Bridges, Rain, and a Railroad Trail

Rain. That's the prediction for the whole week. I should know better than to look at weather forecasts. I'd much rather just be surprised by the elements and deal w/ it then.

So we were off to fix the Prince Creek footlog. Cool. Fixing a bridge. It's a simple process really.

1. Find a really fat log that is next to impossible to move w/ two people on a swede hook.
2. Drag the log into place under the bridge where it will be the new sill.
3. Stencil a groove that will be chainsawed out to fit the footlog.
4. Somehow wiggle the fat log out of place and play with the chainsaw (I didn't get to do this part, they don't let me play with power tools with blades).
5. Chisel, we are in the wilderness, but one must chisel this log to perfection.
6. Make a giant stack of rocks under the bridge, rolling really heavy ones because it is fun.
7. Jack the bridge up and then fight with the log again to roll it back under the bridge and onto the pile of rocks.
8. Spend an annoying amount of time making the log level and dragging it back and forth under the log. Too far. Back the other way. Too far again. Isn't this close enough? Let's drag it this way one more time (we're playing within a half inch of putting this log in the exact spot). And then release the jack with a whoosh as the bridge settles.
9. Surround the log with lots and lots of big rocks. Rocks everywhere. You almost couldn't tell there was a new log under the bridge.
10. Do all of this in the pouring rain.

This portion took a day and a half. Then we started on the other side of the bridge but only had enough time to excavate under the bridge for the new sill and play with more ridiculously huge rocks to maneuver without losing them in the creek.

The nice thing about working on the Prince foot log was our boss taking pity on us camping in the rain, and allowing us to take the Forest Service boat back with him at the end of the day so we could dry off. Enough of fun projects though. Off to our 'normal' duty of logout. We asked the boss why he always contracts the projects and he told us our function was logout, that's alright, I don't mind hiking with a saw, but Kristian is bored with sawing trees being our only job.

So we're off to camp at Domke Lake again. This time working on the lower Railroad Creek trail which starts in Lucerne (where the boat docks) and goes all the way to Holden Village. It's Memorial Weekend. There are a lot of campers. Luckily Kristian and I hike faster than all of them so we can get a decent spot for our tents.

The visitors were actually really neat. There were 8 dads and 16 middle school kids. Apparently the families are all friends and neighbors and have been going on a trip like this for 7 years, starting when the kids were 6 (no moms allowed). We were impressed that they were getting all their daughters, and then the brothers to still be camping w/ them. They invited us over for wine after work one day and Kristian and I realized we had a small fan club from the dads. Questions about what we did in the off season, what we ate out here, what work was like. I guess they thought we had an awesome job, much better than their 9-5 jobs. We agreed, we think our job is pretty sweet. (and when visitors give us wine, it's a very sweet job). One of the dads commented that when he had seen us with our big packs, the saw strapped to mine, Kristian with the pulaski he said "Now those are two women you don't want to mess with".

After work the next day, we stopped by Sid's for a visit. (Sid owns cabins on the lake and rents them to fisherman, he is also part of local history). He had invited us over the other day, yet we found ourselves working late and drinking wine with the dads. We had a pleasant surprise when we got to our camp though- the dads had left us their leftover spirits supply. A box of wine, the end of a bottle of tequila, and some whiskey. Kristian and I looked at each other and laughed, our response to the tequila was the same- don't touch it. We decided it would be nice to keep giving the gifts and take them over to Sid's. On our way over Kristian asks if I have my headlamp, hers was forgot. I do have it, and she says "good, but we're still leaving before dark." Alright. We leave by 3 am.

Sid is a very interesting guy. We drank at least three bottles of wine with him as we listened to his stories. He's part of the local history. Inherited the lake from a guy named Gordon Stewart who was a trapper. There used to be a town at Lucerne with a tavern where some miners lived, Sid was around when the tavern was still open in the 70's. He showed us pictures collected from over 60 years of the area. As the night wore on, Kristian and Sid started a political discussion that I was very entertained to watch. We knew it was getting late, and we were supposed to wake up at 6, but we also knew it was very rare to have the opportunity to sit with a local legend (who insists he's just another person, which he is, but like it or not, he's part of the settling and unsettling of Lake Chelan).

Quotes from the night "Imbibing spirits shortens the distance, and increases the conversation" and a parting bit of advice as we walked out the door passed on from Gordon Stewart "Take no shortcuts". We were glad of that advice. We took no shortcuts finding our way down the path to our camp, and promptly falling asleep.

Next morning I wake up around 6 out of habit, roll over to see what time it is, I say 'hell no' and fall right back asleep. I wake up again around 7, rain is pattering on my tent, and again I say to myself, not waking up yet, and fall asleep again. By 8:30 I'm up and boiling water and Kristian and I slowly pack up camp to hike down to Lucerne. Our plan is to start working on the Railroad Creek Trail from the Holden side. Yesterday it took us 2 hours to walk to work, and 3 to walk back. We make our way down the mountain, stop by the guard station at Lucerne to get the truck and the Lesmeister's (the summer caretakers at Lucerne) are there. So we have brownies and lemonade. Eventually we make it up to the village, open up the guard station up there, stop into the lodge to get water, and end up visiting w/ a few people. We finally make it onto the trail around 1:30. Slow day. Somehow we just couldn't move any faster. But once on the trail, we worked away.

We had heard there was a wedding happening in the village, but not wanting to intrude had made dinner at the guard station. After having hot showers at the village, we wander into the dining room to get tea and some friends invite us to the dance that is happening tonight. We figure we might as well check it out. (I had found a clean shirt to wear from potty patrol, so I was feeling halfway decent). Holden folks continually surprise me. I watched the dance for a while, and eventually joined in, found a couple people who could partner dance, and I attempted leading one girl. And then of course there's an after after party. Kristian had departed very early- catching up on sleep. I, on the other hand, was on course for another all night out. While dancing a girl had asked, want some tequila? I thought for a moment, thinking to myself this was probably a very bad idea, and then shrugged and said sure. Holden folks are quite the partiers. To explain my night: I was running from the village to the guard station a little after 7 the next morning, the thought in my head "Oh shit I'm late".

At least Kristian got a good night's sleep in the cabin. And I discovered the best cure for a drunkover is a brisk hike early in the morning. I show up at the cabin, say "5 minutes!" change into my work clothes, shove my gear back into my pack, lunch in the daypack and am back out the door- as ready as I would have been had I woken at 6 (minus breakfast). It's going to be a good day.
We had cached our tools on the trail and needed to reach them today, hopefully finish logout on the trail, and catch the ferry out of Lucerne that afternoon. We were working until the last minute, hurrying back to the truck and racing off back through the village (w/ no last visits or goodbyes) and to the dock. And off we were once more on our return journey to civilization.