BLACKOUT

Last night I was sitting in my chair reading on a stormy night.   About 7:30pm the light flickered and a few seconds later the lights were out.   It was pitch black as I sat in the chair knowing the flash light was on the table by the bed in the next room.   I don't recall such blackness, not a glow of light anywhere.   It was like having my eyes closed.   I slowly made my way toward the bedroom with arms stretched out feeling for furniture and the walls.  I made it to the bedroom door, then to the bed feeling my way to the bed side table where I turned on the flashlight.   After lighting some candles my neighbors called to ask if my power was out as they had lost power also.    Later we learned most of the northern portion of Douglas County was without power due to storm damage to the BPA transmission line to the north somewhere.    After receiving some text messages about the situation I retired to bed thinking how unprepared I am for a long term power outage; dirty diches in the kitchen, have not started the generator in the last year, camp stove somewhere in the shop and way too dark to deal with any of it on a stormy dark night.   My biggest fear--how would I ever make coffee in the morning?   At 9:30 the lights came back on and I could rest easy knowing I would not have to boil water on the wood stove in the morning for that precious cup of coffee.   

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.  

Writing

 Writing is a hobby for me.   The more I write the more I remember, might be a good way to keep the old brain in good working order.   I took up writing in the 1990's while living in Eugene where I enrolled in some non-credit writing classes at Lane Community College.    These classes were at night and most of the students were working adults wanting to write their life story.  What most of us had in common was that we barely made it through high school English.

In my advancing years I find it entertaining to reflect back on life, even laugh at myself and wonder how I ever made it this far.  Looking forward under present day circumstances can cause anxiety not knowing what tomorrow will bring.  In many ways writing is a way for me to escape reality sometimes.  Some authors that have influenced me are Edward Abbey, some retired Forest Service people that have written about their careers, the local author Robert Heilman with his book, Overstory Zero and a few others.    

Soon this pandemic will become part of history and we can feel safe again to return to whatever kind of life we think is a resemblance of normal.   In the meantime I will think of more to write.  

Mike

ps--thanks for the stories you have shared

Lewis & Clark

 The Lewis and Clark expedition is the best adventure story I have ever read.   I think I have read every book on the subject.  Two books that stand out the most are Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose and the Journals of Patrick Gass, the oldest member of the party.  He became one of three sergeants in the party and lived into his 90's making him the longest living member of the expedition.   Another man that survived it all was John Colter, who left the expedition on the return trip and went back west with two trappers they met on the Missouri River.   His story is sketchy, but he did survive after spending two years, mostly by himself and became a farmer in Missouri after his return.   In summary if it had not been for the kindness of the different Indian tribes they would have never completed the expedition.  

After reading all these books it opened up more reading on the fur traders and mountain men that followed, some had been members of the Lewis and Clark party.   Only one other man covered more of the western frontier than Lewis and Clark and that was Jedediah Smith.   More interesting reading during these uncertain times.