usbackroads™

Brunch in Yosemite Valley

2012-02-16T11:29:00.000-08:00

usbackroads destination--brunch in Yosemite Valley

The place for brunch in the Yosemite Valley is the Ahwahnee Dinning Room. This has been a California tradition for years. Dinning at the Ahwahnee dinning room is a special occasion type place. Dinner requires a tie and LONG pants!! Well, not sure there is any dinner that is worth that!! Lunch looks like it will cost you in the $20 range. However, Sunday brunch is $39 and if you time it right it is breakfast, lunch and dinner for the entire day!!

So that was our call. We made reservations several day earlier. There was a very short wait. It seems for dinner and lunch even with reservations your wait can be quite awhile since people tend to linger over lunch and dinner. There is a nice fireplace just outside the waiting where you will meet all sorts of distinguished and interesting people. As in all public places discretion is highly recommended before striking up a conversation.

The food was good, but not exceptional. However, it is hard to have a good buffet with exceptional food given the wide variety of items and the necessary wait times. So some foods like seafood tend to be overcooked just because of the buffet nature. But there is plenty of variety and I am sure that you will find something to appeals to your taste buds.

My favorite was a simple cheese and avocado omelet cooked to order just right. I would be great if we could find a buffet where they cook to order seafood!! The Ahwahnee has a good wine list so a bottle of wine is a good idea to go along with brunch.

Now this is the most difficult part. Desert. Of all the various foods desert was by far the best part of the brunch at the Ahwahnee. So this might be the case of eating desert first!! In any case, you will waddle out feeling full and contented with your lot in life, particularly if it is a warm, sunny winter day.

Here is a view of the dinning room with its 34 foot ceiling. There was a piano player for music while you eat. One of the servers joined him to sing "What a Wonderful World". He even sounded a bit like Satchmo.

So brunch at the Awahnee. Expensive, particularly when you add the wine. However, we only pass through Yosemite Valley on rare occasions. If fact, I believe it has been 36 years years for me and Susie's first time in the Valley.

Don't miss brunch or Yosemite Valley for that matter. Since the early 1900's there has been only ONE Yosemite Valley on the face of the earth. More on this topic soon.

So go now and take some bicycles and they do not have to be electric to best explore the valley.

Sasquatch and Yosemite Valley

2012-02-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

usbackroads information--Sasquatch and Yosemite Valley

We took the electric bicycles to pedal around Yosemite Valley instead of driving the truck. Great call. We went to Mirror Lake and over to Happy Isles, but unfortunately we could take the bicycles up the John Muir Trail to view Vernal and Nevada Falls. Then back over to Yosemite Falls for a quick lunch and peak at the Ansel Adams gallery next to the visitor center.

However, the excitement of the trip was discovering proof that Sasquatch lived in Yosemite Valley!! Millions of visitors visit the Valley every year and yet nobody has noticed that the Indians have made a petroglyphs of Sasquatch and his friend the coyote. Now I am more familer with pictographs which are painting on rocks. There are famous pictographs all over eastern Washington. Petroglyphs are actual carvings into the rock.

If you think about it what would the Yosemite Indians use, but the largest canvas in the valley? How about Half Dome? Here is my picture of Half-Dome from the Yosemite Falls parking lot. Can you see Sasquatch?? Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Ok, how about this picture from Mirror Lake. You should easily be able to find Sasquatch and his faithful coyote.

Ok, see it? No, aw come on. It is easy to spot once you know what your looking for!! Here try this picture.

There you can't miss him NOW!! Wow, what an amazing discovery. Here it is for years viewed by millions of people that never "see" Sasquatch. For more on the art of seeing in the outdoors see this blog posting. Art of Seeing in the Outdoors.

I was going to wait until April 1st to post this scientific discovery, but the first poster in science gets all the credit. So here it is in February, instead.

Eastman Lake, COE, Madera, California

2012-02-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

usbackroads destination--Eastman Lake, COE, Madera, Calfornia

This is a usbackroads destination only in the winter. Similar to Black Butte Lake, but located much farther south in the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains. In fact, it is just above the floor of the Central Valley so we are not sure if it is above the infamous valley fog. However, it is a pretty place just as attractive as Black Butte Lake with the same day use sites, campgrounds, trails, and boat launch.

Coming from Madera the COE has signed the day use site with a left directional arrow. The campgrounds and overnight areas continue straight ahead. The signing on this COE site could be improved. The campgrounds are east of the signed day use site.

Here is a picture of the typical campsite.

And here is the current fee schedule. Note there is a 50% discount for holders of the senior or access passes.

There are only five full hookup sites and probably about twenty water and electric hookups. The remainder of the sites are boondocking. Some of the campground loops are best explored without the trailer attached! As we drove through the campground we noticed that reservation notices were already posted for President's Day Weekend.

As noted on the bulletin board Eastman Lake is a quality bass lake with one fish over 22 inches allowed. The lake is a clear lake and very fishy looking. It was only that $100 plus California non-resident fishing license that stopped me from fishing.

Like Black Butte Eastman Lake has lots of hiking, mountain biking, and horse trails. This is a picture of the hiking trail.

Eastman Lake has plenty of wildlife. Though we were there at 1:00pm we saw a coyote loping along the ridgeline just south of the trailhead. At the trailhead, we noticed the posting for keeping an eye out for the "resident" mountain lion. And less than a 1/4 mile down the trail we heard a loud noise in the draw. Suddenly, three pig sows complete with litters burst out of the draw and up the hillside. Now, Bugaboo took one look at the 300 pound pigs and just watched from the trail. Snowpatch on the other hand, had them on the run! All ten pounds of him raced up the hillside trailing the sows and their 20 pound piglets.

An English vet study on the death of dogs listed cancer and heart disease as the leading causes of death in large dogs. For small dogs it was trauma. As we watched him race up the hillside, we realized that he just might end up in that statistical category at under one year of age. Fortunately, he turned around before the pigs realized just how small he really was!! A dog trapped in a lapdogs body.

The sun shelters above the day use site on the lake. It probably does get hot here in the summer!

Leaving Black Butte Lake, Orland, California

2012-02-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

usbackroads destination--Black Butte Lake, Orland, California

We measure the time at Black Butte Lake by how long it takes to fill up the holding tanks. We went ten days without dumping the tanks, however, it was nip and tuck there for several days. Thankfully, the campground has a shower and bathrooms. Sunrise at Black Butte Lake.....like a forest fire without the smoke.

The weather for this stay was partly cloudy and cool. There was almost always a slight breeze from the north and though the temperatures were in the 60's that breeze made wearing a fleece vest from Columbia Sportsware, of course, advisable. The skies had a high haze most nights so the telescope did not leave the storage area unfortunately. We hope for better luck at Coarsegold.

We started riding the electric bicycles and there appears to be a learning curve on how to best conserve battery power. Going slower does not seem to make that much difference, but we will do further investigations. The bikes with gears are 24 speed and add to that the 4 speed electric assist and your at a 96 speed bike. Another 96 for generate mode!! Anyway, I am sure that lots of those gear overlap. So we will spend some time learning the best gear for pedaling and the best gear for assist. A more complete report will be coming in a few weeks.

The other project at Black Butte Lake was this picture. I took it as I was bicycling thinking it was just a throwaway picture so just shot it in JPEG. Well, after looking at the picture I decided that I liked it. So I kept going back to get a RAW image with similar light. I think I might have finally gotten a decent light, but we will see it turns out after processing. It might be time to switch all my pictures to RAW, but they are much larger files and more difficult for this blog.

The Army Corps of Engineers were busy building trail bridges and new trails outside of Buckhorn Campground. So we are looking forward to riding some of those new trails next year. The heavy rain made the trails way to soft for riding this year.

In Orland, be sure to stop at the Farwood Bar & Grill. Fantastic hamburgers and if you are a senior there is a FIVE dollar buffet between 11:00 am and noon everyday of the week. Good food, good service. No waiting. Farwood Bar & Grill

In Chico, we waited in line for a half hour for breakfast at the Sins of Cortez. It was worth the wait for breakfast. They are serve lunch. No dinners. Here is their web site: Sins of Cortez.

The bakery and Portugese restaurant mentioned in last years blog entry, have both closed. A loss. We were so looking forward to the cinnamon bread!!

Well, we packed up the trailer, hooked up, and started pulling out. At this point, Bugaboo woke up in the back seat and started looking around. I think he suddenly realized that the trailer was behind us and we were leaving Black Butte Lake. He started whinning. I think he wanted to stay. So far, this was his favorite spot. We were camped alone for most of the ten days and it is definitely one of our favorite places in winter.

Ram Trucks--The Good Part One

2012-01-31T19:18:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like a dog in the pick-up bed to symbolize the freedom of the open road. Well, in Snowpatch's case it helps if the truck is not moving. Otherwise those ten pounds would be blown all over the road.

usbackroads product-Ram 1-ton Diesel Truck

Well, the first posting was about the bad and ugly about the Ram Truck. However, as mentioned in that discussion I do LIKE the truck. The previous post was about what I did NOT like about the truck. The following two posts are what I LIKE about the truck.

I have driven trucks my entire professional life and my first new vehicle was a truck. However, I have never been a TRUCK guy.   But I have always owned a truck since spring of 1973 and there were extended periods when I had TWO.

This is all that guy stuff about trucks. The first is that I have always been leary about spending money on gas and what I call the junk of living. I prefer to spend my money on big ticket items. So gas mileage in a diesel truck?? Well, my previous Ram was a 96 gas truck that got 12 MPG. Coming down from Wenatchee to Eugene the one-ton Ram gave mileage of 18.5 at 65 mph (our Honda Pilot is at 20 mpg). I also did not fill up until we got to Eugene. Towing the 30.5 foot Cameo we get 14 mpg at 55 and 12 mpg at 65.

The rear end. An issue that I agonized on for years. My 96 Ram had a 4:10 rear end for towing and I hated it. So when it was time to buy the diesel I went with the 3.73 rear end. I am sure that the diesel mileage is much better. I have not noticed much difference in towing ability. I do think the 4:10 feels more positive at take-off, but towing down the road there has been no noticeable difference.

The exhaust brake!!! This is a clear winner. I would never, ever buy another truck without an exhaust brake. I have pulled over on mountain roads whenever I have noticed brake fade.   There are some spectacular, scenic places to die in the west by having your brakes fail. I want to die like my father. In bed, asleep.

Towing downhill with the exhaust brake is a dream!! Set your speed, set your gear and cruise on down and a safe and sensible speed without touching your brakes!! At Camas our road drops over 2500 feet in under three miles. No more brake jobs for this kid!!

Clearly, the best part of the Ram truck.

The truck also has a turbo. I suspect that is how the exhaust brake works, but read the manual. The turbo kicks in and the truck moves out rather quickly. It is a one-ton truck, but sometimes just for giggles it is fun to floor it!

On the rear bumper there is a seven pin AND a four pin plug for lights. No more looking for adapters for the lights!! What a brilliant idea!! This is worth a LOT on money in traffic tickets and just general aggravation in life.

The truck steers and holds the road well for such a big (it is 21 feet long) and tall truck. I did floor it once while rounding a corner and that was NOT a fun experience. It is big and not a sports car or one of those little red 1/4 ton pick-up trucks so drive it like a bus.

The other fun part about owning such a large rig is driving up behind a Prius until you totally fill their rear window. From end to end all they can see is grill work. Of course, I quickly use the turbo to whip around them so they can read my bumper sticker.

This vehicles carbon emissions are off-set by my solar house.

Ram Trucks-The Good Part Two

2012-01-29T08:44:00.000-08:00

usbackroads--Ram Trucks Part Two

Ok, every guy knows that we pick the trucks based on horsepower, rear end ratio's (hmmm, I will have to think more on this one), and rear slip differential (is that a SF thing??). In the picture above Snowpatch is shown for scale.

The Federal Government is the largest purchaser of vehicles in the United States. And it is low bid. So you can imagine what the BLM and Forest Service rigs were outfitted with in the 1970's. AM radios?? Well, that was a luxury item that the Federal Government was NOT going to pay for in a vehicle. Air conditioning.....in your dreams. So on dusty roads there was more dust IN THE VEHICLE than behind the vehicle!!

This all changed with the energy crises in the late 1970's. All of the sudden Detroit could NOT sell anything, but to the Federal Government. So all the sudden, BLM had rigs with air conditioning and AM radio's. So did all the BLM employees fight over horsepower, rear end ratio's and slip differentials?? Nope, they all wanted an AM radio and AIR CONDITIONING not to mention the BUCKET SEATS.

Think about it. Most trucks are fairly similar in terms of ability go down the road or trail. Well, I had a three speed automatic with BLM. You DO NOT want a truck like that. It shifted into second at 20 mph's and had NO low end torque. That will tell you where I fit in the BLM pecking order.

Given similar tires, rear end ratio's, etc. most trucks will be more than adequate in the woods or on the road.

That leaves you the interior package and the all important sound system. I admit that we waited a year for the new Ram interior redesign and it was worth the wait.

Ok, everybody knows about heated seats. The Ram comes with COOLED seats. Now I thought that was the dumbest thing, until I turned them on. Even with the dry heat of the west.....worth it. I have not tried the heated steering wheel after a year. That might be a bit much.

Finally a zone cooling system. Worth the wait. One for me, one for Susie, and one for Bugaboo and Snowpatch in the backseat.

Stereo system is pretty cool. Two glove boxes. Ipod connector in one. Fewer cup holders than in the 96 Ram, but better locations.

Bucket seats are comfortable, though Susie hates the headrest on her seat. Those infamous FOB's from hell do have the ability to reset all drivers seats, mirrors, etc based on which key is inserted into the ignition. That might be important if two of you drive the same vehicle and are of significantly different heights.

It has TWO 12-volt outputs and one 120 volt output. So your laptop can just be plugged into the dash. There are really more gizmo's and settings that I have not bothered to learn them all in the year that I have owned the truck.

Where the interior is lacking is where to put the GPS, phone, laptop, satellite phone, work folders, pens, pencils, etc. etc. The original RAM design was a "working" truck. Dodge should continue that train of thought. If I have a plug for a laptop, it means I need a place for the laptop. Maybe a velcro patch where the GPS antenna can sit. Maybe a spot for a two-way radio?? A way to port video to the "multi-media" screen? All that stuff goes into a truck these days and it will be somewhere. So design a place for it.

Stick a 200 watt marine solar panel on the roof. Keeps the battery charged. Lets you do all sorts of things. It is just wasted space on that roof.

I was excited about the box storage in the cab. I put the chains and tightners in there and promptly forgot about them. But it is nice to have a place where they are out of sight. Way back in the 1980's I had a special rack built behind the truck seat for my speakers, chains, shotgun, etc. It worked great, but nobody has really followed up on that concept. Make the rear seats removable. The dogs don't care and there would be more room for work equipment. The extended cab, the new frontier in industrial design!

We were excited about the RamBox, but it did not come in the one-ton trucks at that time. Looks like a great idea. Maybe somebody should redesign the entire pickup bed.

The Ram has a good interior, I preferred it to the Ford interior. Never did look at a Chevy, but that is a different story. You live in the inside of your truck. And like those BLM employees it did make a difference to which truck they picked.

We waited a year for the new interior in the Ram and are glad we waited. The 2011 Ram Truck. I would buy it again. Stay tuned for Part 3 where we will cover those "unimportant" things like engine, transmission, and other stuff.

Dodge Trucks....the Good, Bad, and Ugly

2012-01-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

usbackroads products--Dodge Ram Trucks....the bad and ugly

I have owned four pickups trucks in the last forty years. Obviously, I keep them a long time. I have driven and used virtually every pick-up truck made while working as a professional Forester over those last 40 years. Pick-up trucks for me have always been a tool to get the job done. They have to take me out into the woods and back again. Well, I take that back my first little red Datsun pick-up was a kick in the pants. I enjoyed driving that vehicle from 1973 until I finally sold it in 1988. I do regret selling that little pick-up.

In August of 2011, I went to Kellog, Idaho and purchased a 2011 one-ton Dodge Ram Diesel truck. So this is a review of this truck. Today's section is on the bad and ugly. I do like the truck. However, there are some "features" that drive me totally nuts, So we will cover those in this posting.

We will start with the downright ugly the US Government spent billions and billions of dollars to bailout Chrysler. According to the new owners of Chrysler the only viable part of the company was the Ram truck division.

Well, your tax dollars and mine went to pay an Italian company so they could own the company. The truck plants in the US were closed and my truck was made in Mexico. In my view the problem is the CAFE standards. The Dodge Ram division would be a fine viable company by itself. But, the CAFE standards make it impossible for them to exists independently. For those with auto industry background is my take correct on this??

So let us move from the ugly to the merely bad. The truck comes with a security and alarm system from hell. American auto's are designed in Detroit where everybody is out to steal your vehicle! Out in the rural west, the major concern I have is locking the keys IN THE VEHICLE in the middle of somewhere.

Early on the alarm system seemed to go off every day. It seems opening the truck with a key after closing with the FOB would set up the alarm! The dealer recommended opening in the same manner as closing it! What??

The truck has the habit of once or twice just locking itself. Now in the middle of somewhere that is a concern. Since I have gotten in the habit of leaving the keys in the truck while working, this can be an issue. So now I always leave the window down just in case the truck will pitch a fit.

FOB's?? What ever happened to a simple key? The FOB's are the keys designed in hell. Bulky, easy to fall out of your pocket. Impossible to hide a second key on the vehicle. I learned that if you ORDER a truck you can order with standard keys rather than the FOB. That would be my choice. I wonder if you can get rid of that security and alarm system?? If I had known that I would have ordered a truck just for the key and security setup to be gone.

The next issue was more serious and did cost us a lot more money. On the 4X4 model the rear of the truck is WAY to high. Yeah, I know it looks cool and sells more trucks, but most 5th wheels will not fit since there is not enough room between the bottom of the 5th wheel and the top of the bed rails. So we ended up with a larger 5th wheel simply because it was the only one we could raise the axle and get the combination to fit. The rear end of the truck sits 58 inches high in the 4X4 model. Get out your tape measure and see how high this truck rides!

The Dodge Ram truck is really made for towing so this oversight is criminal. So check this out before getting a truck. I should have ordered a flat-bed and then bought a custom box that would fit current 5th wheel models out there. Dodge, of course, could offer an RV package for the bed already set-up for towing and make plenty of money. However, I suspect there is a reason they are now owned by a foreign company through the good graces of the US government.

Another issue is the the downshifting is electronic and on the stalk next to the steering wheel. When driving mountain roads downshifting is awkward. It is easy to find the shift column and much more difficult to find the button on the stalk when you eyes are on the road. They should have just left the the downshift controls on the shift column. Bad design.

On previous models Ram offered the fold-flat rear floor. That option is no longer available. They really should have an option for removable rear seats. Lots of working trucks would be better outfitted with the rear seats removed and used for tool and equipment storage.

Other minor issues. The touch screen radio in several modes requires you to burrow in the the menu's. Well, you think a cell phone is distracting wait till you try this radio! Pull over to the side of the road to operate the radio!!

Well, that covers most of the bad and ugly. I do like the truck, so next posting we will move onto the good. And there are some good and great features to the truck.

Black Butte Lake, Orland, California

2012-01-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

usbackroads destination-black butte lake, orland, california

We are back at Black Butte Lake for the third time in four years. This tells you something about the quality of the area. The campground fees have gone from eight dollars to SIXTEEN dollars this year. Half-price with a Golden or Inter-Agency Pass. Wow, if there is no inflation why is the Federal government increasing prices for campgrounds EVERY year??

We finally left Medford in-between weather fronts. I kept watching the conditions around Shasta City and kept thinking that the weather man was wrong with winter storm warnings and watches for the area. Well, there was snow alongside of I-5 almost into Redding! Wet pavement, but no snow or ice for our 47 feet of rolling stock.

We did see a bumper sticker on the way into California. It said..."Help the Third World.....Vacation in California". A sad commentary on the decline of a great state over the past thirty years. However, the mountain areas of California remain....what California was once. A former great state, now becoming what it has always been critical of since its creation. If the song was written today. Would it be "Texas Dreaming"?.

Black Butte Lake has been our FIRST winter stop in California and it has always come through. We arrived to sunny skies and temperatures of 60 degrees. The campground is totally empty. Yep, four hosts and one camper.

So we have taken this opportunity to dry out the 5th wheel, further test the electric bicycles, and let the dogs get some needed exercise. Seems the Corps of Engineers have come up with a handy-dandy stake for keeping your dogs on a leash while allowing them some freedom.

Seems a bit much for a dog like Snowpatch, however, if we had tied Bugaboo to that stake there is a chance that he would have managed to rip it out of the ground.

For years we have picked activities around our kid. All of you know the drill. Swim practices, piano, and any other activity. Your friends become those folks going through the same life experiences that you are going through.

So your retired. And your pick campgrounds and activities based on your dogs needs!! Well Buckhorn Campground has a great hiking trail right next to the campground for the dogs!!

This is the first spot that we have been able to ride the electric bicycles. Sunny and no rain!! Complete report coming in a future blog. Yes, there are some interesting differences between bicycling and electric bicycling.

Here is the view of our campsite. Complete with two kennels for the dogs and a fancy Camping World carpet for the front steps. We thought we were buying two smaller carpets, but the package contained ONE large carpet. Oh well, check out that folding rocking chair sitting on the carpet. Isn't that what retirement is about??

Now the US Corp of Engineers is world renown for their concrete work. Well, there is nothing like a little bit of concrete to save a dying tree!!

For some reason this was never covered in my Forestry education. Must have been a horticultural thing.

Valley of the Rogue State Park, Oregon

2012-01-21T19:14:00.000-08:00

usbackroads destination--Valley of the Rogue State Park, Oregon

We are back for our yearly stop at the Valley of the Rogue State Park in Oregon. Last year we noted that it was cool, rainy, and of course cloudy. Well, this time it is just plain wet. It has rained for the past two days constantly and it looks like we are headed for day three. The pitter patter of raindrops on the roof has become the equivalent of a chinese water torture!

I-5 is totally snow covered around Shasta City so we will wait out the storm once again. There are also high wind warnings for folks towing trailers.

At least this is a nice campground and most importantly a great bicycle and walking trail along the river. The picture above is the trail next to the campground loop. Bugaboo and I went for a several mile walk towards Grants Pass today. Wet, and more wet. It does not seem to bother Bugaboo. We thought about getting out the electric bicycles but the steady downpour indicates that it might be a totally bad idea. So here we sit.

It looks like a window of opportunity tomorrow (no opportunity, though checking the web cams perhaps we should have made the run). However, if that does not work it does look like early next week before we get to finally leave Oregon. Next year, we might need to stage the 5th wheel farther south!!

So e-books to read. Just finished July Collins autobiography on her life. Need to find something more uplifting for the next book.

Watch the dogs sleep and take some long naps in the grey days. And they are good at it.

One good about being stuck in the Rogue River Valley is FM 94.7 KKRM. Real country and western music and bluegrass. Sorry no internet streaming. So you have to camp in the Rogue River Valley for the real thing.

Take it from somebody named Vladimir this is REAL American country and western music. It does not get any better than this on the airwaves.

Now why would somebody named Vladimir know anything about American country music. Well, while in Russia on a forestry exchange trip with regard to the recovery of the Siberian Tiger I kept telling my Russian interpreters that I knew I had a accent when I spoke Russian, but what was it? They stalled and avoided an answer. Russians are very class conscious. They definitely respected my degree from Berkeley, and somehow their avoidance of the question raised those class issues in my mind.

Finally, one of the interpreters said "Vladimir, your accent is a very soft Georgian drawl". That's the Georgia that is 12 time zones opposite of Atlanta. So there you have it. Uh, that also translates to country. You might say that I have the original "soft Georgian drawl". So this is where my expertise in country music has its roots.

Throughout this country there are great radio stations with great programming. Somebody could make himself an awful lot of money broadcasting these stations on satellite complete with commercials. KKRM might be country. But there are others like KPIG for hippie cowboys and cowgirls out of Freedom, California. Of course, KPIG has sold out to their capitalist masters and now you have to pay to get their stream!!! I am sure there are blues, cajun, texas swing, folk, soul, jazz, and even some of those stations that play noise like rap that could use the exposure on satellite.

Oh, well better Merle, Bob, and Pasty than the pitter patter of raindrops.

Saturday, we went into Medford to shop for food and do the laundry. On a whim we stopped by The Wharf seafood market and restaurant. What a surprise! An informal place where you can wear your orange ball cap during lunch. The wine list is decent and very reasonable priced. Susie had the spearfish and clam chowder, while I had halibut. Great food, well prepared. A very special find. It is now on our mandatory stop list while passing through Medford. There is a community center across the street with plenty of parking. Access is good from the freeway, but make sure it is in your GPS. The Wharf, 827 W Jackson St., Medford, Oregon, 97501. The phone number is 541 858 0200. Great stop along the usbackroads.

Don't get fooled by the shadows and blue sky patch. That was the first in four or five days!!

Silver Wings.....glistening in the sunshine. Trek Electric Bicycles

2012-01-17T17:21:00.000-08:00

usbackroads--Trek electric bicycles

One of my favorite songs is Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings". He was singing about jet airplanes, but Monday we picked up our own versions of "Silver Wings". Two brand new, shiny silver electric bicycles.

In my 20's I quit my job, applied for graduate school and took off across Europe on a bicycle for 2000 miles of touring on "Big Red". I should have gone to New Zealand, but that is a different story. A 531 double-butted Reynolds tube bicycle outfitted with campy gear and Holdsworth stenciled on the down tube. The bicycle was designed for racing, not touring. And in my 20's I could step on it and accelerate just by pedaling.

Well, time has way of taking away muscle strength and tone. So those memories of "stepping on it" and pulling away on a bicycle have just become fond memories until yesterday. Yes, with an electric bicycle when you step on it it is a quick trip back to your 20's. It looks like each level of power assist takes a decade off your personal aging process. So level 1 gets me back to 50, and so forth. That means level 4 gets me all the way back to 20! I suppose I "wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then....", but at least with the electric bikes you can get help Running Against the Wind.

The Trek Electric bicycles are BICYCLES. Many electric bicycles are really scooters with pedals. The Trek's MUST be pedaled for them to move. The electric boost has four levels including a ZERO level. So it really feels like riding a bicycle on steroids. And if you rode when younger it will bring back that excitement of riding a high performance bike.

They also have four regenerative modes where the electric motor is used to charge the battery. This also slows the bicycle on steep downgrades. It works like an exhaust brake on steep downgrades. Handy for running with full panniers. To keep within most state laws the Trek assist is turned off at 19 mph. The battery has a range of 40 miles and recharging take 3 to 4 hours.

Hard core bicyclists view electric bicycles as cheating. I prefer to view it as "cheating time". The best part is the Trek bicycles are totally silent with a small battery that is hardly visible. So most people assume that you are one hell of a bicyclist as you whiz past them.

Here is a link to a bicycle tour around the western states on a Trek Electric bicycle. The author is a Dr. of Veterinary Medicine and her partner due to illness was no longer able to keep up with her on a regular bicycle. So he did the tour on an electric. Great read. Here is her link: http://bicyclelife.topicwise.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=9261&v=23O.

So hopefully, the plan is one of these days is too tour New Zealand on the electric bicycles. A little bit of fly fishing, maybe some mountain bike trails, some bed and breakfast nights, and the company of New Zealander's and their beautiful country.

This spring shakedown cruises up the Stehekin Valley up to high bridge. My only trips to Stehekin have always been "business trips" either on forest fires or as a stop over on the way to Forest Service managed lands in the area. Those work days are slowly receding in the memory banks. And it was still a job, so now it will fishing and photography.

Other trips are the Hiawatha Trail, the John Wayne Trail (no, not that John Wayne) and the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. See my postings for information on these trails: Lower Coeur d' Alene River, Hiawatha Trail.

We are looking forward to exploring the area around our cabin with the electric bicycles, Camas Meadows.

The bicycles are stored in the rear of the 5th wheel for now. It looks like we will have to get a hitch put on so they can ride in back. We will be riding the trails of Black Butte Lake, hopefully by the weekend. Yosemite National Park and the valley floor are also on the agenda for the Silver Eagle! Susie is waiting to knowing her bicycle better before naming it.

If is snows tonight we are staying in Eugene for another night. No snow we are headed to Medford at mid-morning.

We have great plans for those "Silver Wings".

Oh Lord, Stuck in Eugene again.....

2012-01-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

usbackroads-stuck in Eugene, once again.

Well, it might not be as famous as Lodi, but here we are stuck in Eugene, Oregon.

I think the tune goes like this: Stuck in Lodi

We came down to pick up our 5th wheel and see a few friends, buy a few things and then head further south for warmer climes.

Well, those of that travel the open road looking for "climate that suits your clothes" know the tune. Things got bad and then things got worse. First, we had moisture build-up from the storage for two months. Then the water line froze when the temperature hit 17F. So the next night we let the kitchen faucet drip slowly through the night and woke up to water backing up through our gray water tank into the shower. Stuck in Eugene, drying out the 5th wheel!!

We thought we were passing through just for week. See few friends, buy a few things and then head south for warmer climes. Then the weatherman said snow is headed your way. The escape route to the coast is covered in snow. The escape route down I-5 is covered in snow. Stuck in Eugene, again.

The GPS said we were well on our way. But somewhere along the way we ran out of dry pavement. So it looks like our plans have fallen through once again. And we are stuck in Eugene once again.

And you know when those roads clear we are headed down I-5 to warmer climes where the weather suits the clothes we have packed. Where the weather suits the clothes we have packed.

So given the choice....stuck in Lodi or Eugene. We take Lodi for the weather and Eugene for the shopping and general cool factor. But why Lord, did you not make Eugene warm and sunny so we do not have to be stuck in the weather waiting for the roads to clear??

Stuck in Eugene. There are worst things. Pass the coffee and the Bailey's Irish Creme.

On the Road.....Finally

2012-01-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

usbackroads-On The Road...Again.

We celebrated Christmas Day on Saturday (Orthodox Christmas) and promptly left Wenatchee to pick up the 5th wheel in Eugene, Oregon. When I was growing up the gift giving was on December 25th, but the religious significance was on Jan. 7th. The Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar as does the astronomical community since there is NO gap of 14 days when the western world switched to the Gregorian calendar. This could explain why I have been "out of sync" my entire life.

The first order of business was to get a haircut for the dogs since the weather SHOULD be warmer farther south.

So Bugaboo got his field cut. If you get rid of THAT tail he does look like a German Shorthair Pointer!. Tonight a couple asked "Well, he certainly looks like a German Shorthair Pointer; what was the other half"?
The life of a purebred German Longhair Pointer, always mistaken for the indiscretions of his younger, upstart German Shorthair Pointers.

Look on the ads at the right. Bugaboo baby carriages in England. High end stuff. Oh well, it could be worse to think that much of the world thinks you were named after a expensive baby carriage!! However, Columbia Sportsware did name a clothing line after him!! Both Bugaboo and Snowpatch were named about spires in the Canadian Rockies. Baby carriages, oh my!

We were also concerned about Snowpatch and his "hair". So he got a foo-foo cut while Bugaboo was getting his field cut. The groomer, bless her heart, raved about Buggy and ranted about Snowpatch. Well, Snowpatch does look like a....well, ah.....maybe a....I give up. You decide.

For the past couple of nights we have witness the Bugaboo "bug-a-loo" and the Snowpatch "bichon buzz" in a 30 foot trailer. Entertainment at a cheap price. Ninety pounds chasing 10 pounds and then the reverse!!

So we are in Eugene drying out the trailer. It seems the slides admitted some water into the 5th wheel while it was in storage. Everything else works fine. A couple of days getting ready for the trip southward. The weather is predicted to stay sunny and somewhat warm until Saturday, which is our departure date for California.

Like I said....always out of sync.

Stupid Products for Camping that Work......

2011-12-31T17:55:00.000-08:00

usbackroads-stupid products for camping that really work!!!

This posting is about those products that when you first saw them you said "That is really stupid"!! Then after you used them for awhile.....well, maybe that was not so stupid after all!!

The first product is the "chair blind". Yes, a folding canvas chair complete with cup holder that is surrounded by a pop-up blind. Yes, I always thought I wanted a "real" blind. However, they are large to carry and difficult to set-up. So after thinking about it for a bit it was either going to be the "chair-blind" or nothing at all. The picture above shows the blind set-up. The following picture shows the blind tied to my pack on opening day of duck season. Yes, Bugaboo was jealous of my blind and wanted in, but was disappointed when he did not get his own chair!! They do come in doubles!

You can use the blind for hunting, photography, fishing, or just getting out of the wind!! It was so comfortable that several times I brought a book along just for reading. For just $79.99.

The second product is Remote Control LED Lights. Now why would anybody want a remote controlled light. Sounds like the CLAPPER!! Well I bought a pack since I wanted some LED lights for the tent trailer. I thought I would never use the remote control feature. Well, being in my early 60's means sometimes I have to get up in the middle of the night. All of a sudden a lightbulb went on in my head!! I can use the remote control to light up my path to the door. Yes, these work and you will probably find some pretty cool uses if you start thinking "outside the box".

The last item is studded snow treads for your feet. Yeah, that's right. Studded tires for your feet. Well, up at our vacation rental cabin at Camas Meadows it can get icy. On real bad days I even put on my snowshoes just to give that extra safety margin!! Well, I bought a pair of these and let me tell they are a lot more comfortable than a pair of snowshoes!! Yeah, it really looks like a stupid idea, but falling on the ice is no longer the adventure it was at an earlier age. Buy these so they run a little small. I wear a size 8 shoe, but bought a size 4-8 womens pair. The added tightness keeps them from slipping off the shoe. I use them while blowing snow and going up and down the slopes around the cabin. STUPID idea, but it works and like I say much more comfortable than snowshoes on icy ground.

So if your camped in southern California or Arizona, these make a wonderful gift for those friends you left behind in the frozen north. Let them know you are concerned about their well-being!

So those are my stupid ideas that really work. What are yours??

Rocky Ford Creek, Ephrata, Washington

2011-12-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

backroads information--Rocky Ford Creek, Ephrata, Washington

When winter decends on eastern Washington it comes complete with clouds and usually snow. Fishing is sometimes possible by drilling holes in the ice. However, one little desert spring creek stays at 52 degrees year round. So it does get popular for those fisherman that do not want to drill holes. Rocky Ford Creek is catch and release only for large trout. You must fly fish. Fortunately, fly fishing is an easily learned skill.

The only fish species found in the stream is rainbow trout. They do grow to a fairly large size and are easily visible in the crystal clear water. The fly of choice for me at Rock Ford is the Hollywood Caddis. If you fly fish eastern Washington and Oregon or the interior of BC this is the fly pattern book you need!! Highly recommended and yes it does have the Hollywood Caddis pattern.

Once you hook the fish you do need a method to land the fish. Since I was without a net, Bugaboo, the "versatile" hunting dog, as he is known did show an interest in "retrieving" the fish for me. Rainbow trout and pheasants appear to have similar attitudes towards Buggy.

There is a handicapped fishing dock. It is a perfect spot for a picnic overlooking the pond, but be sure to bring your own chairs for sitting. If you fish from the dock you need a long handled net to land the fish.

There is a small "camping area" complete with an SST (Sweet Smelling Toilet) toilet. You do need a Washington State Discover Pass or a Vehicle Pass that comes with the Washington hunting and fishing license to camp here. Here is the link to the Discover Pass.

Rocky Ford is a great place for an overnight stay. There is plenty of bird life to watch if your a birder. Plenty of nice walking paths along the creek. Here are the google earth coordinates for the camping area (47.318057 119.443874). Rocky Ford Creek is an interesting place to visit no matter the season. With a year round water temperature of 52 degrees it is a trout paradise on earth. The commercial fish hatchery does detract a little from the setting, but it also provides thousands of fish to stock eastern Washington's lakes.

Astronomical Events.......

2011-12-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

Astronomical Events

This is a picture of last weekends lunar eclipse taken from Camas Meadows as the moon set in full eclipse just as dawn was breaking. We went up to our cabin at Camas due to the possibility of fog in the Wenatchee Valley and the great view of the moon from our deck and only steps from the wood stove. The 10 degree outside temperature made the stove and a hot cup of coffee an essential part of my astronomy equipment.

This eclipse was rather typical. Fairly bright. Nothing like the blood red moon in 1979. You had to look carefully to find the moon on that eclipse. This one reminds me of a couple of eclipses when the moon rose in full eclipse. In 2007, I was on a forest fire and set the alarm to see the middle of the eclipse. However, before nodding off to sleep I noticed that the rising moon through all that smoke looked exactly like an eclipsed moon!!

Solar eclipses are much more rare. The only one I "observed" was in 1979. I had the choice of driving from Coeur d'Alene to either Moscow or Missoula. For some reason I decided to go with Moscow, even though I had a business meeting the day after the eclipse in Missoula. You guessed it. It poured rain during the eclipse in Moscow. However, when totality hit the streetlights came on for two minutes and then turned off. So that was the extent of "watching" the eclipse. Oh yeah, it was clear in Missoula.

We had a great run of comets in the 1990's with Hale-Bopp and others. Hopefully, we will get another one soon. Unlike, eclipses comets are best viewed from a dark sky site.

Every night something is happening up in the sky. Here is a web site that will tell you all the activity to the second. Cal-Sky. Click on Intro to set your location and time. Get the location from your GPS unit by clicking on "where am I". Then click on Calendar and you will get a choice of satellites, comets, and all sorts of other astronomical events to the second.

Now one of my favorites is the Iridium flares. Here is the wilki-pedia site for the Iridium satellites: Iridium Satellites. When the satellite solar panels tilt just right they brighten very quickly and fade just as fast. Sometimes they become the brightest objects in the night sky.

A little info. In astronomy, brightness is measured by a scale in which NEGATIVE numbers are brighter. The sun is about -27 magnitude, with the moon at -12 magnitude. Most stars are from +1 to +6 in magnitude at a good location. Most Iridium flares are in the range of -1 to -5 in magnitude.

The guide gives azimuth and altitude which if you do not know the constellations will tell you where the flare will occur. Use a compass for azimuth and just estimate altitude...from horizon to zenith is 90 degrees.

So now you know where the flare will occur. When is also important. Get one of those atomic clocks that reset themselves automatically to the correct time. Remember you need correct time to within about ten seconds. Try this site if you do not have an atomic clock: Official US Time Clock.

Now your set. Pick about a -5 magnitude flare. Locate the spot in the sky where the flare will take place.

Make sure you have a little kid, under ten years of age is preferable, standing next to you. Keep an eye on the official time. Announce to the kid that in 30 seconds by simply concentrating real hard your going to make that star explode!!!

The flare will rapidly brighten in a space of two or three seconds and then fade away in the same amount of time. After the flare occurs, you might want to talk about good morals, getting an education and all those other things kids do not want to hear. You will have their attention!!

Well, after the lunar eclipse the morning was also pretty special.

The Day KGO Radio 810 Died

2011-12-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

Working as a professional Forester in the mountains of the west I got addicted to radio programs. TV was not an option as this was the days before satellite TV. During the day, radio stations were far and few on the dial. Usually, none on the FM dial and maybe one or two on the AM dial.

At night, however, the AM radio dial would come alive with radio stations from Los Angeles, Seattle, Sacramento, Las Vegas, and of course San Francisco. So in the middle of somewhere, whether high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Bitterroots of northern Idaho and western Montana, or in the Sawtooths of central Idaho. At night that AM radio became my contact with the outside world. Yes, listening to traffic reports when you have not seen another human in 10 days does have a surreal quality to it.

Many of those evenings in a tent camp were spent tuned to KGO 810 on the AM dial from San Francisco. I lived in the Bay Area from twelve years of age leaving for periods of time to work in the west until finally moving out for good in the winter of 1978. So for me it was a way to keep in contact with home on a daily basis since there were no phones and mail tended to come once a week if at all.

Those days in the 1970's the broadcasting on the clear channel radio stations was all local based. So you could get a flavor for a town and a community by listening to the programming. I still have fond memories of tunning into a distant clear channel station and hearing the static induced by a lightning storm as it moved into the mountains. And usually that station being interrupted by lightning static was KGO.

Now KGO was at that time was a talk radio station at the dawn of the talk radio programming on radio. There were different points of view rotating on a three hour basis.

Over the years, the local went out of radio. National syndication of radio shows has led to the ability to listen to the EXACT same program on 20 different stations at night! The one station that stayed with "original" programming was KGO. Well, a week ago that ended and they have switched to almost all syndicated programs. Here is the link to the San Francisco Chronicle article Changes at KGO Radio. Notice that there were only 1,058 comments on the article.

It seems to according to the "suits" the money has gone out of radio and to cut costs they are going to syndicated programs therefore insuring that their next step will be bankruptcy as listener's start clicking the off button. In our area, the local radio station was bought out by the "suits" which changed the programming to nationally syndicated programs. Now they are back to "live and local" as advertisers and listeners left. Hopefully, this is the trend and not what is happening at KGO.

There are still great radio programs out there. Well worth the time invested. Many of these programs are now on the internet. Some are still broadcast on radio, but now it is difficult to find them.

So what are the best programs out there? All interests are fair game. Good radio programs that when you done listening you always learn something new.

Here are links to previous usbackroads postings on radio: Long-Distance AM Radio's. and Listening to the Outside World.

Carbon Monoxide and RV's

2011-11-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

backroads information-carbon monoxide and rv's

We have previously covered carbon monoxide detectors and the importance of using them while camping in an RV.

This past week while camping on the Snake River I plugged in the digital readout carbon monoxide detector and was curious to see what effect the various gas appliances would have on CO build-up. This was the prime suspect.

We have used this in the tent trailer. Which gets plenty of air flow. Not quite like the 5th wheel which has hard sides everywhere!! Anyway, we plugged in the propane heater and then plugged in the CO detector. It did not move for hours. When we started using this appliance, the CO detector started moving slowly.

That was a surprise. After a few hours of cooking dinner and heating strictly with the propane heater this is what the CO meter showed.

Well within the safe range. It was an interesting project. I now feel better about using the propane heater within the 5th wheel. However, everytime I use it the digital CO meter will be running. Somehow I still do not trust gas appliances so will continue to sleep with none of them running and a CO meter for additional safety. Oh, I also keep the window cracked at night. Paranoid? Nah, just safety conscious.

I lined up my digital CO meters in the garage to see if they were reading in the same ballpark. I started up the Honda Pilot and watched the meters do nothing for several minutes. I was convinced that I had several, not just one bad meter. I then noticed the gas generator and fired it up. All the CO readouts immediately started rising!! And in a short while were well above the danger zone.

So NEVER use a generator in a confined space!!

A digital CO detector. Do not camp in an RV without one!!

Here is the link to our discussion on CO detectors: Carbon Monoxide and Camping.

Unleashing the Inner Dog.....

2011-11-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

Backwoods Destination--Return to the Snake River.

Snowpatch has turned seven months and it was time to take him on his first pheasant hunting trip. Now without a doubt he is the smallest hunting dog. However, inside that little body there is still a dog.

We purchased him a reversible hunting orange and camo hunting vest. Well, that worked more in theory than fact. Seems four feet of grass and shrub will hide Bugaboo on occasion, but soon he jumps up and those huge ears and flowing tail become visible. That does not work with Snowpatch.

Hunting with Snowpatch was different. I was pretty sure that Bichon's were flushers rather than pointing dogs, however, I was not quite sure how he was going to flush a pheasant, since he and the pheasants are almost the same size. You just walk through the grass and wait for his barking. The pheasants did hold well for his barking so we were able to walk in and flush the bird. Almost like hunting with Bugaboo!!

Well, after we shot the first pheasant another problem appeared. Try as he might, Snowpatch had a difficult time with the retrieve. First he grabbed the pheasant tail, but then it just came off in his mouth. So he grabbed a foot and slowly brought the bird back to us.

It was easy to lose track of Snowpatch in the grass and weeds. So the solution was to give Buggy the command "Go find Snowpatch". So there we were Snowpatch pointing the pheasant and Bugaboo pointing Snowpatch.

Oh, I thought Bugaboo's long hair was a problem with seeds and weeds. Well, Snowpatch was soon covered with every invasive weed and seed found in the Snake River ecosystem. So at night it was brush the big dog first and then the little dog.

Well, after a couple of birds Snowpatch did get tired and we switched to hunting over Bugaboo. Bugaboo was great several times working a bird for more than five minutes in a small area before finally pointing the bird. The dumb pheasants became dinner during opening week so this time they were quite a bit more wiley.

We camped in the same spot, but this time we were all alone for the entire week. That 19 lb steelhead is safely in Idaho and for the entire week we never had a bite.

The weather was very windy for three days. It is very difficult to hunt in a high wind so we traveled to Walla Walla for a day and tried to find sheltered areas for other hunts. It was great to be camped in the Cameo rather than the tent trailerl since it was much more comfortable in high wind.

Camping in November means colder weather and we hit a low of 24 degrees, but the water system continued to work. The Honda generator provided light and electricity for the long nights. We could only get four Idaho PBS stations. So instead of football, we watched shows on the Idaho Wilderness areas. Somehow it was appropriate.

The Cameo was staged in Eugene for the trip to the southwest after the first of the year. I did pay to winterize the trailer and LEARNED a LOT about doing it right. If your in Eugene, I used http://www.affordablemrv.com/ to winterize the trailer. Manny's phone number is 541-731-9137. No credit cards: cash or check only.

The Cameo is back at Eugene RV and Boat Storage. We were happy with both RV services.

Here is another picture of me and Snowpatch showing off the pheasants. Normally, I am not a fan of pictures of dead birds, but the pride that Snowpatch showed in hunting these birds does deserve some recognition.

Snake River Invasive Avian Species Project

2011-11-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

usbackroads--Snake River Invasive Avian Species Project

Late October, means a return to the Snake River and our continuing efforts to remove non-native, invasive species of birds such as pheasants and Hungarian Partridges from the ecosystem. Chukar partridge are safe due to the steep terrain they occupy. We left them for all those 20 something bird hunters that still appreciate hiking on steep slopes.

We established camp at Little Goose Dam, but our favorite campspot was taken so we had to move a few hundred feet east to our campsite.

After establishing camp we threw out our fishing lines hoping to hook at least ONE steelhead heading for Idaho and their ancestrial spawning grounds. Well, I guess these days most of them were headed back to a fish hatchery.

You fish for them with a BIG bobber leading to a jig and a marinated shrimp impaled on a barbless hook. I was fishing with Terry's setup. Well, actually I was watching his bobber when suddenly it started heading for Little Goose Dam leaving a little wake behind it. I was reeling line when the steelhead surfaced. It was at least 15 pounds and I am sure in future tellings it will continue to grow in size. Just as I was to set the hook the line and the fish parted company. It took two days to finally figure out that it was not the fishing line or a bad knot, but rather a chip and sharp fishing guide that cut the line. So one fish hooked after ten years and it parted company after 10 seconds!

The pheasant population was down this year. We suspect it had more to do with a wet and cold spring that killed the hatch rather than our previous years efforts. However, we had Bugaboo in his third year and in his prime.

Fewer birds, but Bugaboo was able to find and point them. The best thing about hunting is the hiking and watching Bugaboo work.

And way back from roads there are treasures from times in the past. Maybe one day I will have to drive my 2011 to a spot in the middle of somewhere and park it for the ages.

By the end of the trip Bugaboo was hunting for both Terry and the Great Orange Pumpkin hunter. Though he did show a preference for returning bird to the Great Orange Pumpkin hunter. Here he is on point. This was the last bird of the day. There was plenty of time for the Great Orange Pumpkin hunter to move to the front of Bugaboo by 20 feet to get the bird to flush.

Bugaboo still did not want to voluntarily return his birds to me. I even tried to trade a dog treat for a bird, but it was no sale in his eyes. However, after I showed his the electronic controller he gave me the birds. I never had to "make a connection" just showing him the charge controller was enough.

Bugaboo made some spectacular points. Holding for five minutes while we caught up with him. He also made some spectacular retrieves. With a pointer it is always a problem that they point rather than retrieve the down bird. This year Bugaboo seems to have made the distinction when to point and when to retrieve.

The formal count was 17 pheasants and four Hungarian partridges over a week of hunting. The informal count was some beautiful points and retrieves by Bugaboo. The 17 pound steelhead headed for Idaho. A beautiful multi-point whitetail buck that flushed out a patch of brush. Great views of the stars at night, but we missed the northern lights that were visible in the rest of the country.

This year we will take the 5th wheel via the Snake River for its temporary waiting spot in Eugene. Following Eugene, we will head back to the southwest and those sunny winter skies.

Cast and Blast Trips

2011-10-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

usbackroads destination--Cast and Blast Destinations.

Heaven must be stuck in the month of October. October is the perfect month for outdoor activities. Days tend to be warm and sunny, while night temperatures always bring frost to the landscape in the morning. Fish can sense the changing of the seasons and start feeding to lay in fat reserves for the long winter ahead. Hunting seasons start opening in September and start hitting full swing in October. Even for astronomy October is the perfect month with the skies of summer still on display and in the early morning the Orion runs high in the sky.

So many things to do so little time in October. Early October is our time for our cast and blast trip. We look for locations that offer fishing in the morning and bird hunting in the afternoon. For Bugaboo this is perfect allowing him to sleep in the morning while we are fishing. I use to take a telescope along on these trips, but found that going 24 hours a day was just too much fun!!

In past years we have camped at Blue Lake. However, this year we found a special lake with only one campsite. So on the long drive from Wenatchee we were on pins and needles hoping that no one else would be camped in our special spot. The backup plan was Blue Lake.

Fortunately, when we arrived at the lake the camping spot was vacant and we promptly claimed it and started unpacking the tent trailer. The weather forecast called for rain in eastern Washington. A highly unusual event for us. The forecast did not disappoint. It rained for the better part of a day and night. Wenatchee even set a record for October with a quarter inch of rain.

The fishing was good for 18 inch trout. Well, one day the fish were stand-offish, but most times they provided plenty of entertainment. Just one size of trout in the lake. We tried to catch larger fish and would have settled for smaller, but it seems everything was 18 inches if it was a trout. The highlight was several large bluegills which found their way onto the barbeque for dinner. That might have been enough to convert me to a warm water fly fisherman.

We hunted for quail and chuker. Bugaboo did find five rooster pheasants that he pointed and they flew right past Terry. Unfortunately, pheasant season is still three weeks away. I pulled out the hunting regulations and showed Bugaboo, the hunting dates for pheasants but he refused to read them. He just gave me a dirty look. We never did fire the shotguns this trip. We went on several nice long hikes but we should have left the guns at home and taken the camera instead. Bugaboo did find one dead hungarian partridge. Even he seemed disappointed in the hunting.

Well, the fishing was good. The hiking was great. And except for that day of rain the weather was fairly decent. The company was outstanding and the wine and food added to another great cast and blast trip. Even though blasting was missing.

More October trips coming soon. Oh, in the fire refresher training the Weather Service jokingly predicted that fire season would start October 25th and end on October 28th. Well, this rainfall marked the season ending event for fire season. It looks like a cold and snowy winter is in the cards for eastern Washington. So we are going to be southwest bound in December.

Recipes for Traveling......

2011-09-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

usbackroads information-backcountry cooking

Woman complain that men that cannot cook. Well, men can cook. Here are some general rules for finding a man that can cook.

Find a profession or job where the man MUST cook in the course of his work.

For example, firemen are required to stay in a station 24/7 and therefore learn to cook to combat the boredom. So most firemen I know are middle of the road cooks. They generally cook decent food that requires some preparation time. If your waiting for the fire bell to ring preparation time does not matter. It does help to cook something to that you can easily reheat.

Now foresters and cowboys learn to cook in the great outdoors. Usually, after a long tiring day in the field. Time is important. So they tend to gravitate to simple food cooked quickly and efficiently. Kill it, cook it, eat it and go to bed. Barbeque is good, particularly if your cooking over an open fire. Just don't expect fancy dinners with lots of preparation time. This group is famous for good food prepared in a simple manner.

Interior designers are fabulous cooks. Fancy and daring dishes with great presentations. If your a guy these are great friends to have in order meet women. Yes, it seems that this particular breed of male is more interested in other males. So very little competition for females at the dinner party. San Francisco is heaven on earth for a straight young male.

So men can cook and they have different styles of cooking. Enough of this talk. Here are some simple recipes to get you started.

Coffee creamers. I am addicted to sugar. I am also addicted to cream in my coffee. So for years I have been buying completely artificial coffee creamers with NO known food substances. Recently, I decided to make my own creamer. Healthier creamer.

French Vanilla Coffee Creamer.

16 oz. Fat Free Half-and_Half
2 tablespoons Imitation Vanilla
1 cup of granulated Splenda

Mix in a measuring cup and wisk until the Splenda dissolves. That's it. You can use regular vanilla, but it comes in a heavy alcohol that adds a aftertaste. You get rid of palm oil, corn syrup and other stuff out of your diet. If you do not have a sweet tooth cut back the Splenda by half.

You can also make other flavored coffee creamers just by looking at the spice rack options next to the Vanilla extract. But Vanilla is perfect...why bother.

Cooking Garlic Base.

One huge supply of peeled and cleaned Garlic.
Large or Small tub of Smart Balance Spread to match Garlic.

This is probably my most important recipe. I love garlic. Sometimes I eat it raw when I do not want to deal with Susie for a couple of days. However, cooking with garlic is a challenge. Too high temperatures and long cooking times makes it bitter. Also the preparation time for garlic cleaning and smashing is time consuming. Remember that Forestry degree. Long preparation times are not part of this mindset.

You can peel and clean the cloves of Garlic. This is highly recommended if you are a fireman and are waiting for the bell to ring. However, I just go to Costco and buy a LARGE container of peeled garlic.

The next step is to process the garlic. This is a critical step. I started with a garlic press and later went to a food processor. The press was great but time consuming and I did not have a fireman friend. The food processor does not result in the same quality of garlic. So I finally went to the plastic bag and mallet routine. Put the garlic in a HEAVY plastic bag. Ziplocks are marginal. I really like the heavy duty FoodSaver bags that come with the food vacuum appliances. Here is a picture of this all important cooking step. Don't forget to peel the garlic first!!

Insert the garlic and pound away with the food mallet. You are looking for a texture similar to garlic from a press. I personally prefer larger chunks. If in doubt, just keep hammering away until bored.

Now find a large non-stick saucepan or frying pan. Add the garlic and enough Smart Balance for a very thick Garlic spread. Turn on the heat and watch the Smart Balance melt. When it comes to a boil turn down to very low and simmer for 10 minutes. Keep constantly stirring. Do not OVERCOOK!! That's it.

You might want to cook the garlic OUTSIDE. In fact, you might want to do the entire process outside. If I do this in the kitchen Susie leaves for a two weeks and still complains about the odor when she gets back!!

Spoon into small plastic tubs. Let cool and store in the fridge. It keeps for months maybe even years.

Use whenever a recipe calls garlic.

Garlic Shrimp.

Remember the garlic is already pre-cooked so you are just warming the garlic up when using it. For example, one of my favorite dishes is Garlic Shrimp. Throw the shrimp into the skillet. As the shrimp cooks pick the right moment to add the pre-cooked garlic. The garlic needs only to be heated for a minute of so. Time it so the garlic and shrimp are ready at the same time.

Serve over Basmati rice. Pretty simple, quick recipe.

Garlic Salmon.

Wait. I am repeating myself. But you get the drift.

Pre-cooked Garlic do NOT let your fridge be without it.

Fish Lake, Wenatchee National Forest, Washington

2011-09-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

Fish Lake, Wenatchee National Forest, Washington

Before reading about Fish Lake you might first want to click on this link: What's in a Name?. Well, there is a reason this lake is called Fish Lake. It has lots of fish. It has been always a very productive lake and was always good fishing. Then came along the Endangered Species Act and listed the steelhead and salmon in the rivers of north-central Washington as endangered species. Well, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department was dumping all these trout into those rivers and with the listing it had to find a new home for all those trout. You guessed it. Fish Lake is the new home for all those trout. So if you cannot catch fish at Fish Lake, well it is time to take up another hobby.

That is the good news. The bad news is even though Fish Lake is in the middle of a National Forest access is limited. Somewhere in the past, somebody in the Forest Service issued a special use permit to the Cove Resort.

Here is the link to their website: Cove Lake Resort. There are campsites, cabin, fishing boats for rent, boat launch, fishing dock and even a small store. There is a fee for using any of these services. If your looking for these services the Forest Service permit for the resort will let you enjoy them for a price. If you just want access to National Forest public land you probably will not be pleased. The Fish and Wildlife Department did call to complain about the lack of free public access to Fish Lake. Well, those decisions made in the distant past sometimes do not look so good in 2011. Oh well, the Resort does need to post in their web site, brochures, and entrance signs that they are under a special use permit to the Forest Service. An oversight I am sure that will be corrected in the future.

Here are more pictures of the Cove Lake special use area under permit from the Forest Service. Campsites do look a little cramp.

Well, if you have a small boat or camper here is my secret spot on Fish Lake. Head up towards the Chiwawa River. See the posting for information on the Chiwawa River Area. As you are passing Fish Lake on the left (west side) there will be a small Forest Service road sign Road 6402. In dry weather, take this road and drive to the end. Here is what you will find at the end of the road about a mile from the pavement. This is the boat launch area. Yes, those rocks were placed there by the Forest Service to limit to area to non-motorized boats. So a canoe or float tube is perfect.

And here is the toilet and parking area.

There are some dispersed camping areas just before you reach to parking and launch area. Very small sites best suited for truck campers and tents.

If you have a large rig or boat you are probably much better off at the Cove Resort. Those with tents and canoe's will enjoy the camping on the north side of Fish Lake. There is more to Fish Lake than just fishing.
There is a very interesting floating bog on the west side of Fish Lake. If you have a boat head out and check out one of the largest floating bogs in the western United States.

Fish Lake is a great place to fish and camp. And like any camp reading is one of the best activities. We have the NookColor for reading. However, the new Nook battery will run a couple of months and has wi-fi. The big advantage to this book is that most public libraries have e-books that you can borrow by downloading to the Nook. No need to return to the library, since the books will be automatically returned when the load period expires.

So if you enjoy reading this blog please show your support by clicking on the Amazon ads and purchasing through this website. I get a small commission for all purchases at Amazon that were accessed through this blog.

Thanks, again for your support.

Tumwater Canyon Fire, Leavenworth, Washington

2011-08-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Tumwater Canyon Fire, Leavenworth, Washington.

Well, our Montana summer has totally gone to doctors appointments. I have had a release from my doctor in August, when my blood sugar and blood pressure reading both went down. I guess all those cigars while fly fishing were not helping matters. Wine consumption also had to be restricted, but fortunately not eliminated.

Susie was not as fortunate and is facing a round of physical therapy and a MRI appointment for sciatica nerve problem. Some of the pills have transformed her into "chatty Kathy". Do you measure age, by the number of pills you take??

In the midst of all this one little spark along Highway 2 just west of Leavenworth started a small forest fire. So I went ahead and took the assignment. The total fire cost was just over a million dollars. Fortunately, it was a small fire.

The Columbia Type 1 helicopter did show up for a couple of days. After all these years the Columbia has become a part of my fire "history". Seems like on every fire, sooner or later she will be flying dumping water on the hot spots. Maybe when the Columbia retires from fire duty so will I.

This was a Type 3 fire. Much smaller than most fires I end up spending time working. But it was along Highway 2 just outside the destination town of Leavenworth.

The fire team was lead by a "different" type of Incident Commander as you can see from the briefing photo. She always stood on a rock so everybody could see and hear her. She gave quick, incisive briefings and then the various divisions met to complete plans for that days operations.

As Incident Commander on a smaller fire she did take the opportunity to cover the fire line every day and she dressed the part.

The interesting part of the fire is that it was along Highway 2. This is the main travel route between Seattle and the tourist destination town of Leavenworth. The highway was closed for a couple of days, but the Washington State Department of Transportation insisted on opening the highway. So for a couple of days the traveling public got a up close and personal look at a forest fire. Burning trees, firefighters in no-mex carrying tools and fire shelters. Fortunately, the helicopters were no longer needed by that time so the traveling public did not have the additional distraction of helicopters dipping in the Wenatchee river.

No one on the fire team could remember a previous fire where flame and public were that close to each other. No accidents. And on Monday, the Washington Department of Transportation put up flaggers and blocked one lane so they could continue their work on the Highway.

I guess we all perceive risk differently. That which is new to you probably never seems as dangerous as to someone that knows.

The fire was just east of the Lake Wenatchee area. You thought I was kidding with my post on Lake Wenatchee and the comment about biting bugs?? Well, check out this sign from Tumwater Campground on the edge of the Tumwater fire and the gateway to Lake Wenatchee country. As always, click on photo to enlarge.

The Montana summer plans have gone into Doctor's appointments.

Fishing and hunting season is just around the corner. Bugaboo has his hunting haircut. The fly rod is repaired. We are now waiting on the final Doctor's visits and the cooler temperatures of September.

If your interested in the effects of the late spring on the plant and animal populations see my posting on the Camas Meadows Blog. Under the August 29th posting....Summer, this time its different.

Lake Wenatchee, Wenatchee National Forest, Washington

2011-08-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Lake Wenatchee, Wenatchee National Forest, Washington

The Lake Wenatchee area is one of the popular recreation sites in Washington state. It is very popular during summer months. It is however, a year round recreation area. The area is popular for x-country skiing and snowmobiling in the winter, fishing, camping and hiking during summer, and it is a popular hunting area during the fall. The area is a mix of private and public lands so there are a mix of services available.

We have tended to stay away from the Lake Wenatchee area due to the cloudy weather and mosquitos . Lake Wenatchee is close to the Cascade crest so many times while the lower Wenatchee Valley is clear and sunny the clouds tend to hang around the Lake Wenatchee area. Then there is the mosquitos buzz. Just be prepared and you will be fine. Several million visitors from Seattle cannot be wrong!

Lake Wenatchee State Park is the hub for the area. Here is their link: Lake Wenatchee State Park. It is a crowded state park during the summer.

Just before you enter the state park is a Forest Service campground named Nason Creek. This campground is spread over two or three entrances and does have some sites that can accomodate larger vehicles. No hook-ups. Nason Creek Information.

The campground is on the banks of Nason Creek. It is a pretty little creek with no fishing due to listing of fish stocks under the Endangered Species Act. Yes, that is a fish trap keeping track of all those endangered fish.

There is more than the campgrounds in the area. The draw of the area is that there is so much to do and explore fairly close to the campgrounds.

From the campgrounds you can walk to the Kahler Glen Resort Area. There is a golf course, restaurant, and your typical resort environment. Nice change of pace from camping. That view down the fairway is not a clearcut, but rather the Round Mountain Fire from 1994.

There is much to do in the area. You can boat, kayak, or canoe on Lake Wenatchee. The White River has some canoeing on it. There are two great hikes just a short distance up from Lake Wenatchee.

Twin Lakes is a cutthroat trout brood stock lake within the Glacier Peak Wilderness. There is no fishing, but the walk to the lakes is beautiful. Twin Lakes Trail Information.

The Washington Cascades mountains hide their treasures behind miles and miles of trail access. The best spots are all located quite a distance from any road. However, for a short walk of just five miles you can access Spider Meadows. If you do only one hike in the Cascades this is one of the best. Spider Meadows Hike.

For the trailheads you will need a parking pass. They are five dollars at the Ranger Station or you Senior pass will also work.

Lake Wenatchee is one of the most popular spots in the Washington Cascades. Just be sure to bring your rain gear and mosquito repellant!! Here is a guide to the Lake Wenatchee Area Visitor Guide.

Glacier View Campground, Lake Wenatchee, Wenatchee National Forest

2011-07-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

usbackroads destination-Glacier View Campground, Lake Wenatchee, Wenatchee National Forest

This campground is named for the view of Glacier Peak. Glacier Peak is Washington's states unknown volcano. It is one of the five major volcanoes in Washington state. It is smack dab in the middle of the Glacier Peak Wilderness and is seldom seen outside of the Wilderness Area. But here at the boat launch you can see it off in the distance. Oh, that handy snag laying in the lake next to the boat launch is actually a Forest Service breakwater. Looks nice, in keeping with the boat launch and campground. Most people do not realize that it was not there naturally!! Well, the breakwater is my favorite part of this campground...maybe the only part.

When I was working for the Forest Service I walked through this campground several times trying to figure out a way to "fix' it given the topography. I finally gave up and suggested to the Ranger District that they remove the campground. Well, I was told that this is a very popular campground and the public would not accept it being closed.

Well, take a look at this picture. This is the campground road. No, that is not overflow parking. That is the parking for the campsites!! Oh, and a trailer turnaround? Well, forget that.

These are the campsites from the "parking area". That is a pretty steep slope down to the tent. Accessibility? Well maybe for a mountain goat family.

And for all this here is the fee board. No that is not a misprint. It is fourteen dollars a day.

But the people keep coming all summer long for that view shown at the top of the blog. If you camp here bring your tent and kayak or canoe. Oh, don't forget the life jackets. The lake does get very windy and the water is very cold. Drownings are common on the lake. Still want to come?? Fishing is poor, except during the sockeye run which happens every two years. Then the lake is covered with boats. In fact, there is a rather poor boat launch at the campground. Good luck during sockeye season.

There are a couple of larger campsites next to the boat launch. You will have plenty of company all day long as people come and go, but a small trailer can fit in one of the sites.

One other reason to visit Glacier View is the trail to Hidden Lake. The original trailhead is just west of the boat launch. However, about 10 years ago the Forest Service put in another trailhead above the campground. Take a look at that trailhead. Now that is good design. I probably should have argued for moving the entire campground up to the trailhead!! Here is the link to the trail description: Hidden Lake Trail.

This is a great trail for kids or folks that do not hike. A great place to walk and have a picnic. The lake has very small trout in it. A great "stroll" through the woods.

Next posting more information on Lake Wenatchee area.