jack Creek. There is a 30 foot waterfall back there! Had no idea it existed, [and I guess everyone else did.] Went fishing with Brianna after Bill Crane’s farewell potluck. Didn’t catch anything, but we climbed up and down some good cliffs under the Spotted Bear bridge. Then I played with Smerf for a bit then to bed at 23:26. Day 28 6/15/06 It rained pretty heavily today, so we didn’t spray. Dan Pickar is working with us now. We drove past the Kelly hump on Bunker Creek and dodged broken trees and rocks until we got back to the bridge back there. It was nice to see a unique place for a change (Chipmunk Fire). Saw plenty of elk today and a nice little black bear which was actually orange in color. We drove up Spotted Bear River road and checked out some spots. Saw a few really nice bucks today, too. Came back and emptied the big tank on the boom truck and put the remaining mix into our backpack sprayers. Then we rinsed out the big tank by spraying it on the airstrip. Scared some big elk off of there too. Slept after work. All the crews are gone now. Just weeds and fire crew left at Spotted Bear. So it is REALLY quiet. To bed at 22:51. Day 29 6/16/06 Had my chainsaw certification today. John said I had everything I needed to be a B sawyer, but I lack experience with the chainsaw. Which I definitely agree with. So I am an A sawyer now on chainsaw. I still have my B on crosscut. After lunch we went up to Jungle Creek to spray. Lots of knapweed up there and one of the coolest gorges in the front country! It is a super deep ravine with rock sides, 30 ft waterfall and an awesome “land bridge” across it. Definitely worth checking out. Heading to Libby after work. Day 30-31 At Home. Day 32 6/19/06 Headed up to Spotted Bear Lake today. The weed spraying was pretty good once we actually found the lake. I shaved my head last weekend and so my neck is vulnerable to the bird-sized mosquitoes. We sprayed TONS of daisy. I hate daisies. They are everywhere! After lunch we came back and sprayed the compound AGAIN. Rich keeps marking more knapweed with those little orange flags. But we are starting to see results from our spraying. Which is good. Wrote Jess a letter, took a nap, glued antelope teeth and played with Smerf. To bed at 23:09. Day 33 6/20/06 We sprayed around the compound again this morning, hitting around the office and the main bridge. Then we headed North to Peter’s Creek, then to Crossover River Access where I found a little Hello Kitty doll…I mailed it to Brianna for the hell of it. Then we finished up at Lower Twin Creek. Lots of K-nap there. After work I slept, then fished, then read. A good day of spraying. To bed at 23:35. Day 34 6/21/06 First day of summer. Not as much celebration as at Big Prairie. I had the day off to go to town and get my braces off. SWEET! So now I only have half of the original metal on my skull. I stopped in at Montana Fur Company. That’s a sweet store. Bought a buffalo horn and a large turtle shell for some mountain man dishes for the summer. More projects for the list. To bed at 0:40 on day 35. Day 35 6/22/06 Sprayed at Spotted Bear Ranch and Diamond R to kick off the morning. Then headed to Soldier and Tin Creek to finish off the day. I swore I was gonna nap after work, but ended up sanding on the turtle shell then watching some Family Guy on Isaac’s computer. [This is what happens when I’m not in the backcountry. Argh!] A pretty easy day. Parents are driving up tomorrow. To bed at 23:10. Day 36 6/23/06 Went and sprayed at Log Landing and Tin Creek today. Ended up at the airstrip. They were slinging propane loads to the repeater on Mt. Stony. Hung out after work watching Kill Bill and other movies. My parents rolled in around 19:30 with Rex, my dog. So I showed them around Spotted Bear for a bit until they got hungry. Then hung out some more. Showed Dan and Brianna my website, then to bed at 0:20 on day 37. Day 37 6/24/06 Woke at 8:00 and cooked a big breakfast for me, Brianna and Dan. Then went over to meet my parents at Spotted Bear Campgroun, showed them the barn and the airstrip. Then we headed to Meadow Creek, hung out with Laird for a while. Showed them The Gorge, Lost Jack Falls, and the Jungle Creek gorge. Came back and napped then went up Spotted Bear River to Big Bill corrals and down to Spotted Bear Falls. That’s quite a steep trail and there were a bunch of people down there fishing. The whitefish were leaping out of the water, trying to get up the falls. My dog Rex got pretty tired while we hiked back up the steep trail to the suburban. Anyway, came back, showered, then invited Ali and Brianna over to my parents camp for dinner. We hung out there until about 23:00. I’m glad my parents came up. It’s been fun showing them the front country portion of my office. To bed at 23:33. Day 38 6/25/06 Woke up at 8:00 and saw my parents off around 10:30. They came over to the office and got to meet Deb (the ranger) and all that. So after they left, I grabbed my flint knapping stuff and headed to the river. It felt good to run barefoot and shirtless. I worked on a few pieces of obsidian until I drove a ½” flake into the palm of my hand. [I got it out and stopped the bleeding.] Then I went back up to the bunkhouse for lunch and a long nap. Read up on ground squirrels and learned about Smerf’s diet and habits. Cleaned his cage, then hung out and watched Shaun of the Dead. To bed at 0:42 on day 39. Day 39 6/26/06 Woke around 8:00. Got lunch and stuff ready then headed to the base of Crossover Mtn. The climb was steep and I made the mistake of going up the wrong ridge. So I had to back about half way down to cross the creek and get where I wanted to go. I took a break on top of some cliffs, but was enticed to go upward along the steep slopes and through the blazing heat. [Before I knew it, I had drank all my water.] There is no tree cover on that side of Crossover, so the sun was quickly zapping my energy. I got to the point where I knew [I wasn’t gonna make the peak without dying, so] I had to hook back. I followed a forested ridge back down. It was so hot today. Took a nap after the hike, then hung out. Went swimming in the cold South Fork before dinner. Had crout and sausage. Yum! Played with Smerf for a while. Made some sinew strings. Then to bed at 22:11. Day 40 6/27/06 Spent the morning getting ready to go to the backcountry, which I’m disappointed to say won’t be until the 29th. Thought it was gonna be tomorrow. Anyway, went swimming twice today and then killed the evening by catching really nice cutthroats at Spotted Bear Falls. Tally Lake crew came in today along with the Hodag crew back from their weekend. So the bunkhouse is packed. Everything smells like shit tonight because they are pumping out the outhouses. Eyuck! Welp, to bed at 22:50. Day 41 6/28/06 Wow, I’m pretty sure that today was the honest-to-God definition of Scroggin’ the Pooch. I did nothing today. [I felt kinda guilty, but there was nothing to do!] We hung out at the barn while the rest of my crew got their tack ready. So I pretty much hung out and chatted with Sara, Gail and Guy. [I didn’t need to get anything ready because I didn’ t want a horse for the backcountry. Also, I didn’t get a horse even if I did want one. There wasn’t enough to go around.] After work, I just relaxed until we went fishing again after dinner. Caught a few whitefish. I’m getting kinda frustrated about how our schedule is going. I want to fix it, but hopefully I can just deal with it. I can’t find my damn sock for tomorrow. To bed at 22:25 after one more look for socks. Day 42 6/29/06 Finally! The Backcountry! We packed up at Spotted Bear then headed to Meadow Creek. We helped Bill unload since he had just rolled in. Had a bit of a rodeo with Patty. Smerf survived it since he was top loaded on D.O. (who was also in the rodeo.) We finally hit the trail at 11:00. I busted out in front of the horses to go “scout for people coming out.” Basically, I just didn’t want to be stuck behind horses all day. I caught up with Sara W. and passed her string near Black Bear Creek. All the creeks were very low for this time of year. I rolled in to Black Bear at 14:30, an hour before the horses. Went fishing with Jess after work. Malone, Kevin, an her are here doing phoneline. [Dan killed a chipmunk with a slingshot.] Hung out, fed a chipmunk to Smerf. Couldn’t pull him off of it! Guy is here as well. Played some flute before hitting the hay for the night. To bed at 21:47. Day 43 6/30/06 Woke at 5:30 to help out with the stock. Didn’t sleep real well last night. The rain woke me up every time it started. I left Black Bear at 7:30 with Malone’s crew, but they stopped at the top of the hill to hang some 9 wire. So I went for the mind-numbing, boring, 21 miles to Big Prairie. I saw a bull moose and a little black bear at close range near Mud Lake. Then, I pushed on. I got sucked into the vortex past 2-Mile Meadow. But made it to BP safely at 14:30. Hung out for about 2 hours until my crew came in. Then just relaxed the rest of the evening. My right knee is starting to give me some problems. And my feet are kinda hurting. To bed at 21:45. Day 44 7/1/06 Sprayed the airstrip today. Lots of meticulous pacing back and forth searching for Sulphur Cinquefoil. It got really hot and too dry to spray at about noon. So we finished work by getting ready for tomorrow. After work, I was gonna take a nap, but then I got thinking about a new plan for the phone poles that will have to go up through the burn. The key is to have it set up so when the trees fall on the wire and knock out the hangs, the crews will not have to climb the thin poles to rehang them. So my design allows the wire to fall out of the pole (so the wire doesn’t snap), but then you can rehang the wire kinda like a flagpole. After the trees have been cleared off, of course. Anyway, so I worked on that for a while and actually built a small working model of it. Tad liked it. Then I just hung out. Dan and Ron caught some fish for dinner. So we had a big ol fish fry. Killed a mouse in the candy bin. Played a game of shoes with Ron and Brandon. Dan and I lost. A decent sunset tonight. Very windy. I finally took a damage inventory on my body. Turns out I have a sunburn coming on and MANY mosquito/spider bites. My lower legs look like I have chicken pox. But they are all bites. [I figure I just needed to get my Insect Poison Blood Level Content up to a good level for summer. Then the bites don’t itch anymore.] The wound on my hand is healing well and my right knee is doing better. To bed at 22:16. Day 45 7/2/06 45 days at SBRD so far! Geez, and it’s only the beginning of July. Woke at 04:30 and started at 5:00. We got the stock ready then headed to the Youngs Ford. I hiked as I always do, catching every stench of every bowel movement any of the critters had. [Couldn’t get out in front of the horses on that day.] We sprayed out a total of 21 gallons around the ford. I found a nice 5pt elk shed in the trees. We took the west side back through the hot burn of the Gordon Fire. The black holds lots of heat in and there is NO shade. The wind also makes for some sketchy situations with all of those dead trees. Crossed at the Wire Ford. The water was belly deep on the horses. Still pretty high. I was shuttled across on horseback. We scouted a big flood plain in the river, then dropped our backpack sprayers at Chef’s Camp. After work was pretty relaxing, ended at 16:30. So it was a long day. Took a shot of whiskey, then a nap, then dinner. Afterwards, I had a sudden burst of energy that I had to exploit. So I hiked up a really steep ridge on Brown Sandstone. [One of the coolest views of Big Prairie when the sun is setting on a clear day.] On the way down I found some bones, so I gathered them up and took a good look at them. Horse bones. Something felt weird about it after I came to the conclusion. Made it back to the station around 21:30. Found out that Dan and I will be stationed in the backcountry until we leave. [WOOHOO!] So I’m very pleased with that news. To bed at 22:16. Day 46 7/3/06 Another early morning. Hit the trail to Chef’s Camp at 5:00. Fought the hoards of mosquitoes and sprayed the floodplain upriver from the camp. Then headed just downriver and started to spray there. I sprayed a total of 8 gallons. Holly, Dan and I stashed our pumps in the brush for tomorrow. Ron and Brandon have tomorrow off. After work, I took a nap. [Deb arrived today and she] made some pies for dessert. Sat around as a porch monkey swatting the skeets until bedtime. Tad said him and I may have to build a new couch for the bunkhouse. That would be a sweet project. Anyway, another early one tomorrow. To bed at 22:28. Day 47 7/4/06 Happy Independence Day! It was definitely a good one. Holly, Dan and I headed to where we left off yesterday and continued to the Big Prairie bridge. There was a lot of pond hopping and beaver dam crossing to get from A to B, but it was worth it. I found some good stuff today: A coyote jaw (took the fang), a couple year old 4pt elk shed (no chews), and a year old spike. Oh and an eagle feather, but I donated it to the station. Found a dead elk in a log jam just upriver from Big Prairie. [And like an idiot I forgot to check it for ivories.] Saw some baby sandpiper chicks (very tiny). I only sprayed 3 gallons today. Knapweed was pretty patchy. Took an hour nap, then headed to the river to fish. I used salmon eggs with a bobber and caught a few. About a 10 incher for food and a good 14-15 incher whom I left in the river for another day. Played some shoes again tonight. Got whooped again as well. Unleashing the fury on knapweed at White River Butte tomorrow. Might even get a horse! Anyway to bed at 22:14. Day 48 7/5/06 Another early one this morning. I headed out on Snickers behind Sara W. who was headed to White River as well. I led Wylie off of my horse. I got off at White River Butte Campsite trail. Sara took the horses on to the White. Met up with my crew down at the site. We set to work right away. Ron and I covered a good size stretch. I sprayed 12 Gallons. We sprayed a total of 48 gallons between the five of us. A new record for sure! Ron ventured to another site downriver and found a weird 9pt elk shed. Probably weighs over 15lbs. After I finished my plot, I went searching as well, but scared up a big ol bear at about 30ft. I had no idea it was there until it ran off, huffing and crashing through the brush. Never got a good look at it. On the way out, I fixed a leg-breaker hole in the trail down to the site. Just put a big rock in it. Got some rain on the way back. Rained all afternoon. Planned my weekend, played cribbage, dozed, listened to music. To bed at 22:28 Day 49 7/6/06 Started at 6:00 this morning. Hiked to the White River to spray. Found a nice but pretty chewed up 5pt mulie shed 10ft off the mainline trail. Surprised someone else hadn’t already found it. Ron and I rode from the ford to about a mile and a half up the White and killed some K-nap. Crossed over to the south side, sprayed, then headed back to the ford. Caught up with Dan, Holly and Brandon. Then headed back to Big Prairie. The horses rocketed back, and I was frustrated cuz I was going about 4.5 miles per hour and I wasn’t even close to keeping up. And the bugs were really bad. ARGH! I lounged the evening away. We got back at 17:30. Cooked up my fish for dinner. To bed at 22:05 Day 50 7/7/06 Started at 6:00. I put in the new post on the north gate (the post with the circle on it). It was a fun project. Got pitch all over my arms, so now it looks like I’ve actually been working. Then I cleared trail to Hammer Cr. with Ashley. The heavy wind last night reeked havoc on the mainline trail from Youngs Ford to Black Bear. So I botched my weekend plans to do the Flathead Alps and decided to get some overtime clearing out the “impassable” jackpots around Mud Lake. So I go back to work tomorrow. Delved into a bit of “Chiskey” tonight. I couldn’t even feel the two shots. Anyway to bed at 22:36. Day 51 7/806 Had a safety meeting at 7:30. I headed north with Jess, Kevin Devany, Ashley Coe. We hiked with a goal of reaching Salmon Forks. So we basically hiked and cut logs out of the trail. And it was DAMN hot! And it was in the burn. We took lunch at Phil Creek in the shade. Then ran out of water and finished for the day just a mile or so south of Mud Lake. We’ll be back tomorrow for sure. Lots of logs to go. [I was so thirsty after work. When we forded the river to Salmon forks, I dropped into the water and just started gulping. Oh man it was awesome.] Pretty much the majority of Big Prairie folk are here at Salmon Forks. [Slammin’ Forks as some call it.] Everyone is either on the Mudlake Jackpot Crew, weeds, or weekenders. We just hung out for the evening. A hard day of hot work. To bed at 21:18. Day 52 7/9/06 Started at 6:00. Crossed the high river with Jess firmly attached to my backpack. We went straight to work averaging 46 L.P.H. (logs per hour). We went from where we left off yesterday and cleared to Lewis Cr. Ninety-two logs in that stretch. [On our way back across the river, Jess was once again holding on to my backpack. But those rocks on the bottom were so slippery. We seriously went about 20 feet without having any control over our footing. But we managed to stay standing…It was amazing!]After that, we cleared around the trails in the Salmon Forks vicinity. We got done at 11:00 with a total of 103 trees in 5 hours. Then we headed to Big Salmon Lake for some R&R. Stayed up there in the sun for about another 5 hours. Then came back and hung out. Had some chicken over the fire tonight. [A camp deer was later seen licking the chicken off of the grill.] Then we just hung out around the fire until about 23:00. Day 53 7/10/06 Woke up late and hit the trail back to Big Prairie with Tom and Kevin B. Cleared trail on the way and forded at the Holbrook Ford. I can definitely feel that my body does not work as smoothly as it did my first year here. My knees get to hurting way easier then they used to. And it’s only been a few years! Anyway, I made it to Big Prairie in one piece. I ate, showered, and slept. I hung out for the remainder of the day. Played guitar (Steve’s), played flute, planned the new bunkhouse couch. Then, to bed at 23:21. Day 54 7/11/06 Slept in and woke at 7:30. Did laundry in the morning. A wounded horse is here. It looked to be in poor shape (a.k.a. on the verge of death.) It couldn’t stand. But it was on its wrong side and couldn’t get up from that side. So we all grabbed a leg and rolled the horse over. Then he stood right up! He is still in rough shape though, really stiff and can’ t really walk. We led him slowly over to the corral and I put him in the round pen. I checked on him periodically throughout the day. A few of Chef’s boys came over and we all hung out and chatted. Then Jess and I headed to the river for a few hours. Worked on the tan and caught some fish. There are quite a few people on the South Fork right now (outfitters, etc.) After dinner I played Steve’s guitar, then spent some time alone (because I didn’t get my weekend to get away from people.) Anyway, to bed at 22:21. Day 55 7/12/06 Woke at 5:00 and left BP right as the station started stirring. Saw a good 40 head of elk in Lime Creek. It’s always cool to see a good sized herd. Met with my crew at White River. I sprayed the confluence camp then hopped the river in my boxers. We all met up again and sprayed along the west side of the river. I found a pretty old coyote skull. Left it. I cut through the burn on the way to Salmon Forks. Didn’t find anything, but it was some cool country. Hung out and told stories in the cabin and read more on my book. The Fetterman Massacre is about to go down! Anyway, to bed at 22:32. Day 56 7/13/06 Started at 6:00 and headed back to Murphy Flats. Not a ton of knapweed today. What we did find was in a huge big patch. Dan found an old 5pt elk shed. We finished a bit early. Dan and I are planning a War on Weeds movie for when we spray in Little Salmon Park. It will be sweet if we get around to finishing it. I’m also thinking about buying Dan’ s extra video camera from him… Chased some camp deer after work, napped and read. Played some cribbage. (lost by 4 points!) Then worked on some script for the film. To bed at 21:45. When I cleared Mud Lake last weekend, I lost a contact lens on the trail. So my vision has been slightly impaired for the last few days. Well, tonight just before bed, I chased one last camp deer. I blinked a certain way and my remaining contact fell out somewhere in the dusky light, probably never to be found. SO, I guess I am royally screwed until I can get to Spotted Bear and possibly get some new eyes sent my way. Over and out. Shit. Day 57 7/14/06 Today was the “water day” for us. We started (me and Dan) along the river spraying weeds around the ford. We met up with Brandon and Holly and island-hopped the river, fighting the K-nap the whole way. It was a high temperature day, but the constant wading through water kept us all cool enough. Dan found a weird 6pt elk set on the West side across from Phil Creek. Jess, Laura and Kevin B. rolled in today for another hitch of climbing sketchy trees, hanging phoneline. Good luck to them. I hope they can move on later this summer. Hung out for the evening. Not too many camp deer around tonight. Must have scared them off. To bed at 21:47. Day 58 7/15/06 Travelling to Black Bear today. There was a nice 5pt mulie hanging around Salmon Forks when we left. I bolted ahead of the group a little before Little Salmon Creek. A nice new bridge there. About a week back, we released Smerf under the tree in front of the bunkhouse at Big Prairie. Also, the crew got the break in the phoneline fixed today. So Tad rings Dan up from Big Prairie and says they saw Smerf being chased by a badger! The two of them ran off out of sight. I hope the little guy made it OK. I met Lance Boyd (UM Jazz Band Instructor) when I arrived at Black Bear. They are camping across the river for a few nights. Hmm. What else. MCC crew is staying here as well. And that’s about it. To bed at 21:50. Day 59 7/16/06 We sprayed Little Salmon Park today. I’ve never seen so much Toadflax. We mixed up the strongest mix of Tordon we had and gave ‘em hell. We were wrapped up and out of there at 11:45. Dan and I made it to Black Bear in ONE HOUR, which means we traveled at pretty much FIVE miles an hour. The fastest I have ever clocked myself at while hiking. Once we got back to the locked up cabin I realized my key was still a good 3 miles back on the mules. So we climbed through the telephone cabinet to get inside. When the crew arrived, Dan and I headed up to the water system and diverted more water into the trench leading to the filter system. We worked for a good two hours beefing up the levy and clearing out the trench. Basically, ½ of Hungry Creek now runs through the trench, past the filter system, and into the airstrip just like it should. WE got the system to maximum flow. Everywhere that it could leak out of the trench it was leaking. We tried to fix them all until we realized we had so much water that it was backing up behind a culvert it was to pass through. Optimal flow has been reached. Went swimming with MCC crew when we got back, then hung out. Today went really fast. But I love building dams and playing in the stream. It makes me feel like a kid again. To bed at 21:29. Day 60 7/17/06 Sprayed around Black Bear Cabin today. Started off on the airstrip. Slaying the sulfur cinquefoil and houndstongue. Then moved to the benches below the airstrip and around the cabin itself. Dan, Holly, and I bumped on to Kelly Point on horseback to kill some more houndstongue and burdock. Opened up the floodgate on the water system dam. [We had so much water that it was overflowing the dam and going into the forest.] Need to get that grass growing on the airstrip for the stock. Guy and the river crew came in. They brought me some glasses and contacts from home. Sweet! Now I can shed hunt again! So we got about 14 or so people staying here. The river is a highway with rafters and fishermen constantly coming down. I don’t remember it being this busy in years past. I found that I prefer washing up at the river after the sun is set and dusk is just starting to settle in. It really cools ya down! Anyway, sleeping on the airstrip tonight. Day 61 7/18/06 Headed to some unknown territory today! It took us about 4½ hours to get from Black Bear to the Rambler Creek/Black Bear Creek trail junction. We slayed some knapweed in the awesome cliffy country. I rode Ribbon today, a friendly horse but a shitty ride. [Ribbon has this weird thing he does with his hind legs. He will be walking just fine, but then he goes on 3 legs like the 4th leg is cramping up. The resulting hopping is tolerable when you are on the mainline trail, but not so much when you are on a steep sidehill.] A ten hour day. Hung out at the river in the shade. Full house again tonight. Malone’s crew came in. Sitting around the fire this evening. I hope the elk won’t wake me up when I sleep on the airstrip again tonight. Day 62 7/19/06 Brandon and I sprayed at Black Bear Creek today. We finished at about 11:00. Then I headed out to Meadow Cr. Picked some huckleberries on the long straight stretch past Mid Creek. Met quite a few groups coming in. I waited at Meadow Creek for a few hours, then Laird took me to the station. Grabbed a bite to eat then headed home to Libby. Jess Noble was in town so I stopped by her place before I got home. Day 63 7/20/06 Mostly at home today. Had a chiropractor and optometrist appointment. Stopped at Shotzberger’s and dropped off the antelope skulls. Then headed to Spotted Bear after a few stops in Kalispell. Got in at about 23:00. Went straight to bed. Day 64 7/21/06 [Day 64 marks the beginning of the coolest part of my summer. The rest of the weed crew left the backcountry, and my partner in killing, Dan, and I became our boss’s right hand men. We were the only people who were not obligated to a construction project, so we were available for any task.] Woke at 4:15. Got ready to hit the trail to Big Prairie at about 5:45. A long day of endless hiking. Powered by nothing but a few powerbars and “Super Power Tang,” we rolled into Big Prairie 32 miles later. The hike felt good. My body cooperated nicely. I even came in with energy to spare. If Jess wasn’t gone when I got here, I was gonna go another 11 to Basin! But I guess I’ll do it tomorrow. We made it in less than 12 hours. Partially slowed by taking breaks. Took a nice nap in the Oasis of Phil Creek. I’m flat worn out tonight. 21:45. Day 65 7/22/06 I tried my best to wake up early after yesterday’s jaunt. Woke at 8:00. Left Big Prairie at 8:30 after trying to get myself motivated. I slowly coaxed my stubborn body into trekking another 11 miles to Basin. The cabin was locked up, and I wasn’t sure if Shotzbergers were meeting here or elsewhere. But their stuff was inside after I opened the cabin. Waited for an hour, reading/napping. They showed up and Jess, Amanda, Wes, and I lounged at the creek about 30 feet from the front porch. Ate dinner and played a LONG game of Koob (stick game). Wes and I won over Jess and her dad. So we didn’t have to do dishes. We got the electric fence going (the next attempt to keep bears out of Basin). So I am sleeping outside on the ground next to the porch, making sure the horses don’t run off. I am getting “ticked” to sleep by the fence. To Jumbo tomorrow! 21:03. Day 66 7/23/06 Coyotes woke me up at 4:30. [I remember a packrat running into my foot then climbing over my legs to get to the porch that morning.]Then I lied in a half-dreaming state until John came out at quarter after five. Ate breakfast then headed to Jumbo with everybody on horses…and me on foot. I appear to be in incredible shape. Jumbo Mtn was a cake walk. The lookout was amazing, not only the fact that there was a great place to take a break at the peak, but the rock ledges and spires were unique and awesome. I went without a shirt the majority of the day. It was supposed to get up to 105º or something. I don’t think it did because some clouds moved in. The first clouds I’ve seen in a week or two. We got down from Jumbo a little after noon. Then headed a mile north of Camp Creek to the swimming hole. On the way, I was debating why I let myself be convinced to walk another mile to swim when we had just crossed the river. But really, I feel like an animal because of the hiking I have done so far this weekend. As long as I protect my knee… The swimming hole was a great idea after all. I took Flash into the pool to the point where he had to swim. So I just hung on to his neck and let him swim around. Pretty cool. Got back to the cabin and COULD NOT drink enough water. After waiting so patiently for the water filter to squeeze out a enough to fill my bottle with a few ounces, I just gave up on it and drank like a deer from the stream. So muggy and hot this evening. Had to keep dunking my head in the creek. [Looking back, this was probably my rough weekend catching up with me. It sounds like I was overheated from being dehydrated.] Haven’t really had a satisfying meal in about 3 days, so I’ll be glad to get to Big Prairie tomorrow. Sleeping outside the electric fence tonight. Less “ticking” and hopefully less packrats. To bed at 21:47. Day 67 7/24/06 Woke up early again and saw Jess’s family off. Her and I hiked back to Big Prairie and arrived at about 10:00. Saw a young bull moose on the way. I tried to dodge the heat by staying in the bunkhouse, but I was eventually convinced to go to the river. Out of staters seem to have a skewed perception of true Montanan fishermen. They think we all are hardcore fly fishermen. Well, the true Montanan knows how to get fish when he needs fish. I caught about 20 today and had an uncountable number of bites. Hook, bobber, and salmon eggs. [We stood out in the river, and the fish were right at our feet.]I caught a 20 incher about 3 feet from where Jess was standing. Hung out the rest of the day. Worked on the antelope hide. And maybe had a bit too much of Wu-tang tonight. Being drunk only makes me feel good for about an hour, then I just get bored of it. Even while drunk I recognize how stupid it makes people. Anyway, to bed at 2:10 on day 68. Day 68 7/25/06 Forced myself to wake at 7:00. Played guitar on the porch cuz no one else was up. George Boffman took off at about 7:30.[Turns out he’s a really nice guy.] No life around the station until almost 9:00. I spent the morning smoking trout and working on the antelope hide. I finished it. Just need to smoke it now. I napped in the afternoon. Anything to get my mind off of the heat. It barely gets below 60º at night now. So it never really cools off. After dinner, I climbed Packrat at sundown. It was relaxing. The bunkhouse is hot. Sleeping outside tonight. 22:16. Day 69 7/26/06 I got too damn cold last night. And all I had was 2 wool blankets and a mantie tarp. So at about 4:00 I moved into the bunkhouse. Woke at 5:50, almost late for when I wanted to start work. Choked down some Raisin Bran then began doing my chore in the bunkhouse, cleaning up around the sinks. Jess and I mopped the floor. Then I met up with Kevin B and we rehandled 4 single jack hammers. Dan joined us to help fix fence (jackleg) south of the barn. Soon Veranda and Jess came to help. We did that until about noon. Then we set to work designing the new couch for the bunkhouse. Once we got a rough idea, we went across the airstrip, dropped some small trees and gathered out materials. After work, Dan, Jess and I headed to the river straight back from Big Prairie. Found a nice beach to hang out on until dinnertime. After dinner we swatted sweatflies on the porch. Then Jess and I exchanged backmassages. I hadn’t had one for a good while, and haven’t given one for even longer. Jess is pretty small compared to me so I had to be careful not to squish her. Just kidding, Jess. Even though my hands are as big as her feet. Haha. To bed at 22:25. Day 70 7/27/06 Is it this late in the season already? The group from yesterday, we all started working on the couch first thing. We then did some fence for a few hours, installing new jackleg. Came back and did more couch after lunch. Somehow, I was drilling too hard and turned our only working brace into a ratchet. Don’t ask. So I had to construct a makeshift drill with re-bar and hose clamps. It worked, but is painstakingly slow. So the couch project came to a screeching halt until I get all those holes drilled. Hung out after dinner. Deb and a few other USFS head honchos are in for the night. To bed at 22:27. Day 71 7/28/06 Gave the Big Prairie airstrip its second and last dose of Tordon for the year. Deb, Bill and all left this morning, along with Jess, Malone, and Kevin. So it got hot and dry pretty quick today. So after that point we did the record and some small things that needed done. Then we got the drill bit working with a big C-clamp and finished drilling the holes for the couch. It’s coming together pretty nicely. It’ll need some tightening up. (Tad) and (Guy and Keegan) came in separately. Colt, Tad’s dog, ran off to find shade on the way and strolled in at about 18:00. After dinner, I cut the armrests for the couch, will build on them tomorrow. Also, put a chain on the tool shed door to keep it from swinging open and letting hot air in. MUST STAY COOL. To bed at 22:21. Day 72 7/29/06 Headed down to Bartlett Creek Confluence and killed knapweed. I found an additional site and a bunch of wild raspberries. If ya don’t stop , you won’t waste time. Same goes for hucks. We wandered our way back to the station, gawking at the big ‘ol cutties [cutthroat trout] we could see swimming in the water. Came back and worked on the couch again. We got the armrests to fit and put it together to see what it would look like. The couch has some major torque on it. So we will shave down some spoke ends to give it a looser fit, then wedge them in place. It’s almost done! Just need to order some mantie canvas to finish it off. The smell of the wood chips while drilling is phenomenal. I want to eat them. Took a long nap and a shower. Red Eagle Fire in Glacier blew up today. Anna said she could see the column from Jumbo. 27.5 mph wind today. It’s nice being able to check the weather on the RAWS station. To bed at 21:48. Day 73 7/30/06 Lots of elk on the airstrip this morning. Dan and I headed to the Wire Ford on the west side and began spraying. Lots of knappies. Today was only 75°, very nice but still bone dry. I found a wolf killed elk north of Gordon Ford. Took the skull and some hooves. We ran out of juice and spray weather, so we stashed our packs about a mile south of Big Prairie for tomorrow. Came back and finished sizing the couch. It looks awesome! It is rock solid and is square to about 1/16”. How come I can build stuff better with primitive hand tools then I can with power tools? I’m proud of the couch. Now it just needs the mantie tarp to finish it off. Bob came in today. We have had all 3 packers in the last 4 days. It’s been pretty cool. Had some awesome cheesy chicken bacon tomato BBQ sandwiches for dinner. Payed canasta afterwards. Bob and I beat Cindy and Dan with an amazing comeback and a very lucky hand. Sweet! Wrote a letter tonight. To bed at 22:35. Day 74 7/31/06 Man it was cold this morning! RAWS said it was 28.5°F. That’s cold for July! Dan and I headed off after waiting for Cindy’s biscuits and gravy. We sprayed the newly named Butcher Point (a big peninsula on the river south of BP). I am so tired of looking at knapweed. Ugh. We sprayed 21.5 gallons between the two of us. It was a lot of spraying. After lunch we moved the new “unbearable bins” to the loft and put the packs of shingles up there as well with the pulley. Then Dan and I set off to bring down a tree for the new hitch post for in front of the station. We made a instructional video of it with Dan’s camera. Good times. After work, I took a quick nap then went fishing. We went to go get the ivories out of the dead elk in the log jam from a month back, but the wolves already had it all chewed up. So I went and caught some nice cutthroats instead. Played Canasta again after dinner. Dan and I lost miserably to Tad and Cindy. Also, I am mastering lighting matches with my thumbnail. To bed at 22:07. Day 75 8/1/06 Holy! It’s August already. Although, it has felt like it for the last month. We rounded up the stock and headed off towards familiar territory around 9:00. On our way to Danaher country, Dan and I found the Flatiron slump impassible. So I wasted a lot of energy jogging back to Tad who was bringing the mules down. But I had to let him know before he got to a place where he couldn’t turn around. Dan and I did some fixing on it, but it will take a lot more than a two man crew to fix that mess. Figured maybe a boulder came off the cliffs above and smashed out the criblogs. It’s ugly. The trail seemed long, but easier than I remember. We got to Danaher Cabin at about 16:00. Slept for a bit. Tad came in and we got the stock set for the night. So our stock includes Shane (Tad’s horse), Punch and Judy, Zilla and Billy, Sandy and of course my favorite buddy, Eagle. After a burrito dinner, Dan and I headed onto and behind the hills north of the cabin. Found a couple dead elk parts but nothing too exciting. Then, settled in for the night. My first night in Danaher Cabin. Now I have stayed in every cabin in the wilderness. To bed at 21:45. Day 76 8/2/06 Headed home today…well last year’s home. Dan, Tad and I took off for Limestone Creek at about 7:00, arrived about 8:00. Dan said I walked faster the closer I got. [I couldn’t help it! I wanted to see Limestone again!] We sprayed the toadflax as the NEW Limestone crew was packing up old L-camp and moving to the upper camp. Dan and I then made our way north to White Creek. Cool trail. We sprayed more flax at the outfitter camp there and other various weeds. We headed north, crossed Bar Creek Ford, and made our way back to Danaher. Peeled the new hitch rail, and straightened up the woodpile. Jess and Kevin came in from a LONG day up Calf Creek. Tad and Malone came in later. I cooked mashed taters and steak. It turned out good even with the lack of spices. Hung out, did records. To bed at 21:22. Day 77 8/3/06 Slept in the meadow last night cuz there are 6 of us and only 2 bunks. Has a nice sheet of ice on the mantie tarp come dawn. Jess, Kevin, and Malone headedback to Big Prairie and Dan, Tad and I went to spray the leafy spurge at Bar Meadows. That took us about an hour and a half. Then Dan and I went ahead of Tad (who had 3 head of stock) and made it to Basin by 12:30. We took the rest of the day off. Which made it seem really long cuz there is not much to do around Basin. It does look like Dan and I will be back later next hitch after spraying Hahn and will be building a new outhouse for the cabin here. It needs it bad. It has been called the Leaning Tower of Poopsa. Enough said. So this evening has been long and kinda boring. Had a few discussions/arguments about game management. I won’t go off on that. Maybe some other time. Maybe an article to Bugle Magazine. I read a lot on my book and have just been lounging around. To bed at 20:55. Day 78 8/4/06 Wasn’t so cold this morning. We packed up and left Basin by 7:30. Dan and I stopped at the Youngs Ford junction, put up a trail closure sign, then waited for Tad. When he got there, I took the stock down and across the ford cuz Flatiron was blown out. [Dan went with Tad to check out the damage on the slump] Had a bit of a struggle with the critters, constantly reminding me of what I need to do around stock. Rode down to the Wire Ford and met back up with Tad and Dan. They said the slump fell even more, wiping out about 40ft of trail. We cut a log by Wire Ford Meadow, then head to Big Prairie. After lunch, Dan and I set to work finishing the couch. Kevin and Jess popped back in to help us finish it up. 3 hours later, we had the most solid piece of work I have ever built. We were all impressed with what we could do with primitive tools and basic skills. A piece of furniture I am thoroughly proud of. WOOHOO! Lots of people came in tonight for the Olympics tomorrow. Jess, Mike and I sat around talking about high school until bed, 23:48. Day 79-80 8/5-6/06 Woke up on the 5th to see the runners take off for Hammer Cr. [The White River Fun Run got reduced to only going to Hammer Cr.] After all today was the Big Prairie Olympics. It took a while for the games to begin. But it finally got going. I won the leg wrestling and hand-push tournaments. Other games included finger fighting, headstands, milk crate game, human wheelbarrow/grainbag race, and of course arm wraslin’ in which I got 3rd. The games went all day. We also had the Bob Marshall look-alike photoshoot. And a few of us made up a roping game where ya rope each other with mantie ropes. It got late and people just started sitting around drinking. So before we got too tired, Jess and I left Big Prairie for Black Bear Cabin at 22:30. Yeah, it was dark, and yeah we tripped a lot. A few shots of Ricky’s whiskey got me to the White River. After that it was just good to keep leaning forward and hope your feet knew to swing out in front of ya. There was a spot where a horse fell off the trail and died, so we had to watch for bears. So we sang really obnoxiously to the cd player we had. At 05:00 on day 80, 21 miles later, we rolled into Black Bear and passed out. Woke at about 09:00. Ate breakfast and went to the river. Hoping thatNobie would show up we waited and waited. Pretty sure she wasn’t coming. But at about 19:00 she rolled in. To bed at 21:45. Day 81 8/7/06 Woke up around 07:00. And pretty much lounged around. Spent quite a bit of time at the river. Jess caught some fish and Nobie got sunburned (haha). It was a goodtime. I thought that we were originally going to hike up to Pagoda Mt today then I was gonna go to the White River from there. But I decided it would be best to hang out with friends instead of running off by myself. And plus, my food situation is pretty grim anyway. So it’s probably good I hung out around the cabin. Bill Workman, Perry Brown, and some fisheries people came in while we were at the river. Just hung out and did nothing all day. Good times. A fire was reported on the Lewis and Clark forest and the Spotted Bear crew is just now going to a reported fire at Jungle Creek. Let it begin. The Bob is SO crispy right now. One good run of storms and we will be making a hell of a lot of money. We’ve benn lucky so far, no ignition sources. Sleeping outside tonight cuz I was kicked out of the packer’s bed. To bed at 21:42. Day 82 8/8/06 Woke up around 5:00. Had to move my bed last night cuz I got attacked by carpenter ants. Jess and I left for Big Prairie at 6:45. It was a long trip, but it was broken up by seeing lots of people. Saw the dead horse WAY down the hill off the trail on the damnation creek sidehill. Veranda jumped out from behind a tree and spooked us. We took a break at Phil Creek, then pushed to Big Prairie. When we arrived I did laundry and took a shower. Then some T-storms rolled through. Anna reported a fire on Una Mountain and Cardinal Peak. Also a good downstrike on the backside of Brown Sandstone. Let the fire games begin. The injured horse, Charlie Brown is not doing very good. He can barely stand and looks like skin and bones. If we can get him moved to the other side of the airstrip, Tad will probably put him down this hitch. Poor Guy. Kinda stormy tonight. See what tomorrow brings. To bed at 21:43. Day 83 8/9/06 Started at 6:00. Got stuff ready for hitch. Finally pulled out around 10:00. My first trip as a crew leader and with a couple head of stock. Jimbo and Pal. Dan rode until we escaped the burn not too far up Youngs Creek. Then I rode the rest of the way to Hahn. It’s nice to be back in my favorite drainage of the entire Bob! WE passed quite a few people today whish is cool, but now I have to fill out “social encounters” forms cuz I’m a leader now. When we arrived at Hahn the watering stream was bone dry. So Dan and I headed up to the dam and diverted more water. Nothing like Hungry Creek, but it fit our needs. It was cool to watch the water make its way down the dry streambed. I went back up to the dam later with a pick and got it flowing a little better. I dug a pit in the dry streambed so we could get a good bucket full of water when the water got to the hole. Sounds like they are wrapping up the Jungle Creek Fire. Haven’t heard much on any of the others. I’ m kinda nervous, this being my first time having to overnight with stock. That mare bell on Jimbo’s neck is a very comforting sound. Please let me hear it all night. To bed at 21: 38. Day 84 8/10/06 Woke at 7:00 saddled up the boys and headed to Babcock Creek with light packs. Pal wouldn’t take his bit, so I led him and Dan rode when we crossed water. We found new knappy and toadflax patches. Saw a mink at the first Youngs Creek crossing, then about 12 elk, then a bald eagle at the 3rd crossing. We tied up there for the morning. As we were spraying we saw some big bull trout in the creek. Dan saw one pushing 30”. Pal pulled over the tree we tied him to. About a 5-6” piss fir. A good 35-40ft tall. He got scraped up pretty good. Nothing too bad though. Got back to the cabin when Tad got in. Passed off the stock and weed gear to him. Figured we’d we heading over Foolhen Creek to Basin tomorrow, but it looks like it will be back to Big Prairie. [The first of many plan changes.] The decision has been made for Charlie Brown. So we will head back to help out with that. Lots of good lightning tonight. And some rain. To bed at 23: 27. Day 85 8/11/06 Started at 7:00. The valley was socked in with fog and everything was kinda wet. We cleaned up Hahn, then hit the trail with picks in hand. We did some retread on some sketchy sidehill parts on the way back to the South Fork. The hiking seemed brutal because the humidity was so high. Finally got to Big Prairie around 13:00. Had lunch. Then set to work on projects. I put new screen on the office door. But I couldn’t get the door to hang right after I took it off. Nothing at Big Prairie is square…except for our awesome couch! I met Hans today. He is Gordon’s replacement. Pretty cool guy. He was the backcountry ranger for Mt. St. Helens before this job. I hung out with the MCC crew after work. It should be awesome working with them at Basin. Well, should be an interesting day tomorrow. To bed at 22:07. Day 86 8/12/06 Today was just a bazaar day. It just felt strange. We started at 8:00. Didn’t do much for about an hour, listened to fire info. There is a fire a mile or two north of Basin dubbed the “Packer Fire” cuz Bill, our packer, spotted it while coming back from Limestone. Anyway, I got bored of listening to it and decided to rescreen another door on the kitchen. Got that finished, then just started doing something else when Bill got in. So we set to work prepping things for Charlie Brown’s, the sick horse, disposal. We got the OK a day or two back from the owner to put the horse down. So after we shooed the rest of the stock out of the area, Bill did just that. Charlie was laying over by the fuel shed and near the jackleg. So we pryed apart the fence and dragged him down onto the flats below the barn. We pulled him as far as we could, then decided we were far enough away from the buildings for step 2. Bill brought the remaining explosives from Limestone and we laid them around Charlie. Three 2lb cone explosives under the backbone and two on top. A stick of Dynamite under his head, one between the front legs and 2½ between his back legs. We took lunch. Then finished setting up the explosives. We planned for a directional shot out into the meadow. We had 3 trail guards, Cindy at the station, Derek to the south, and me along the river. [A fisherman gave me a pretty strange look when I told him we were about to blow up a horse. “So you’ll be hearing a loud boom here soon.”] On three, Charlie was dispersed among the meadow with a loud boom and a colorful cloud of blood/dust/horse chunks. The explosion felt like a semi-strong punch to the sternum, a good shock wave. It broke the back window of the fuel shed. We went around and examined the leftovers of Charlie. A good sized chunk of rib cage landed a good 200 ft from ground zero. And a miscellaneous chunk of horse landed about 200 YARDS past the barn into the airstrip. With various unrecognizable pieces of flesh and skin and bone scattered in between. HORSE IS EVERYWHERE. Pretty gross to think about. After that was over it was about 14:30. We had to get all the stock back into the corral so they could get used to its new smell (Charlie). We finally got them all in. Then after a bit, sorted them out. We kept the horses in and the mules out. But they didn’t like that much. So Hilary smashed through the fence and a few followed. So we just put them all back inside. Plans change a lot back here and on the 4th plan change I was to head to Salmon Forks with a few MCC guys to hang phone and clear trail. But by the time I got to the 45 minute log, plans changed again. So I came back to Big Prairie to get ready to go to the Packer Fire tomorrow. Dan and I pulled molding No-Mex out of the fire cache and washed it up. So I spose it’s time to make some real money. A big storm is coming through right now in the dark. Very high winds, and some lighting. Kinda crazy, better bring an axe tomorrow. Rest in peace Charlie Brown. To bed at 22:13 ~ I must say it was pretty odd to see a living breathing horse one minute (although he was struggling for consciousness) then within an hour or two, he is a thousand tiny pieces scattered all over the prairie. Its amazing what man will do for a suffering horse, then yet he lets his own suffer and eventually die in a nursing home or care center. Just seems odd. More On Charlie Brown Here Day 87 8/13/06 Let the fire games begin. Woke at 5:00. Suited up in our clean yet still smelly No-Mex and headed south towards the Packer Fire. The Flatiron slump is completely impassible by either foot or stock traffic. So, Dan and I forded over at the Wire Ford and back at Youngs. Bill thought he saw smoke near Big Prairie, so we were walking slow in case of another plan change. But then we got the OK to head on south to the Packer. We were the first ones there, so we set up our lookout position on an open westerly aspect. A good view of the Packer and the supposed Wigwam Fire. We pretty much sat around and watched the smoke rise. It looked like it was gonna get interesting for a while, but it didn’t amount to anything. Tad packed our food to Basin then joined us on the hill. Later, the helicopter started to bring people in. I spotted another smoke near the Wigwam at about 17:00. So that was kinda cool. [It turned out to be the Wigwam fire all along.] None of our fires are very interesting today. But it sounds like a good-sized one popped up over by Jenny Creek. That place is no longer the coldest spot in the Bob. Tango Point fire sounded like it got a good start as well. Also, sounds like MCC is having a hell of a time clearing trail to the north. After the crews got flown in, Dan and I got the OK to come down to the fire camp. The Spotted Bear fire crew (half of them) and a part of the Spotted Bear trail crew, some people form Arizona, and a guy from Alabama were there. We all got acquainted, and then waited for 49MikeAlpha to bring in 2 sling loads. He brought a 2 in 1 load and it must have been awkward for him. He had to drop the load from about 30 feet. Then attempted to land the first time and seriously almost crashed. Rotors came within feet of hitting a tree as the ship struggled to gain control. But he pulled out of it and landed safely. After all that was over, we busted out some MRE’s ate, then Dan and I headed back to Basin in the dusk. To bed around 21:30 Day 88 8/14/06 Today was a bit more exciting. WE left Basin around 6:00 and arrived at the Packer around 6:45. We briefed and all went to work. Tad, James Barnett and I headed up to the location of the Wigwam Fire. We started up the Jumbo trail. Then went for a pretty crazy sidehilling bushwhack to the fire. The lightning scar was pretty apparent, and the fire was hardly anything. The chopper hit it right on with its bucket drop the other day and annihilated it. Only found one small hotspot. Put it out, waited, checked it again, then left towards Wigwam Creek and down to the river. More bushwhacking of course. [I Saw a tree torch on my way back to the main fire.]Went back to the Packer in time to head back to the helipad/camp. 2CharlieHotel (the heavy, a.k.a. fatty chopper) was coming in for bucket drops, 1000 gallons at a time. I went south to the lookout position to be a trail guard. 50,000 gallons later, 2CH was called on a different fire. So we spent the rest of the afternoon putting line around Packer 1. Later we went to Packer 2 and put a line around that. I almost burned my boot, marking with my GPS while standing on an unexpected hotspot. A good lighting scar for Packer 2. Haven’t found one yet for Packer 1. Went back to camp for another MRE. Then headed to Basin. Drank like a deer from Basin Creek, almost drank a small toad. I really smell like smoke. To bed at 21:47. Day 89 8/15/06 A not so exciting day on the fireline. Hiked back to the fire camp in the morning. After the coffee fire burned out and we had our debriefing, we all headed to the hill to work on putting out hotspots. I ran the piss pump for 3 runs up the hill. The slope that the fire is on has to be close to 50%. It is ridiculously steep, having to grab trees to get up the hill with all the water on my back. So after 3 trips I passed it off to Dan, and I started digging. The fire hopped the line in two places that I saw. James Barnett left in 49MikeAlpha after the bird dropped supplies. We started this fire using MIST tactics. Then we had the heavy drop water on it, dug line and cup trenches yesterday. Then a Marc-3 pump and 3000ft of hose came in today. Hardly minimum impact. I am still not sure why so many resources were put on this tiny smoke in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, it is money in the bank. The afternoon was pretty slow, a lot of chasing little smokes and sitting around waiting. Took a few trips over to Packer 2 to see how it’s doing. We found a few spots on it, and put them out. It’s not official, but I think Packer 2 is done. So we chased smokes all afternoon and evening. I made a 4th trip with the piss pump over to “the hornet fire,” a smoky spot near a bees nest. The nest was right at the fire line and no one would go near it. So we shot the surrounding smoke from a distance. Then practiced aim, shooting bees out of the air at 15ft. It really only made them mad. Ate 2 MRE’s after work. Beef Teriyaki is the best. Gotta love MRE’s. Every meal is like Christmas. Went back to Basin. To bed at 22:35. Day 90 8/16/06 Woke up to a solid rain. Hiked to fire camp and got absolutely soaked walking through the brush. Got to camp expecting the morning coffee fire…nothing. Nobody was even awake. Dan came in a few minutes after me. It was cold so we started the morning fire. People finally started to stir. Johnny gave me a call on the radio telling me to stay at the cabin. But I was already 200ft from him, sitting in camp. Miraculously, the rain broke and blue sky appeared. Guy came in and grabbed all remaining gear that was not gonna be used. He packed the Marc-3 pump to Big Prairie. Arizona and Alabama, and Hungry Horse guys started hiking out. So its only Spotted Bear people on the fire now. We checked the hill in a grid fashion twice today. Found a few smokes the first time, none the second. A lot of patrolling and staging today (a.k.a. doing nothing). These fires are out, and we will move out tomorrow afternoon after some rehab. I explored the flats south of the camp after work, found a cow elk skull and packed it back to camp. Hung it in a tree. Hiked back to Basin and enjoyed the incoming lightning. To bed at 21:23. Day 91 8/17/06 Got some pretty good rain last night. So once again it was hard getting to fire camp without getting wet clean up to the crotch. We pretty much rehabbed the fireline and trail today, nothing too exciting. We broke camp and left for Big Prairie before 13:00. The others wanted to take their time. I, on the other hand, had my eye on the rain clouds and booked it to BP before I got wet. I showered up then slept. Then after dinner, I decided I better get packed up for my trans-divide weekend. So I spent the rest of the evening doing just that. The Packer Complex is done. I made lots of money, time to do something else. To bed at 22:35. Day 92 8/18/06 Had all intentions of starting at 6:00. Started at 8:00. I started the morning by helping Veranda screen over the back window of the fuel shed. It blew out when Charlie blew up. Dan went and got fishing bait from the foot-deep pile of maggots on the ribcage/guts. I stapled the screen back onto the bunkhouse window. I used the sketchy lodgepole and 1x4 ladder for that job. Split some wood, then tore apart the pile of tools in the toolshed and took inventory. That took me through to 14:30. When I finally had lunch, and then took credit hours to finish off the workday. I waited around, slept, listened to music until 17:00. Then I took off for the White River Forks. I pulled into the camp (which is already the Molly Creek construction camp) a little before 21:00. I cooked dinner in the dusk and ate in the dark. It’s nice to have a tent set up, waiting for me, and bear boxes for my food. Lots of owls hooting and a mouse or squirrel is playing with the chains on the bear box. I’m heading over the divide tomorrow. To bed at 21:42. Day 93 8/19/06 Waited for the sun to hit the tent before I got up. I got ready and was off by 9:00. I headed up the trail to White River Pass, and it kicked my ass. However, the South Fork of the Whitewasn’t laughing nearly as hard as when I first tried to reach the wall. [I was breathing so hard going up to the switchbacks. People use the phrase “lung burner” as a way of calling something physically difficult. Literally, my respiratory system burned from my nose and mouth all the way to my lungs. It was probably the cold and super dry air.] I ate lunch at the pass, then dropped down into the land of the hucks. Huckleberries everywhere. I picked for about an hour (without eating any) then headed down slope to the West Fork of the Sun River. Once there, I dropped my pack and hiked to Indian Point Cabin. A nice place. I kinda wished I could have looked inside, but my key is at Big Prairie. Hiked back and talked to a few hikers for a while. Then I headed north until I went up Burnt Creek (Lolo NF) and that’s where I decided to camp. I can see the wall through the trees, but I’ll save the viewing for morning when the sun hits it. Using the good ol tube tent and the same old beat up pot. It’s tradition now. I got some warm stuff to sleep in. Something tells me it’s gonna be a cold night. It’s been good to see some new country. To bed at 20:00. Day 94 8/20/06 Well last night was just as cold as I thought. That and the hardened ground made for a hellaciously restless night. Woke around 7:00 and left around 8:00. [The oatmeal wasn’t very good that morning.] It didn’t take long to get a good view of the wall. Reminds me of a corroded and battle-scarred wall of some great ancient city. The trees growing on the ledges are like sentries keeping me from where I came. [The hike was phenomenal. I never came across anybody the entire day. And the wall made me feel so tiny.] It took me all morning to find the spot to cross over. I reached Larch Hill Pass a little after noon. The trail coming down from Larch Hill seemed never-ending. But I eventually made it to the trail junction. [I was drinking tons of water all day and was still pretty dehydrated. And I was once again running out of water.] All the streams on the upper White River are dry! I was finally able to refill water at Brushy Park. I looked for a good hour for the wolf that was shot last fall. It must have been drug off cuz it wasn’t where Tad said it was. I was gonna camp at Brushy Park, but I decided to push on to Needle Falls cuz it was only 16:00. The restless night, the trail length, and my constant state of dehydration made those last 6 miles a killer. [Seriously, it was the most torturous 6 miles I had ever hiked.] I was pretty fatigued but glad to see the camp spot on the side of the trail overlooking Needle Falls. Man, I think those iodine tablets dehydrate ya. The only thing I can think of. [I was to the point where I knew if I just had some untreated water I would feel so much better. I leaned down to get some water from the spring creek there. When I stood up my world was spinning pretty good. I gulped down the water and followed the watering schedule for curing dehydration. I felt great within 45 minutes.] No water on the falls. It’s all under ground. Like I said, I’m right next to the trail, so hopefully no midnight visitors. The animals use these trails as much as we do. Hope this ground proves to be a bit softer too. To bed at 20:03. Day 95 8/21/06 Last night was pretty breezy, but definitely warmer. The ground kept me from a good sleep again. Starting to think I’m just a wuss, but then I just think of the distance I’ve gone in the last few days. I headed for the South Fork of the White and reached it by 9: 30. I dumped out all remaining food (except lunch), extra white gas and garbage into the bear boxes there. Then headed for Big Prairie. I can tell my body has been pushed pretty close to its limit. On the hike, it refused almost every step. I had to keep thinking of upbeat songs or marches to keep me moving forward. I got to BP around 14:00, cooled down, then showered off all the stink, sweat and trail dust. [I looked like a raccoon with the trail dust stuck to the sweat on my face.] Joel made some awesome chicken alfredo. I overstuffed myself too easily. I guess I’ve been on a pretty lean diet the last couple days. I drank some untreated water from a tiny water spot by Needle Falls camp. It helped the dehydration and made the light headed feeling go away. No worries about the G-bug. So I’m pretty sure this weekend shortened my life by a few years. If I rest tomorrow I should get a year back. Almost 70 miles since Friday. My body says, “No more unless you take a day off!” Even with fresh legs in the morning, I could still feel the burn from the previous 3 days. What an amazing hike! Sleepy time. 21:46. Day 96 8/22/06 Slept in til 8:00. Today was pretty relaxed. I took the elk skull I found on day 73 and made a skull cap pendant. Then lounged around for a good while. I finished packing up my stuff, washed up the No-Mex I used. Just tying up loose ends around here. After all, it is my last day at Big Prairie. Dan, Bev, and I made 4 delicious apple pies for dessert. They were freakin awesome! I still feel a bit fatigued from the wall trip, but the sunset tonight helped me relax a bit more. Absolutely beautiful with the hues that the wildfire smoke adds. The sky was on fire. A perfect ending to an interesting summer. To bed at 22:03. Day 97 8/23/06 Started at 6:00 and helped Bill saddle up his string. Steve went to wrangle the rest of the stock but was unsuccessful in the hunt. Tad dropped Dan and I a hint of where they might be. So we went “way down river from Abbey’s Camp” and sure enough. There they were. While cutting through the trees on the way back, I found a 5pt elk shed. About a year old and kinda chewed up. It took forever to get saddled up and ready to go. We finally crossed the Big Prairie bridge for the last time of the season at 11:00. Not to far down the trail, I sneezed and scared the shit out of Blaze, the mule in tow. He took off running, and so Tango (my ride) had to join in the fun. Smurf (Dan’s ride) was in front and didn’t know what was going on. We got it all figured out, then pressed on. We stopped at Burnt Creek Parks to check out the knappy patch. It was too late in the day to spray at that time. Found a pretty old elk spike there. We finally pulled into Salmon Forks after what seemed like forever, 17:00. We got the horses fed, checked the fenceline (which was pretty trashed. Something we’ll fix tomorrow.) Then hung out. Dan went fishing later and I read. Oh yeah, did you know that propane mantles are radioactive? News to me. Anyway, to bed at 21:48. Day 98 8/24/06 Another kinda slow morning. Started at 7:00. Fed and watered the horses, then grabbed the spray gear and headed off on my last killing spree for the season. We made our way up river from the ford and reached the floodplain just downstream from Phil Creek. Almost immediately I found a 3pt. elk shed barely sticking out of the sand. It’s in perfect condition, but a little smelly. We sprayed the knapweed that we didn’t get last time. Mostly rosettes cuz the mature plants have gone to seed. We made our way back, then worked on fixing the flimsy wire part of the fence line. It was a quick fix after the fires of 2003. But it’s pretty low quality. So we cleared some trees off of it and tightened it up while fixing posts. Then we called it a day at 13:00 using credit hours from yesterday. I finished my book and slept until Malone and Andy came in. Andy brought venison, so combined with our beef steak, we had a lot of meat. It made a good meal. Stashed our spray equipment here. And taking Smurf and Blaze out to Spotted Bear. Tango goes back to Big Prairie. It was my last full day in the wilderness for the season, and it was a good one. To bed at 21:20. Day 99 8/25/06 Got a good solid start and left for Meadow Creek. The weather got us pretty wet at times, but it wasn’t bad enough to put on raingear. Almost though. We met Larry Shoots near Black Bear Creek. He is a retired Forest Service packer. We finally rolled into Meadow Creek sometime around 14:00. Dan and I loaded up the horses unto the one- ton truck. I drove back. We unloaded and fed the critters at the barn. Then I packed up and headed home. [The summer had its ups and downs, but those last two hitches where it was just me and Dan acting as Tad’s right hand men…those hitches made this summer the best I’ve had.] Home > Bob Marshall > Bob Journal Vol 3 |
