Thursday, January 19, 2006
The Chofu stove and the 180 gallon tub are here, I had to have the tub special ordered and was fortunate that their spring order was nearly ready to ship, so the local farm store was able to have one thrown in and I didn't have to pay shipping to get it here, it worked out nice. I hope to be firing it up this weekend.
We had another wet week, creeks going over the pavement in areas and everything super soggy. It is a feast and famine when it comes to rain, by late spring the rains shut off and everything gets a chance to dry out till around hunting season, typically 2 weeks into the general deer season.
Before the rains come back things can get really dry, fire hazards abound at that time of year. It was a strange experience to have hiked several mile through a burned area this past summer, it also had a beauty that I would not have expected. This area we hiked through burned back in 1996. It seemed very little was coming back yet, but it did appear to have been a really hot spot.
Three summers ago we had a burn north of Santiam pass called the B & B complex. It was two separate fires that merged to one. The story and rumors that got started was that these fires where in an area that President Bush was to visit concerning forest management, can we say conspiracy theories? We went on a family backpacking trip west of the fire area and we had to deal with smoke. In the morning we had soot covered tents. We were well away from any danger, but I seem to be allergic to smoke and easily can get stuffed up.
One fellow I know wanted to hike the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest trail (PCT) the following year of the fires. When I saw him at church, I thought he didn't make it far and quit, he said he was just home for the weekend and was going back. I really had to wonder if he felt he couldn't be out backpacking on Sunday. He didn't finish it, but he did cover some miles of PCT. He also learned the mental game starting out on a long distant trip can do. I have never done anything quite like what he was attempting, but I understood and knew of the problems he was up against. It takes about two weeks to acclimate, but during those two weeks one can have allot of second thoughts, feelings of loneliness and a body that has to adjust to the demand that is placed on it. This fellow plans to do the Oregon section again this summer, but this time his boys plan to join him.
My wife and I have plans to hike around Mt Hood, a place we had on our list but wet weather swelled the streams and there are several river fording areas. It also didn't help when a young lady died trying to cross the Sandy River just before we intended to go. She had traveled all the way around and was only two miles from her vehicle, the river had washed out a river crossing and she tried to ford it instead.
Is there such thing as a cat psychiatrist? My old cat is really being strange, he is also so antisocial that he can't tolerate other cats to well. The other day a stray cat who seems to be living in the barn had a face off with him, I am not sure what may have transpired but our old cat was moaning, growling and defensive to us. I guess he didn't want to go back outside so he messed in the house too, but that earned him a ticket out the door, growling or not. He sulked out in the barn the whole day. I let him back in last night, but this morning the kitten tried to pounce him in play and he got all riled up again, he got tossed out this morning and has been camping in the green house all day. We put a cat door on the green house door so we could put food out for him when we go on multi-week trips. I wouldn't be surprised if he is still camping out there now. He is the only cat that has managed to live longer than a year. The new cat may become a house cat, it cost so much to get them fixed and vaccinated, etc. that we wanted a better return on our investment.
We had another wet week, creeks going over the pavement in areas and everything super soggy. It is a feast and famine when it comes to rain, by late spring the rains shut off and everything gets a chance to dry out till around hunting season, typically 2 weeks into the general deer season.
Before the rains come back things can get really dry, fire hazards abound at that time of year. It was a strange experience to have hiked several mile through a burned area this past summer, it also had a beauty that I would not have expected. This area we hiked through burned back in 1996. It seemed very little was coming back yet, but it did appear to have been a really hot spot.
Three summers ago we had a burn north of Santiam pass called the B & B complex. It was two separate fires that merged to one. The story and rumors that got started was that these fires where in an area that President Bush was to visit concerning forest management, can we say conspiracy theories? We went on a family backpacking trip west of the fire area and we had to deal with smoke. In the morning we had soot covered tents. We were well away from any danger, but I seem to be allergic to smoke and easily can get stuffed up.
One fellow I know wanted to hike the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest trail (PCT) the following year of the fires. When I saw him at church, I thought he didn't make it far and quit, he said he was just home for the weekend and was going back. I really had to wonder if he felt he couldn't be out backpacking on Sunday. He didn't finish it, but he did cover some miles of PCT. He also learned the mental game starting out on a long distant trip can do. I have never done anything quite like what he was attempting, but I understood and knew of the problems he was up against. It takes about two weeks to acclimate, but during those two weeks one can have allot of second thoughts, feelings of loneliness and a body that has to adjust to the demand that is placed on it. This fellow plans to do the Oregon section again this summer, but this time his boys plan to join him.
My wife and I have plans to hike around Mt Hood, a place we had on our list but wet weather swelled the streams and there are several river fording areas. It also didn't help when a young lady died trying to cross the Sandy River just before we intended to go. She had traveled all the way around and was only two miles from her vehicle, the river had washed out a river crossing and she tried to ford it instead.
Is there such thing as a cat psychiatrist? My old cat is really being strange, he is also so antisocial that he can't tolerate other cats to well. The other day a stray cat who seems to be living in the barn had a face off with him, I am not sure what may have transpired but our old cat was moaning, growling and defensive to us. I guess he didn't want to go back outside so he messed in the house too, but that earned him a ticket out the door, growling or not. He sulked out in the barn the whole day. I let him back in last night, but this morning the kitten tried to pounce him in play and he got all riled up again, he got tossed out this morning and has been camping in the green house all day. We put a cat door on the green house door so we could put food out for him when we go on multi-week trips. I wouldn't be surprised if he is still camping out there now. He is the only cat that has managed to live longer than a year. The new cat may become a house cat, it cost so much to get them fixed and vaccinated, etc. that we wanted a better return on our investment.
# posted by Trail Seeker @ 10:47 PM 
