Newly Updated Cluck Truck Adventures: Always and for Never

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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

The Cluck Truck Continue-ith

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Sitting in Evergreen, Colorado preparing for our second trip to Orcas Island with the chickens, we were priding ourselves on how easy it all seemed the second time around:  We had the travel cages, the free-roaming tent, and chickens who are clearly prepared for anything.  We thought we couldn’t be surprised by anything chickens might do the road, but The Ladies proved us wrong.

Due to the time of year (July) and fear of how hot The Ladies may become in the back of the truck (Shaker), we set out on the most northern route possible; making our first stop almost due north at Sinks Canyon State Park in Wyoming.  It was scheduled to be our longest drive day of the trip—it is good to get the long one out of the way first—but long drive day took on a new meaning come Day 4, more on that later.

None-the-less, it was a long first day and driving up Sinks Canyon the temperature reached 85 degrees.  The Ladies always have plenty of air flow in the back of Shaker’s new canopy (verified by me riding back there one hot Colorado day while Alan drove around in the comfort of the cab) but plenty of air flow only matters when it is cool air.  This was hot, blasting, humid air.  So on Day 1 we engaged Rule 4: When the temperature gets over 82, we drop the rear window on Shaker’s cab, turn up the A/C and let the cold air flow all the way back to the hens. 

This makes for a very loud drive, but not as loud as my howling should we arrive with five dead hens.

We quickly chose a spot at the Popo Agie Campground right next to the middle fork of the Popo Agie River.  Whew!  We thought the drive was hot and loud!  The weather became even hotter (Alert!  There is no A/C outside!) and the beautiful, large rocks that run up and down the river made a cacophonous roar of an otherwise peaceful site.

Dripping in sweat, we quickly set up the chicken roaming  tent and placed them inside.  The poor things were holding out their wings and actually panting it was so hot.  Then Thelma just sank to the ground.  She wasn’t moving and JJ and Louise were making sure by pecking her tail feathers until they bled.  Thelma was still alive, just unwilling to move.  We cannot stand seeing a chicken being pecked when she is down so I went in, picked her up and we took turns holding her on our laps for hours.   When we put them to bed that night she was walking only to get a drink; much like the humans.  We made plans to drive on Day 2 with her in the back seat area with The Noses.

Thankfully we did not have to test a terrier’s reaction to sharing the backseat with a chicken; Day 2 dawned with Thelma moving around, eating, drinking and chattering with the others about her hours of being held on human laps.

Day 2 brought us through what is now my favorite part of the drive, Grand Teton National Park.  Oh how I wished we had time to stop for an extra night!  What a gorgeous area; we are sure to stop there on our way back and enjoy it more.   But our goal for the night was west of West Yellowstone at Rainbow Point Campground on Hebgen Lake.  Being already tired, hot, dusty and deaf from having the windows down, we didn’t think there was anything Rainbow Campground could throw at us that could make it worse.  With that, the gauntlet was thrown.

First of all, the campground was at the end of a three-mile dirt road.  Then we realized none of the (many, many, full) campsites were actually on the lake.  But we were tired so we found a nice spot at the back and were pleased to find it level and deep enough that we didn’t have to unhook Shaker.  We jumped out and set up the chicken tent all the while being bitten by mosquitos.  Oh it just kept getting better.

Needing some time away from the menagerie, I jumped on my bike for a ride to the registration box and then the lake.  While fishing, I heard River barking maniacally and over and over again.  I figured something must be wrong with Alan so I jumped back on my bike and rode to the campsite.  

Turns out River was barking at the camp host who was there telling us we had to move sites; the one we were in was booked for the next few nights.  Alan pointed out that the reservation card on the pole stated that the reservation ended today, at which time the host reached down and pulled it off revealing another registration card for the next few nights.  If you are not an RV’er let me tell you, there is nothing worse than having to RE-pack and move after unpacking from a long days’ drive.

But re-pack we must:  Still hot, still dusty and still being eaten alive by bugs, we packed everything up and prepared to move to the site next door.  It was only 30 yards or so away so we thought, “Heck, why don’t we just walk the chickens over?”  Did I mention we were tired, hot and dusty?  Apparently those combine to make you crazy as well.  Yes, let’s just walk the chickens through the campground to the new site.  I can hear Basil from Faulty Towers saying, “Yes!  Grand!  Marvelous idea Sybil!  Let’s just walk the chickens through a campsite!”

Alan moved the chicken tent over while I kept The Ladies occupied in the original site.  Then I started in on my “chicken chicken” and walking toward the new site.  They would only come part of the way then they would run back underneath the Shaker.  Eventually, with Alan shooing from the back and me cooing from the front, we corralled them into the new spot. 

For a few minutes anyway.

Then we set to moving Salt & The Shaker, talking on our walkie-talkies, me in my usual outside position attempting to direct Alan’s driving.   Usually this goes without a hitch (oh yes I did) but this time I was having trouble as Louise kept escaping from the chicken tent and running toward me.  She was behaving very oddly and seemed only comfortable when she jumped on my back.  So, hunched over so she didn’t scratch her way to the top of my shoulders, I continued on the walkie-talkie directing Alan into the spot.

Once parked, Alan helped me get Louise back into the tent.  But she and Thelma were still in a panic trying everything to get out.  Eventually, I sat inside the tent for a few minutes and that did the trick; they both went into a travel cage to lay some eggs (both ladies in one cage—those two are like that.) 

Believe it or not, this is not the most intimate chicken/human interaction of the trip.

Goodbye Day 2!!!

Day 3 took us to an old friend, a boon-docking  site along Fish Creek Road in Montana.   With the dogs off leash, the chickens free-ranging and the humans with refreshments in their hands, we were nine happy hearts.  Alan went off fishing, bringing back a nice sized trout and a large sized tale about the one that got away.  I went fishing for 45 minutes, had a few bites but no catches (actually, this suits me fine since without Alan next to me, I would have had to kill my catch myself—not  my favorite thing.)  It was lovely just being by the river.  I returned to camp for cocktail hour and to another tale I found difficult to believe:  Dom decided she needed to lay her egg in the camp chair next to Alan.  See?  An even more intimate human/chicken interaction.  Good thing we got a picture.  

Alan went back out fishing and guess what?  He caught his large tale:  A 16 inch beautiful rainbow trout.  Apparently all the animals wanted to be near him that night.

We decided that on Day 4 we would scrap all original plans and take back roads through northern Idaho and Washington hoping for cooler weather.  The drive was lovely (mostly Highway 20) but it certainly wasn’t cooler.  We dropped into Okanogan around 5:00 PM, stopping for gas in the 95 degree heat.  I opened the back window for The Ladies who promptly wanted to know why the A/C was turned off.  Poor things were panting and holding out their wings again.  I would have cried for them but I was busy trying not to cry for myself:   I do not enjoy the heat, nor the loud noise, and most of all I do not enjoy being on the road after five without knowing where we were going to stop.

But as luck would have it, we stumbled upon a lovely spot just off Highway 20, Sweat Creek Campground.  Once the temporarily stationed firemen left (they were on fire-watch duty), we were all alone with the Noses and Ladies roaming free and wild.  (So much happened on Day 3 I forgot to mention that we let the chickens loose without tying up The Noses and it was a huge non-event.  A couple of sniffs and a few half-hearted chases and that was the end of it.  Now they all ignore each other unless the chickens try to drink out of the dog bowl at which point River, let's just say, encourages them to move along.) 

We had such a quiet, peaceful evening we could hardly believe it when the logging (!!) began at 4:00 AM, yes that is true, with diesel engines roaring, trees falling and dust clouds billowing right through Salt's open windows.  Good morning Day 5!

Never have we packed up so quickly.  But it was a short, beautiful 180 miles to the Anacortes ferry and, since we were up so early, we had plenty of time to take a hike up to Rainy Lake in the North Cascade National Park.  From now on we will plan on leaving time for much longer hikes in that wonderful area.

We knew traveling this time of year would be a challenge with the heat and it was.  But we all made it and now The Ladies and The Noses are all running around our lovely Orcas Island RV spot together.

-K

PS:  For those of you wondering what Rules 1-3 are: 

Rule 1:  Carpe Campem - If it reaches 4:00 pm and you are still on the road you take the first camping opportunity that turns up (we obviously broke this one Day 4);

Rule 2:  Carpe Marriagem - Remind each other that you love one another before attempting to direct the parking of Salt;

Rule 3:  Carpe Ginem - Pour a refreshing drink immediately upon parking Salt, take a nice, 10-20 minute break before continuing the set chores.

The (much anticipated) Cluck Truck Hits the Road: Evergreen, CO to Orcas Island, WA

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I always wondered why I never bothered to separate the Salt & Pepper Adventure blog from our Backyard Chicken Extravaganza blog, and now I know why:  The day has come to combine traveling in Salt with our love of chickens.  Voila, the Cluck Truck Adventures.

To be clear, though, we are not back on the road full-time.  We are starting a new business, privatecamping.net, and in doing so need to be out on the road some of the time to locate new properties.  For this trip, we packed up the dogs and chickens and headed to our prime RV rental location on Orcas Island, WA. 

After doing some research on traveling with chickens, we determined that they would be happiest and safest in their own individual traveling crates.  Thus we purchased five wire crates with plastic bottoms and decked them out with individual water, food, grit, and oyster-shell eating areas all with individual perches.  The chickens hate them.  Of course, we lined the bottom with a few inches of pine shavings and plenty of straw which, every single day, Thelma pushes right out of her cage.  (I long suspected Thelma of being the nest-wrecker in the coop back home and now I know for sure.)

Chickens, being social creatures despite their almost incessant desire to peck each other, were not thrilled with the separate cage arrangement; the exception being Goldie Hen who, as soon as she heard of the plans, began her own rendition of MC Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This” in anticipation of days without being hen-pecked by her coop mates.

Preparation done, it was time to set out.  We had a little more than 1,400 miles to go from Evergreen, Colorado to Orcas Island, Washington but wanted to make sure The Ladies had time in the morning and evening to run in their free-range travel cage (a 10x10 netted bug tent with an open bottom—sets up in seconds and was perfect!) so planned only a little over 300 miles per day.  We also found out of the way places to stop, assuming most KOA’s would not relish the idea of a free-range chicken tent in their yards.  Here we go:

Day 1: 

Goal:  Jim Bridger Recreation Area, WY

Actual Stop:  BLM Land off of WY-84.

Egg Count:  4 (All the Single Ladies except Louise.)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  5 (out of 5.)

Loaded up the chickens from (what must now look to them like a country club) their ¼ acre free-range, worm filled yard and plopped them into their travel cages.  Everyone went in willingly enough (once they saw the scratch being tossed inside) except for Louise whom I had to chase around for a good ten minutes, finally trapping her between the cage and the fence and physically putting her inside. 

During the drive, I worried every time we hit a bump or took a sharp turn.  “Those poor chickens!” was almost a constant lament.  I checked on them at every stop and they had all hunkered down and gone into a bit of a dazed state.  But they were still laying eggs which is always a good sign.

A side note:  If you are ever west of Cheyenne, WY on I-80, there is a gorgeous National Forest, Medicine Bow Routt National Forest, with plenty of campgrounds.  I would have loved to stop but we needed more miles, baby.

We kept on cluck-trucking toward our first choice for the night, the Jim Bridger Recreation Area (near the Jim Bridger Power Plant in Wyoming.) Unfortunately, it turned out to be a day use area which is really too bad as there were a couple of small lakes and lots of picnic tables with no one around.  Deciding to obey the No Overnight Camping signs, we opted to head over to some BLM land off of Black Buttes Road (WY-84), along Bitter Creek (which is close to bitterly dry.)  We backed Salt up a side road, jumped out, set up the chicken tent, unloaded the crates from the truck to the inside of the tent and set The Ladies free.  They were thrilled and did not seem to mind the sandy, desert soil at all but jumped right to hunting and pecking around.  We unlatched the bikes and took a short ride along the dirt roads.

Nearing dusk The Ladies were getting anxious to bed down for the night but chose not put themselves to bed in the crates (damn!  A human can hope, can’t she?)  It took a bit more scratch, and, of course, chasing Louise, but I managed to get them all loaded in and the crates back into the truck for safety overnight.

When morning came I ran out there and reversed the processes, giving them at least an hour of free range time before we packed them back in for another 300 mile day.

Day 2: 

Goal:  Lake Wolcott, Idaho.

Egg Count:  2 (Thelma & Louise)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  4 (The Ladies’ egg production of Day 1 providing some hope that they weren’t fairing too badly back there.)

On the drive we had everything from rain to sleet to snow but arrived at the lovely and serene Lake Wolcott by 3:30 PM.  There are only 18 RV sites, most with a nice amount of space between them with lovely grassy areas (chicken heaven) and level, asphalt pitches (Kit heaven.)  The lake, however, we have declared fish-less.  (To our defense, it is rather early in the year.)

Of note:  The water at the pitches was turned off (not sure if this was a seasonal thing or they are permanently turned off) but if you have a long hose, you can pull over to the day use parking area and fill up via the red faucet near the bathrooms.  I pass this along as we only noticed it by watching our neighbors drive over, the whole time thinking, “What in the world are they doing?”   Electricity was on at the sites.

While in their free range tent, JJ and Dom set about feuding over two of the crates, each chicken going in and setting up a nest before the other one came in and chased them out.  This went on for at least an hour.  JJ finally won (no surprise there) and laid an egg overnight in one of coveted cages. 

Day 3:

Goal:  La Grande, Oregon (343 miles)

Actual Destination:  Farewell Bend, Oregon State Park (250 miles)

Egg Count:  3  (JJ, Dom, Louise)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  3 (They seem to be getting enough free run time as they are often just milling around cleaning their feathers after a couple of hours outside the crates.)

We got a late start due to hot showers!!  Yahoo!   (Drove over to the aforementioned day use area at Lake Wolcott, hooked up to the faucet and showered like there was no tomorrow.)   We also opted to stop twice on the road to attempt to catch some fish.  Still nothing.  Still too early in the season.  Still our story.

When the clocked passed 4:00 PM and we were still on the road with about 100 miles to go to La Grande, we carpe campem’d when Alan noticed a sign for Farewell Bend, an Oregon State Park just after crossing the border from Idaho on I-84.  Ahh, those Oregon State Parks!  Never disappointing.  Lovely (and large but empty this time of year) campground along the shores of the Snake River's Brownlee Reservoir.  Lots of pitch types to choose from and we opted for one in the back with lots of area for the chicken tent.

Up went the tent in record time (it was a long, hot day back there for The Ladies) and out they popped and almost immediately began a dirt bath extravaganza.  The first one of the trip and they were really digging in.  With The Ladies so happy, we poured a cocktail and nestled near the campfire for some quiet time.  Before I had finished my gin, I noticed people trying to take pictures of the chickens from afar; I invited them over for a closer look.

They were four Canadians heading home from Arizona and amazed that we were traveling with chickens.  (They might be the first on the trip to even notice we had chickens along.)  Lovely people (as most Canadians are) and they departed with eight fresh eggs for breakfast.  I am betting that is a camping story that will get told!

Day 4:

Goal:  Cle Elum, WA

Egg Count:  2  (Thelma & Dom)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  2  (When Louise, of all chickens, jumps up on your back for a ride, you know things can’t be that bad.)

In preparation for the trip, I had done a ton of research to find out-of-the-way places in which to camp; one such place was the Red Mountain Campground (USFS) outside of Cle Elum, WA.  Although it is technically closed for the winter, it is one of the few campgrounds that allow you to dry camp for free.  Winding along the Cle Elum River, it is a beautiful spot.  Being very off season, we expected the campground to be empty and were disappointed to find that at least three other vehicles had found the place before we did. 

None-the-less, it was a nice spot and Alan scouted out a site that I reserved by standing in while he drove ahead to turn Salt around.  During his drive, he found an even better site in one of the dispersed camping areas.  So he came back to get me and we set up camp just down the road.   Chickens ranging in their tent, we set about fishing the river to no avail.  But the sun was mostly out (“mostly” being a good percentage for the Pacific Northwest) and the evening was delightfully complete with Manhattans and a campfire.

Day 5:

Goal:  Orcas Island and our own Private Camping spot!

Egg Count:  4 (All the Single Ladies but Dom)

Kit’s Chicken Stress Level:  0

Packed up in the light snowfall and were on the road extra early.  Delightful to be driving in an area we know almost by heart!  We stopped at a couple of new favorites in Mount Vernon:  The Calico Cupboard for bread and a Mexican grocery (can’t find them on Google maps but they are on the corner of Freeway Road and I-5) for marinated meats and one old favorite, Compass Wines in Anacortes, before getting into the ferry line.  We had hours to spare so I used the time to collect eggs and clean out Salt.

We arrived at the site while it was still light out (a must if you are going to rent this site!) and with the sun shining, it was gorgeous.  Our intention while here is to get it ready for rental on Private Camping and we have our work cut out for us:  We forgot how mossy things (drives!) become when in the Pacific Northwest so we will be adding “Gravel Drive & Pitch” to our list of to-do’s (which include “Erect Chicken Coop” and “Build Shed”.)   In between work, we plan on hiking, biking, tennis and finding all the other fun things to do on the island which I will write about on our Privatecamping.net blog.

-K