Books I read this summer

As summer is winding down, I am sad that my fun reading will be lessened. This summer while on my journey I read:

Waking up in Jamaica - Stephen Foehr
Siddartha - Hesse Herman
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
The Hidden Messages in Water - Masaru Emoto

We also listened to the Audiobook of:
When you are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris

Before leaving I read:
Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollan
Courage and Misfortune- Mountaineers Anthology Series 2

Since then I have read:
Stiff - Mary Roach,

I have started:
Endurance: Shackleton's voyage- Alfred Lansing
Guns, Germs & Steel- Jared Diamond
The Year of Living Biblically - A. J. Jacobs
Digging Dinosaurs - John Horner

I should finish three of these books by the time school starts. We shall see.

Some Math

Marie and I were curious how many different ways we traveled and what distances.

Using Google Earth and websites, these are the estimated distances I think we traveled:

Airplanes: 4, 332 miles
Train : 3,200 miles
Buses: 320 miles
Car: 900 miles
Mass/Public: 200 miles (includes Jamaica Buses)
Cabs: 20 miles
Foot: 200 miles

Total distance: ~ 9,172

Earth's circumference is about 25,000 miles. We went approximately 36% the distance.
We traveled through 17 states, 2 countries.
We stayed on 4 futons and fold out couches and 7 beds in 10 people's houses, apartments, and 1 hermitage at a monastery.
I was gone for 43 days, including the entire month of July.

It was a great Journey.

August 8

The best part of the rain was that the bugs went away as it rained. Marie and I stayed dry and slept fairly well through the shower. When it stopped, the little biters came back in swarms. I mummified myself inside my sleeping bag and was not bothered, but Marie could not get back to sleep. At first light, Marie decided she was getting up and it was time to get out of there. She told me she was going to take down the tent and I groaned my ok. I slept for a little while longer with no covering.


We ate our breakfast and packed up while waving and slapping at pests. We started on the trail earlier than I usually do and found respite from the bugs about a mile down trail.
At that point we found a place where lots of trees had blown down in a storm. We walked along and Marie took it upon herself as our leader to clear trail. She did a great job of moving anything about 6 inches in diameter or less. Teamwork was required for a few logs, but if any of you plan to go down the Crag Creek Trail, know that it is more passable because of Marie.

When then came down a ridge and found that our trail was over grown with lots of little shrubs and plants. It became the Crag Creek "path of least resistance" instead of a trail. We marched on while the rain soaked leaves happily transferred the liquid into our clothing. We were soaked to our chests and then found a river crossing. The trail had eroded. We less than a mile to hike, but a river was between us and our car, so we bushwhacked for a half an hour or more along the bank trying to find a place to cross. There was a place where the trail crossed the river on the map, but if a bridge was there, it was washed or crushed long before we got there.
We then decided to find a shallow spot and wade across. I chose a tree to cross on, but the women moved through the wet cold river up to their belly buttons, wow. We then decided to just walk straight north, knowing that we would hit the road or trail. As we found a clearing we stopped for a break and then followed what looked like an old trail for bit. We then cut through more brush and came out EXACTLY AT THE PARKING LOT!
Bobbi had packed beer in her trunk for us. We all took off the wet clothing and packs and laid articles out on the warm rocks. We then enjoyed a beer relaxed. We got to the car just after 10am and headed back to Carlton after a long while. Marie and I got home at around 1:30 and quickly did laundry and cleaned the house to host her Mom, Dad, Aunt and Uncle that evening. We cooked a great dinner and went out to listen to music. Needless to say, I am home but I am still moving around.

Jefferson Park

The next day we woke up early, ate our breakfast and picked the driest clothing to put on. We then packed up and headed to Jefferson Park, right under Mt. Jefferson. About a half an hour into hiking we ran into a small amount of snow off trail. As we kept hiking, eventually our whole trail was covered by snow.

There were beautiful waterfalls made from small snowfield runoffs, and amazing views of the mountain as we climbed. Once we made it to the ridge, we worked our way down into a gorgeous meadow filled with wild flowers, snow and a wide stream. Our trail disappeared and we crossed where we could with helpful rocks.

Our final goal was a set of alpine lakes that should have filled our valley. We found the trail and kept hiking until it was clear we had gone too far. We looked at our map and decided to just bushwhack through the snow fields in the direction we knew the lakes to be. About 10 minutes later we found one. We are pretty sure it was Scout Lake be we are not 100% on that. We stopped and ate lunch. Bobbi and I each took our turns splashing in the cold water and then we relaxed and dried out the rest of our gear in beautiful sunshine. We debated putting up camp, but seeing that we wanted to leave early the next day and the bugs would be atrocious at the lake, we decided we should move on.


We made our way to the Pacific Crest Trail and followed it for a bit. We lost the trail and at that moment, a woman looking for the trail going the other way appeared, and then a gentleman following us also appeared. We all hiked around the snow looking for old footprints. The trail was finally located and we each went our separate ways. The woman we found was leaving notes and signs of the trail for people following her, so it was easy to make it through the rest of the snow. We ran into a few other groups of hikers and had another creek crossing. We finally found a nice campsite and decided to make camp. As the sun went down the bugs came out in swarms and attacked any exposed skin. Marie and I had packed light and only brought a tent footprint and a rain fly. This left the bottom of our tent open to the elements, mainly MOSQUITOES!!! As we hung our food and brushed our teeth we started to see lightening light up the sky. We covered most everything we had and went to bed.

Backpacking

I arrived back in Oregon mid-morning Monday. I promptly slept most of the day and relaxed at home. I was happy to be back in Oregon and not having to move at the end of the summer. It is my first time in 6 years that I have not moved twice or more during the summer.

Tuesday I spent all day sorting mail, doing laundry, and general organizing of life. That night Marie and our friend Bobbi sat down to discuss backpacking plans to the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. I was back and forth on whether or not I would go, and when they invited me, I decided I would kick myself if I didn't.

We left Wednesday at around 2:30. Bobbi drove Marie and I out of town and toward the little town of Detroit.
We did not get on the trail until 5:26 pm. It was a late start, and we had about 5 miles in mind for the night. We started to hike an unrelenting uphill climb, when we heard some thunder. The mountain was hidden by some clouds, and as the clouds came overhead, it began to sprinkle. We decided to keep going until it was a soaking rain. The rain came not too much later. We ducked under a large tree for cover. Marie was the only one with a pack guard, although she has never used it before. I do not own one, and Bobbi laughed at her husband when he tried to lay one out for her. The storm began to pour a little harder, and then we noticed pea sized hail coming down. We starting laughing, thinking of hiking in the rain and hail when the sky broke loose with marble sized hail. It pelted us through the limbs of the trees. I was leaned over to protect my head with the top of my pack. The hail lasted no more then 10 minutes and the rain stopped soon after. The trail we were hiking on was a dirt trail that turned into a raging current flowing against us.
We had to straddle the trail as we hiked up the hill. Hail on the sides of the trail was 6 inches deep and the stream kept going until we decided to quit. We were wet, cold, tired of the uphill, and the sun was going down. We stopped by a large rock and decided to make camp. The sky cleared beautifully that night and we were able to steal about an hour of sunlight to try and dry out some gear. We made some pasta and hit the hay.




The stream going by here is the trail and I picked up all hail with a little dirt. The hail was deep!

PHOTOS ONLINE!

I have uploaded all of our trips photos (500) to the web. You can now view them at your leisure. Enjoy.


http://picasaweb.google.com/cory.eklund/OurSummerJourney?authkey=0gfS5T_bHsA

Harvest

Today the combine broke down, but luckily we had a mechanic already coming out to fix the radio.  The mechanic stayed from 10:30 am to 4:00 and still wasn't sure they fixed the problems.  They were looking at something electrical.  I have been in the kitchen most of the day helping my mother and my aunt.  I finished canning some jelly, so I will be able to have my own preserves.  I finished my last bit of laundry, and tonight I will socialize to get my last bit of family before I head back to Oregon.  I will get on the train tomorrow at around 3 and get into Portland the 4th sometime in the morning.  This will be the last post for a while.  I hope that if any of you are still reading it, you are not dissapointed.  I have had too much fun, and am not sure if I am ready to go back to work.  

Happy August

Today I was a gopher for harvest.  I started the day by dumping two grain trucks at the local farmer's co-op and then proceeded to cook harvest lunch.  We had bbq'd cheeseburgers.  My cousin Mark showed up today to help with harvest and my aunt Mary came to the farm as well.  We now have a full house and there is lots of commotion as we try and get the winter wheat cut.  In the evening, I went and watched my dad put on a coat of varnish on his cedar strip canoe.  He is planning on entering it into the county fair under the woodworking department.  I think he will get some praise.  Two more days, and than I am back to Oregon.  

Chicken

I have not helped butcher chicken for a long time.   My uncle each year raises around 100 chicken and keeps 30 or so through the winter.  As a child, I learned a lot of my anatomy through watching my family butcher turkeys, chickens, deer, cattle, etc.  I was able to identify lung matter, livers, hearts and intestines before kindergarten.  Today we butchered about 15 chickens.  I helped pick feathers and clean the chicken before we stuck it in the freezer.  I was then asked to clean a couple of wash tubs.  

The tubs used to cool down the chicken before it is put in the freezer.  They are full of clean water and chicken that have been dressed and cut up are put there.  After a while they are placed in bags and put in the freezer.  

I have always just rinsed the tubs out and put them back where we get them from.  Sometimes we use a little soap.  This time, my aunt Jerri noticed there were quite a few spots on the tub.  We then began to scrub the tubs and found the sides of the tub were coated in layers upon layers of soap and old chicken fat.  I do not know when the last time these were scrubbed, but I worked on one tub for over an hour and was still not done.  

We ate a delicious dinner and then moved equipment to see if we could harvest.  Right now, the crew is in the field and the first wheat is cutting at about 13% moisture.  It is time to harvest and get the wheat out of the field. In the next few days, I will help out when needed, but I think I probably won't see much of my father for the rest of the trip.  Wish us a fruitful harvest.  

July 30

The farm is getting ready to harvest our winter wheat and we lease a combine, or harvester, to help cut the grain.  The machine was delivered on Wednesday and I helped Dad put on a second set of tires.  The wind was blowing about 20-30 miles an hour all day and it was HOT!  Mom and I spent a day in the kitchen baking bread and she also was teaching me how to make jelly.  Hopefully when I get back to Oregon, I will make some Blackberry and raspberry preserves.  Mom, Dad and I ate porkchops for dinner, and I ate my share of potatoes.  At around 8:30, the wind died down and I went running.  I don't miss the burning in my lungs I get in Montana.  In Oregon, there is enough humidity, my legs always give out before my lungs.  In Montana, I am short of breath and coughing much before my legs are tired.  I should come here to train if I ever want to compete in a race.  

Last Day in Glacier

We decided to do one last short hike before we left the park.  We ate breakfast, took down our campsite and drove to East Glacier.  I hopped in with R & R and we drove to Two Medicine to do the Running Eagle Falls hike.  When I was young the falls were called trick falls.  We walked the .3 mile trail to the falls.  There was no water running over the top, but there was a torrent gushing forth from the bottom.  We then drove back to East Glacier and parted ways.  I stopped in Ft. Benton for a burger (it was delicious) and returned to an empty house at the farm.  I did laundry and put all the gear back.  

When Mom came home that night, we sat and talked for many hours.  I had not spent quality time with my mother yet on this trip.  It was fun to sit and chat about our family and laugh.  

Logan Pass

Rachael opted for a day at the campsite while Ryan and I tried to do more hiking.  We drove to St. Mary and got on a free shuttle to Logan Pass.  The shuttle was packed with people and so was the parking lot.  I think it is removing quite a bit of traffic from the road, which is excellent.  At the top, the parking lot was teeming with people and three cars were driving in circles looking for a spot.  Ryan and I headed toward the garden wall and walked along the cliff for a while.  We saw many mountain goats in a similar spot to where Marie and I had seen them a year before.  

We then went back and decided to just do the hidden lake overlook.  It is a boardwalk trail, but some of it was still under snow.  We moved quickly to the overlook and ate lunch there, and then ran the whole way back with skiing/skating through the snow patches.  We had people looking at us like we were junior high boys, but it was fun.  We then went back to camp.  

We had spaghetti o's and Easy Mac.  It was not the best choice, but we all felt that it will help us appreciate "real" food when we got out of the park the next day.  We burned the end of our wood and ate the last smores and hot dogs.  

Fishin'

Ryan told me earlier this summer that he would like to try and fish in Glacier.  You don't need to buy a license, so why not.  We grabbed 3 poles from my house, which haven't been used for at least (emphasis on least) 9 years.  We drove to Swiftcurrent lake and Many Glacier lodge.  Rachael worked a season there when she was 19.  We walked through the lodge and looked in the gift shop.  

We then grabbed the poles and walked a mile into Lake Josephine and found a little inlet on the South west shore.  Rachael brought a chair and books to relax in while Ryan and I fought with the poles.  We strung the poles within a half hour which shocked me.  Ryan loaded a pole with a hook and bobber and cast it.  He then set it near Rachael and told her to watch it.  Ryan and I then played with all the lures that were in the tackle box.  

Since we were fishin' at noon in the heat of the day on a rocky shore with little shade, Ryan and I knew there was little hope for any catch.  We had a tremendous amount of fun anyway.  After losing one lure under a rock, Ryan and I moved to a small pond behind our inlet and cast into the water for 15-20 minutes.  Hikers would hike by above us and comment to each other , thinking they were out of ear shot, about how stupid we were.  I even commented back to a couple that stopped and stared for a while.  Eventually Ryan and I put bobbers and hooks on our poles and sat down to read as well.  At around 1:30 we decided to go back to the parking lot for lunch.  We made sandwiches and ate in the shade.  We then headed to St. Mary for a restaurant that served pie.  Rachael told me it was the best pie on this side of the park.  

We walked in and put our name on the 20 minute waiting list, and then went into the gift shop.  I bought some stickers and found my way into the restaurant.  We sat down and ordered different types of berry pies.  It was delicious and the atmosphere was good.  The counter at the front where we sat had an open view to the kitchen where twenty-somethings hustled around making the orders and chatting.  You could tell they were having fun and enjoying their summer near the park.  

We then went back to camp and napped.  I was sore from the hike yesterday and the rest was great.  We cooked chili that night.  Ryan and I ate the last of the beer sausage and made chili dogs.  We then discussed plans tomorrow.  Ryan and I thought we might try to summit a peak near Logan's pass and so we were going to do the Going-to-the-Sun Highway.  I slept like a brick again.  

TDP

We hit the trail at 7:45 am after a breakfast of oatmeal and hot chocolate. We had made our lunches and were making good time up the trail. We passed Atlantic Creek Campground and passed another "t" in the trail when I saw a little bird that looked like a meadow lark. I looked closely and it was a baby bird that was learning how to fly. As we sat and watched we found the mother very close by, sitting on a branch cooing as her 3-5 chicks were following. I am pretty sure it was a ptarmigan. As Marie and Rachael watched the birds, Ryan and I started on the trail and not fifty feet down the trial I startled a moose. I saw it's rump near the trail and it took off up into the woods. Marie and Rachael came up and were able to see it on the side of the hill in the woods.

My goal was to hit Triple Divide Pass by 11 am so we could summit and get down in time to take Marie to the train. We started walking pretty quickly and made it to the pass at 11:05. At this point we saw that where we wanted to walk was covered in steep snow fields. We would have to wait to summit the peak. After lunch Ryan and I walked up a ridgeline toward the peak, and had great views to the North and South. Rachael hiked toward Mt. James on a ridge line, but neither of us were more than 500 feet higher than the pass.

We decided to head down at around 12:45 and walk back to camp. We arrived back at camp at around 3:45-4:00. We all went straight to the creek to refill the water bottles with a filter and to cool down our feet.

Marie packed and we all went into East Glacier at about 5pm. We got there at 5:50 and Marie grabbed her ticket. We went to a grocery store where Marie grabbed snacks and ice cream, and we grabbed beer and chips. We waited at the station and put Marie on the train to go to Portland. Our summer journey together was over, but we still weren't home yet. Marie was going back to Portland to take part in an Earth Science Teacher workshop. I was going back to the farm after a few more days in the park.

Ryan, Rachael and I drove back to camp, and made chicken, potatoes, carrots and onions for dinner. I grabbed a chicked from the farm freezer and we wrapped it in tin foil and threw it in the fire. We did the same with the carrots and onions, but cooked dehydrated potatoes on the stove. It was delicious and we all went to bed with sore limbs and full bellies.

To Glacier

We left at 10am for the Park.  I have not car-camped for a while and forgot how much you can pack.  We brought four chairs, a picnic hamper with all dishes we would need, a cooler, 3 fishing poles, tackle box, clothes, day pack, two burner stove with fuel, and more.  

We stopped in Shelby to pick up last minute groceries, and then arrived in East Glacier around 2pm.  We stayed in a small campground called Cut Bank, which is advertised as "primitive."  It has a pump with non-potable water and pit toliets, but it seemed pretty nice to me.  We set up tents, put together some lunch and walked up a the trial that left from the campground.  We walked about a mile then turned back.  We ate a dinner of red beans and rice with some hot beer sausage we got from my Dad.  We then had smores and hotdogs over a fire.  We picked out a trail for the next day, the Triple Divide Peak.  We had thoughts of sumiting the peak so we set our alarms for 7am to get an early start.