More pictures here!
You would think after traveling to and from Evergreen,
Colorado to the San Juan Islands in Washington, by truck, with chickens, three
times we would have it down; and indeed, we had most of it down. Particularly the new batch of chickens who
proved to be fantastic travelers due mostly to their great early-life
training (if I do say so myself.)
Nonetheless, we still managed to pick up one Never Again to offset our
two Always Agains.
Our first day driving was short due to having to lock up
our little log cabin and leave by ferry from Lopez Island so we planned a short
70 mile drive to Marble Creek Campground outside of Marblemount. (Campground reviews can be found on
Campendium.com.) After our stressful
days leading up to leaving, we decided to start the trip off right by staying
two days; allowing one full day for hiking. What a treat and our first
Always Again.
We pulled in and I was desperate to get the chickens out
of their travel crates. I set about getting
the roaming tent up (a 10x10 bug tent with an open floor for pecking and,
apparently, taking dirt baths) while Alan secured Salt and the dogs.
With seven chicks at six weeks old, we had them riding three in one dog crate (adapted for chickens of course with two
perches at varying heights and lots of pine shavings on the ground) and four in
another. Even with such space, they were
happy to get into the tent and fly around, chase bugs and, in the case of Dove
and Ocean, hop on my back.
In the morning we let them into the tent again until it
was time to go hiking. Then a quick “Chicken
Chicken” call with pieces of corn on the cob brought them back into their
travel cases. Coming when called was a
major part of their early training and now the “Chicken Chicken” call works
much better than Opus’ “Come Opus”, “Now Opus”, or “Don’t you dare run the
other way Opus.” But I digress…
The host, Steve, mentioned a nice 5-mile hike along the
river (FSR 1590) that we thought would be a great way to warm up our hiking
legs and it was perfect. It was the
first time we left the chicks alone in the truck but it was a cool day with no
sun and when we set off they were all roosting quietly—probably thrilled that
the truck wasn’t moving.
Back at camp, the chicks tucked into their exercise tent,
and we tucked into some gin. Come
nightfall, the ladies dutifully filed into one crate (all by themselves)
leaving the second crate empty. I
thought this was a good idea as the nights were about to get cold and seven
nestled on the perches seemed like a cozy start to camping.
Day three was a long, long, did I say long? LONG driving
day and our only Never Again of the trip:
We stayed on Highway 20 through Winthrop then dropped down toward
Spokane as quickly as we could. But
there was nothing quick about it. And if
I ever see the Grand Coulee Dam again I will vomit. Just not a pretty part of Washington. Slow and hot.
So Never Again will we take Highway 20 unless we plan on staying on it until Idaho.
Tired, hot (84 degrees and we do not have down like the poor
chicks), in need of a dump site so we can shower (hopefully) and wanting
to be settled to watch the presidential debate, we opted to stop earlier than
planned. I found Liberty Lake Campground, a Washington County Park that had a dump site and water at the
pitches. Serviceable is all I can
say. That, and thankfully we were the
only camper that night as it was basically an RV parking lot. Even the lake at that end of the road was
dried up. But we managed to shower and
get a bit of reception (the old fashioned way with an antennae) to watch the
debate. Mission Accomplished (every pun
intended.)
The next day we took off down I-90, one of the prettiest Interstate drives. You can go fast and
still enjoy scenery; exactly what we needed after the previous day.
We hopped off I-90 and headed down Montana 359 to 287
(love this drive!) and camped for two nights at Harrison Lake—utilizing our
Always Again, again. I was really looking forward to the following days' hike but before that, fishing!
After about four casts into the lake, I landed a huge
something. It flopped around and bent my
pole nearly in half before my line snapped and he took off with my favorite
lure. Never caught another. Alan too had one on the line the following
day and his line snapped. I guess it’s
time to get better line!
Speaking of the following day, I threw together some
bread and we left it to rise as we headed out to hike. It was a hot day so after the chickens went
into their crates, I loaded them into Salt so they could enjoy the shade and
fans.
We hiked up North Willow Creek Trail just outside of
Pony. A really nice trail, particularly
after 1.75 miles where it narrows a bit.
I would say the 10-mile round trip to Hollow Top Lake is quiet do-able
but not when you are as out of shape as we are; we opted out after four as we
were pooped and I was worried about the chicks.
Back at Salt, we baked the bread, released the chickens
into their exercise tent, watched as the sunset changed the color of the distant
mountains and noticed a hunter in the brush going after quail (we think.) So not quite as peaceful an ending as we were
hoping. On the plus side, at least he
didn’t shoot at the chickens.
We got an early start the next morning as the day would
involve driving through Yellowstone and in our experience, you can never give
this stretch enough time. But our tanks
were in need of freshening so we stopped at the Ennis RV Village. This lovely spot (for an RV park) had me
invent the “full hook-up lunch break” which will become an Always Again but doesn't classify as one at this point; we didn’t stop for the full hook-up, merely a dump and run. We hardly spend
money on campsites so spending $40-$60 for a few hours of cleaning out during
the middle of the day seems like money (and time) well spent. No one says you have to stay the night! Anyway, back on the road…
As luck would have it, we sailed through Yellowstone in
record time; hardly any traffic on a rainy Thursday in late September. Popped out the other end and turned up my
second favorite highway in the area, Highway 26 toward Dubois.
As Friday was my birthday and I wanted to hike for the
Big Day, we stopped for two nights at Falls Campground which was officially
closed for the season but the Forest Service (thoughtfully) leaves the gates open until
snowfall. There were no facilities and
no trash service, but also very few people.
(Friday evening it picked up a lot with hunters coming in for the
weekend.)
We enjoyed our first thunder and lightning storm in a
long time on Thursday night (Opus and the Ladies were unimpressed, River
huddled near the bathroom) and Alan took advantage of being inside to bake my birthday
cake. Normally he does a pineapple
upside down cake from scratch (yes scratch!) but due to being in Salt we
thought an old-fashioned boxed one would be ok.
Everything tastes better in Salt anyway. But although it was delicious,
it wasn’t close to the scratch one.
Being the great guy he is, he will make me another. But baking the cake the night before gave me
my second “Always Again”: Birthday Breakfast Cake. Oh yeah, great way to start (and end) the
day.
We tried to hike a trail in the Teton Wilderness that
starts at Brooks Lake and goes up the valley to Upper Brooks Lake but after two
miles we gave up; the mud was so thick it was coating our boots and clinging to
the sides so that eventually we had to walk with our feet wider than normal. Sticky, awful stuff. But a lovely sunny day at a gorgeous lake and
creek as the pictures can attest (the picture at the top of the post is of the creek coming into Brooks Lake.)
Unbelievably, the next day we drove almost 500 miles and
made it all the way home to Evergreen.
Let me just say, if you are going to be gone for six months and want
house sitters, make sure they are German.
The house was spotless, the yard delightful and, best of all, the
chicken coop was stocked with fresh straw and shavings—not that the ladies
appreciated it right away.
You see, we bought them as chicks while on Lopez Island
so their life to date had first been the brooder box, then a small 4x4
enclosure for the daylight hours outside before filing into their travel crate
for the night and sleeping out in the truck.
This is what they thought life was like.
So when I put them into their 8x10 Safe Zone with access to their coop,
they ran around, flapped their wings (particularly after the grueling 500
mile day) but refused to go into the coop at night; they crowded into a corner
of the run waiting for their travel crate to appear. Eventually, I went out and picked them up one
by one and placed them inside the coop.
The next night they managed it on their own. They know a good thing when they see it.
-K
