September '06 Newsletter
September '06 Newsletter |
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Ahhh..., to be home again!
For the past two months we've been on the road or joining friends for week-long adventures. When we returned, there were bills to pay, letters to answer, and to add to the excitement our DSL Internet connection went belly up within days. Susan hurt her back on the canoe trip and spent much of her first week home resting. Our dominant pain theory proved reliable again when her back seemed to improve and her thigh went downhill. She is almost back to normal now and starting to hike, bike, etc.
Bob spent much of the past two weeks sorting our trip pictures, catching up with his mom's situation, planning his campaign for the upcoming water board election, and trying to keep Susan from doing too much. We've had a lot of rain the past week, two inches in a couple of hours a few days ago. Susan has been missing pets and her prayers were answered, we now have our own herd of 6-7 cows that come through every day en route from the river bottom to our neighbors' yards to munch grass. A rather large pink coon-tailed rattlesnake got our attention a few days ago just as we were entering the streambed from our backyard. Fortunately it rattled enough warning for us to avoid it.
With 56K modem connectivity, electronic communication slowed tremendously. Getting anything done was impeded by finger pointing on our suppliers' parts and head scratching on Bob's. It's a Qwest line problem, no, it's your ISP, you need to switch to Qwest as your ISP, no it's the computer, no DSL doesn't work on either of your computers, it's the Qwest modem at the T3 connection, no it's your DSL modem which is off warranty. And finally "it's inside your house, so it's your problem", said as the Qwest non-computer-type technician drove away. We bought a modem the next time we went to town and after more fargling around with DSL modem settings and several calls to our ISP, we're back online and finally had some time to put this newsletter together.
We're running a bit late putting our 2007 travel plans together. Our canoe trip was so enjoyable that we are planning to explore a different area of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) in August of 2007. We are also planning a combination van, boat, canoe, and limited backpack on the North Shore of Lake Superior and Isle Royale while we are in that area. Both trips have small group size limits. Many of our friends in Black Canyon City are putting in for San Juan permits and as always we are hoping to do a June raft trip in Idaho. Baja has been on our list for decades now and we are finally going to do something about it. Sometime this fall, probably November, we plan to scout a trip for a group of us in March of 2007.
Hope all is well with you and yours! Life is good!
Canadian Rockies Van (7/15/06-7/23/06)
The camp started stirring about 6:45 AM. The cook team, Jim and Lynn, overslept and were late. Not having the luxury of a Dutch oven, Susan came up with a novel way of preparing omelets while Bob cooked the bacon on the griddle. The eggs were scrambled in Ziploc bags with whatever fixings you wished in your omelet and the bags were then placed into boiling water. The results were very good. Bob decided it was best to keep our campsite for one more day despite the night trains; so we loaded into the van and my pickup and headed out for a day touring Kootenay National Park.
.... continued ......
2006 Trip Reports:
Reported by Scott McCollough, edited by Bob and Susan
When I got to the meeting point at a downtown hostel, several of the gang were already there and the rest arrived shortly. Bob and Suzy arrived about 8:45 AM with an eight-passenger rental van and their camper-shelled Toyota Tundra towing a closed in trailer for our baggage. First stopping at a Safeway to purchase some drinks, we quickly left Calgary behind and headed for Banff. Bob was fairly concerned about weekend campground traffic but we arrived early and found campsites at a campground about 15 miles beyond Banff. After eating lunch there we took a very short drive to Johnston Canyon for a 4-mile loop hike up a narrow gorge to some beautiful waterfalls. The water was crystal blue and the weather wonderful - sunny and warm but not hot. Unfortunately, many others were doing the same hike. After finishing it we went into Banff townsite for some tourist shopping. Returning to our camp, the night's cook team served up some yummy fire-baked salmon. While preparing dinner, we discovered one of the few disadvantages of Banff valley, frequent noisy trains. A cheery fire promoted some to be involved in late evening conversations, while others being first-day tired, drifted off to bed.
We were launching the following morning but all arrived early to sort gear and figure out how it was all going to come together. This was our first Boundary Waters Canoe trip and we had elected to have the outfitter provide everything we would need other than our personal clothing and toiletries. First the group was required to watch a video explaining the do's and don't's of traveling in the BWCA. Next we met with John, the owner, who marked good camps, bad camps, and points of interest as he outlined our route on a map. He turned us over to Dave, who showed us our six big Duluth packs full of food, kitchen gear, and camp gear. We were all quite taken aback when he announced that they had provided us with two 6-person tents and were suggesting separating the boys for the girls. Ultimately this worked out just fine; it also turned out that most of the campsites usually only have room for two tents. Dave then issued us five not-quite-so-big Duluth packs and plastic bags in which to stow and carry our clothing and personal items. Every two people shared a bag and Kay stowed the first aid kit, some extra tarps and the group booze in hers. Next John took us out to the canoe rack and introduced us to our 21' long, 52-pound Kevlar canoes. He showed us how to single handedly take one off the rack and flip it up resting the yoke on his shoulders, then how to take it back off again. We all paid rapt attention and he made it look so easy but it just never seemed to go quite that smoothly for us in the field. We retreated to our accommodations to pack for a bit and met for a downtown dinner later.
Bob's mom was delighted when we showed up at her care center bearing gifts, cards and a cake. She enjoyed the cake eating, singing and socializing, though she asked repeatedly whose birthday it was. After doing our best to make her 90th special, we were on our way home to switch vehicles and hit the road - destination: a cooler climate. We took turns driving and by the wee hours Bob was crawling into the back to join a snoozing Suz. We awoke near a Flying J gas station in Montana and after a leisurely breakfast at a small town café, resumed our journey arriving in Glacier National Park by mid-afternoon. We secured a campsite in the St. Mary area and took it easy, resting up after the long drive.
