Red Road

Today was a really busy day with getting things ready to go for the next round of hiking. We had to replace the zipper on the tent fly for one thing. Couldn't get exactly the right thing, but at least we found one that would work, and Lorana has a sewing machine, so that worked out OK. Laundry, some tasks from home, grocery shopping and cooking also took time. There are two local book stores, and one had previously taken some of my books, while the other one said that they were not interested. However, now the local highway Welcome Center has put it on display there. The store that had some was sold out and took some more, and the other store agreed to take some on consignment this time, so that is great!

I've decided to go back and fill in the three days that we backpacked (Sunday- Tuesday). So, the road picture above is pretty much what Sunday was all about. We spent most of it on a wide sand road called Red Road. We covered 13 miles. The local chapter is planning to start routing trail off that road soon, but that is a huge job and there are many steps to that process (see tomorrow's entry!).


Even on a road walk there can be beauty. This is Clark Creek, seen from the road bridge. But we wonder how many people slow down enough to enjoy the serenity of the scene.


This is Mulligan Creek, even farther along the road. It was the last place where there was water access for the day, so we filled all our bottles, trusting our handy Steripen, nicknamed the Magic Flashlight, to kill all the nasties. This was especially on our minds here since this is a beaver pond, and Giardia (which gives one chronic diarrhea) is often called "beaver fever," since it is spread in beaver feces. But we haven't had any problem. Technology often works! Somehow, I find that the Steripen is harder for me to accept psychologically than the filter we used to carry.


The final few miles of the day were on a newly bulldozed logging road. This certainly wasn't too picturesque, but we knew that we would have to walk several miles of this. Actually, it was an option that was much improved over an even longer dusty road walk that used to be required before the sections which you will see tomorrow were in place, so we weren't complaining.


At the top of the last big hill of the day we found a clump of maples in the midst of a lot of hemlock and balsam to make a nice campsite. It can be really difficult to find a flat space large enough, especially in a thick conifer forest. Due to a high count of mosquitoes, deerflies and gnats, we got right in the tent and read and played our word game, Quiddler, and only came out to fix dinner after a while.

See A Day on the Trail for more about the Steripen