THE MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST

This is the only national forest in California without a major paved road entering it and no year-around highway crossing over it.   There is Forest Highway 7, a Forest Service gravel road crossing over Mendocino Pass from east to west, but is not open in the winter due to snow.   This road connects state Highway 162 from Willows to Highway 162 in Covelo, a two and half hour drive over 85 miles.   Willows is the Forest Headquarters and known as the Gateway to the Mendocino National Forest.   Hard to believe when Willows is located in the Sacramento Valley with only a view of the Coast Range Mountain to the west some 40 miles away.    One of the most tragic incidents was the loss of 15 firefighters on the Rattlesnake Wildfire in July of 1953 in Grindstone Canyon.  The scar on the landscape from that fire was visible from Willows.   

As a kid I spent many hours looking west at these mountains from our house west of town and wondering what it would be like to see what is over that ridge or up that canyon.   The Willows Ranger District winter office was up stairs in the Willows Post Office, where I got my first  Forest Service map dated 1956.    The District had a summer ranger station at Alder Springs about 45 miles up in the mountains from Willows.    I studied that map until I almost had it memorized.  There were place names on the map that I wanted to explore--Hokey Pokey Ridge, Snow Mountain, Hays Place, Plaskett Meadows, Keller Lake, Jenks Place, Log Springs Guard Station and many more.  

As teenagers a friend and I drove around the Forest in one of my dad's farm pickups exploring different places on that forest map.    We spent 3 or 4 days driving around on forest roads with a 50 gallon barrel of gas with a pump in the pick up bed to keep us going, along with camping gear.   I don't recall seeing many other vehicles, except a Forest Service employee checking camp fires in a campground.   We went as far west as Mendocino Pass and drove more roads than I can remember.    In the summer of 1962 we backpacked four days through the Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness Area after my dad dropped us off at a trailhead at a place called Brown's Camp.   From there we hiked to a small lake near South Yolla Bolly Mountain.   The second night was with the fire lookout on Hammerhorn Mountain, and from there down to Elk Lake for a night before hiking out of the wilderness to a Forest Service road where we caught a ride with a Forest Service road engineer to a logging camp where we spent a night.  The next day we caught a ride on a logging truck to Paskenta where one of our parents picked us up.  

Over the last few years most of this Forest has been destroyed from catastrophic wildfires, including summer home tracks, campgrounds, Forest Service guard stations, many road signs and other improvements.  The Willows Ranger District no longer exist and was combined with two other Districts of the five original Districts over the years.   Today there is only three ranger districts and the Forest I once was familiar with is gone, except for the memories.    

MY FIRST GUN

In 1959 I turned 14, and saw an ad in the local paper for a 22 rifle on sale at the local hardware store north of Willows on Highway 99 in northern California.   I asked my mom if I could buy it and she said yes, so I got on my bike with money I had saved up and rode from our house in the country west of town by way of some back roads north of town to the hardware store.  It was a Remington Targetmaster single shot 22 rifle.  Not sure what I paid for it, maybe somewhere around $40 with no questions asked.   I rode back home with the rifle in hand, even along Highway 99 until I turned off on a county road.    Guns were part of the culture of small town USA, especially in farming communities as most people hunted and it was common to see guns mounted on racks over the back windows of many pickup trucks in the community.   I still have this rifle and occasionally target practice with it.

Can you imagine seeing a kid packing a rifle on a bike these days along a major highway?  

THE NEIGHBOR'S HORSE

Whenever the neighbors go on a  trip they ask me to feed their horse, named Spring.   Spring is over 20 years old, blind in one eye and was abused in her younger days, mostly by neglect.    The neighbors took her in and brought her back to health.   Spring has her own pasture, barn and shares it all with the deer that jump the fence and browse in her pasture.    One thing for sure is Spring wants her daily ration of hay served in a timely manner each evening.    When I drive down to feed her, she is waiting by the fence wondering why I am late.   As I enter her domain she leads me to the barn and circles twice around the barn as I go inside to get a couple of flakes from the bales and put them in her box.    She knows my truck and car whenever I drive by the pasture.   Some times when the neighbors are late with her feeding and I drive by, she is at the fence and gives me that look of, "are you going to feed me?"   As I go down the road and look back, I see a disgusted look on her face.    

FUEL TANK MODIFICATION

Reference is made to the story of  "A Working Relic" published February 22nd.    The old 1912 CAT grader was not running with much power, so we investigated the diesel output from the fuel pump and found only one line producing any fuel.   The problem was a rusty fuel tank with debris choking fuel lines leading into the fuel pump.   A neighbor found an old tin tank that he mounted behind the cab, placed a new fuel line with filter to the fuel pump.    Does not look too professional, but it works and all four cylinders are getting fuel now with power to spare.  

SAMPLING PIE WITH GRANDSON SAM

This last week I traveled over to the Coast to spend a few days with my daughter and her family at a house they rented in Winchester Bay.   On my way there I stopped at a bakery in Reedsport, that some friends recommended and purchased an apple pie.    I thought it appropriate to sample the pie that afternoon for freshness and quality with grandson Sam.   After a few bites, I asked Sam if the pie was good or should we take it back to the bakery?   He said it's good and a flat "NO" to taking it back.  

MILDRED KANIPE MEMORIAL PARK

Some time after we moved to Douglas County in 2006, Celia ran into Lois Eagleton at the Oakland Post Office.   Lois was the founder and chair person of the Friends of Mildred Kanipe Memorial Park, a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and protection of the park in accordance with the Will  of Mildred Kanipe.   When Celia came home she informed me of her talk with Lois and said she had been recruited as a member to the board of directors for the Friends of the park.       

Soon we were both attending monthly board meetings with a very energetic group of people.  Over the years Celia was involved with editing grants to restore the English Settlement Schoolhouse,  researching the history of the orchard, worked on the Nature Trail, participated in the adopt a highway cleanup of Elkhead Road and we operated the outback water station during the annual Fun Run event to raise money for the park.  

Celia and other board members helped organize fund raising events to raise $60,000 for the construction of the campground, in lieu of the County clear cutting 20 acres of the park to pay for it.  The County told us we had 6 months to raise the money or they would offer the 20 acres in a timber sale.   The community came together and raised the money in 3 months.  

We financed the video about Mildred Kanipe and her ranch, produced by Seth Ring and Amy Burke that is on the park web site:   mildredkanipepark.org

One of Celia's favorite events was helping to organize the Oregon 150 celebration at the park in 2009.  This picture is Celia and I dressed as pioneers at this event.  

CABIN ON WOOLEY CREEK

A co-worker and I came across this cabin while backpacking the Wooley Creek trail into the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area in 1972.   We looked inside the cabin as it was not locked and saw beds with blankets on them and dishes in the kitchen.  It was one big room.   We assumed it was being used by a Forest Service trial crew.    Most Forest Service cabins in wilderness areas are not locked and can be used by the public in the event of foul weather or an emergency.   President Hoover was known to have fished Wooley Creek and may have stayed in this cabin.   With all the fires over the decades since 1972, I'm not sure if this cabin is still there.   Many cabins in the wilderness areas have come to disrepair, vandalism or burned down either by wildfires or the Forest Service due to liability problems or to keep squatters from taking them over.  

CANADIAN PROPERY

 In July of 2002 I made a trip to Alberta, Canada at the request of my brother, to look at property that had been passed down in the family.   It was 80 acres of undeveloped land north of Stony Plain, which is west of Edmonton.    The property is covered in black spruce trees, grass land that can be utilized as pasture and a creek fowling through the south eastern corner.   The picture is looking west along the southern boundary of the property.

The rumor is that our grandfather Burke won it in a poker game, which was originally 160 acres, but at some point he sold the north 80 acres of the property.   There was no road to the property, only a county easement bordering the northside and eastside of the property.   Land owners must pay the county to construct roads to their property.  I was able to walk in from the end of the existing county road on the north end.   When my mother passed away in 1994 the property was passed down to my brother, since he was the executor of her estate and property outside of California could not be included in her living trust.   My brother pays the property taxes and still owns the property.   

MY DOG HERMAN

 This was my dog Herman when I lived in Orleans from 1971-77.    He was part Chow and not sure what else, mostly All-American mutt.   I found him as a puppy walking along Highway 96 near Somes Bar.   Later I was told he my have come from a litter of dogs belonging to an Indian family living in that area.   Herman would go to work with me up until the Forest Service put an end to dogs going to work with employees, maybe in 1973-74.  When Christine and I married in 1975, Herman join the family, along with Christine's two dogs.   Herman went with me on many backpacking trips and always in my pickup on road trips.  He became a bad influence on Christine's dogs at times leading them in to trouble now and then.  

On one of our monthly shopping trips to Eureka we left the dogs in the back of the pickup, which had a camper shell on it with open screen windows.   The store we were shopping at was called Bazar's, a large department store with groceries, clothing, hardware and sporting equipment.   While we were in the center of the store we could hear people laughing and gasping as all three of our dogs were coming toward us in the aisle we were in.   The dogs had ripped open one of the screen windows, got scent of our trail, somehow entered through automatic sliding door into the store and followed our scent to the aisle we were in.   It was Herman leading the way as all three dogs were happy to have found us.    

THE TRINITY ALPS

With all the grim news lately I have resorted to getting lost in some old books I  have on places we backpacked into many years ago.   One place that stands out is the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area in northern California.   A hiking and backpacking guide book titled,  "The Trinity Alps" by Luther Linkhart describes 29 trips in to this wilderness area.   In the beginning of his book he describes the natural history and the human history of the Trinity Alps.  He gives directions from state highways to Forest Service Roads to trial heads, land marks to look for, how trails follow streams, ridges, what lakes are accessible from what trials and where side trails go.   He tells of old mining claims, provides pictures of mining equipment and cabins that remain from the gold mining days going back to the 1850's.    There is a story about George Jorstad, who built a cabin in 1937 on his claim and remained there until 1983 when he was over 80 years of age.   The cabin still remains, along with few other others.   During the 1970's the northwestern portion the wilderness area was under the control of marijuana growers that threaten hikers and Forest Service personnel.   The public was advised to stay out that area as many growers were armed and dangerous.   In the 1980's law enforcement agencies went in to clear out many of the growers.  

It is interesting to retrace my travels to some of these places, some places I remember and others that don't come to mind.    Some of my early trips were on weekends when I lived and worked for the Forest Service in Orleans.    On a Friday night after work I would pack a canteen of water, sleeping bag, a cooking pot, some utensils, trail food in a pack and off we went, me and my dog, Herman.    Herman was a puppy, mostly of the mutt variety when I found him walking along Highway 96 near Somes Bar in 1971.    Herman accompanied me on many hikes both to the Trinity Alps and the Marble Mountains.  In 1993 family members and myself backpacked in from the Coffee Creek Road on the eastside of the Trinity Alps for three days.   

Many of these areas have changed due to wild fires, road closures due to a lack of maintenance and deterioration of trails over the last three decades, but I'm sure glad to have these books to escape into during the harsh reality of what is happening in our world.  

WHEAT

The following is from a report in the Capital Press, an agriculture news paper.

"The May 2022 wheat futures price on the Chicago market is $12.94 per bushel.  On February 17 the May price was $7.81 per bushel.   This is the biggest jump in 50 years. "

This is good news for farmers, but not so good for the consumer.   Right now the average cost of one bag of groceries for one person per week is $61.20 and that does include eating out.    With the rising cost of fuel and transportation can you imagine what a loaf of bread will cost in a few months? 

 

  

THE CABIN

This cabin is on our lower 10 acres that we purchased in 2002.  It has one room with a wood stove and solar power.   On the backside there is a deck accessible through a sliding door.  The water supply is collected from the roof and stored in a 2500 gallon tank.    We had a 16 foot travel trailer that was parked near the cabin to provide us with a kitchen and bathroom.   We would spend the night here once a week after driving from our home in Cottage Grove, until we purchased the upper 10 acres with a manufactured home in 2006.   Depending on the season, we would either sleep in the cabin in the winter where it was warm, or in the trailer during the summer because it was cooler.   In the early spring mornings, as the sun was rising the song birds were so loud that it was impossible to sleep any longer.    Our days involved clearing brush, cutting scotch broom, propagating native plants, cutting firewood and relaxing in the heat afternoons.   

Maybe now I should rent it out as a rustic living experience on weekends where people provide their own bed and breakfast.  

Gasoline

The highest price for gas that I can remember was $4.25 /gallon.     With the war in Ukraine, sanctions and a worldwide shortage of oil the price for gas may push $5/gallon soon, depending on the situation.    Heaven forbid, but if the war widens we could see rationing of gas making it necessary to carpool with neighbors to town to stock up on food and other necessities.    The only immediate relief would be if the government was to remove gas taxes, which is somewhere near 40 cents /gallon, including federal, state and local taxes.   My Toyota Prius gets an average of 45 mpg and now costs $40 to fill the 10 gallon tank.  Can't even imagine what people are paying to fill their big SUV's and pickups, could be close to $100.    

Might be time to invest in a bike or an electric vehicle.      

PRELUDE TO SPRING 2022

While gardening yesterday I caught a picture of this lone honey bee on the blossoming Rosemary.    Signs of spring are starting to appear--the sound of frogs in the evening, a few small wildflowers blooming and the weeds are starting to grow.   Neighbors are out and about talking about their water supply,  gardening plans, scotch broom in need of eradicating, sightings of wildlife , including the scream of a cougar.  Hopefully spring last into June with many spring showers, May flowers and a peaceful world.   

JEFFERSON PARK

With all the madness in the world these days my thoughts drifts back to one of the most beautiful places I remember--Jefferson Park in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.    It is a basin on the north side of Mount Jefferson made up of meadows, small lakes and patches of forests.   The Pacific Crest Trail goes through here.  My first backing packing trip into this area was on a weekend in the early summer of 1988 by myself.    There was still snow in places making it hard to explore much of the park, but what I saw of it made me only want to return and see more.   I returned three more times, including with a friend and family members over the next few years.    Rustic camp sites were secluded with adequate water and much firewood available in the surrounding forest.   The only menacing wildlife was the Canada Jay, better known as the camp robber that would fly into camp every time we started cooking.   They even took to landing on my daughter's  hand when she stuck it up in the air.  The wildflowers were abundant in the meadows after the snow was gone making us think heaven was not far away.

Sure wish we could retreat there now and make the troubles of the world go away.   

THE RUSSIAN MILITARY

I'm sure many of us are following the news about Ukraine.

From watching the Ukraine military interview Russian POW's I have learned the following;

80% of the Russian military are draftees.  

They are subject to 20 -25 years in prison if they do not follow orders

They claim they were told they were on a training exercise when they crossed into Ukraine.

Some were only given two days of rations and fuel.

Many say they have received better treatment as POW's than as soldiers in the Russian military

NOTE--when I went through basic training in the army we were instructed to give only our name, rank and serial number if taken as a POW.   These guys are telling it all--what unit they are part of, what orders they were given, and how they now see the wrong in what is happening.

I believe the only way to end this madness is for the Russian people along with the military to over throw Putin.   Even some of his cronies are speaking out against the war.    By now the Russian prison system must be filling up with all the protesters.