Aug 24, 2009

Blood Sweat & Tears

We FINALLY finished our patio project. We have been working on it literally all summer.

Since there was no way to get a bobcat or other equipment into our backyard we had to load and unload everything by hand and move everything by wheelbarrow. We had to haul out several truckloads of dirt and rocks, haul in a dump truck load of gravel, several trailer loads of sand, and then we had to move in the paving rocks. We had to unload over 10,000 pounds of paving stones. 10,000 POUNDS! Oh my aching back!!!!!

We bought four huge rocks to use as steps. They each weighed about 400 pounds. They were so heavy we had to get our neighbors the Hafens (they have three strapping teenage sons) to help us unload the rocks and move them into the backyard. Talk about blood, sweat, and tears!

Now that the project is complete we think all the work was worth it. But you be the judge . . .









Aug 21, 2009

Canoeing Swimming and Having Fun

The Grand Teton Council operates a Scout camp on the South Fork of the Snake River just below Palisades Reservoir in beautiful Swan Valley Idaho. Little Lemhi is a picturesque camp that sits in a small alcove valley on the south side of the river. As part of their program the camp runs a high adventure canoe trip on the South Fork for older Scouts. Since we moved here I have wanted to take the trip so I could understand their program and be able to speak intelligently about it. I also knew it would be a fun day out of the office.

On July 31st Nancy and I drove to Camp Little Lemhi to join the canoe trip. I knew they offered a half-day trip and an overnight trip. The half day trip puts in just below the camp and floats about five-miles to the takeout just upstream from the Highway 26 Bridge. The overnight trip puts in below camp and floats about forty-miles to the takeout at Heise. (Locals pronounce it High-C.) I thought we were going on the five-mile float.

There was a Varsity team (14 to 15-year-old Scouts) that had started the overnight float on Thursday night and we were joining them on Friday morning for the rest of their trip. They had paddled from camp to a little island just above where Fall Creek enters the river. The staff named the island Mosquito Island for apparent reasons.

Unlike our Island Park/Yellowstone canoe trek where we bought new high-quality Old Town river canoes for the program, the Little Lemhi trek uses old heavy aluminum lake canoes—the same kind of canoes that are used in Scout camps all over the country. They work very well and are virtually Scout-proof, but using lake canoes on a big river has its disadvantages. They are heavy and therefore more difficult to maneuver. Lake canoes also have a keel that runs the length of the canoe. The keel keeps the canoe running on a straight course through the water—which is a great advantage on lakes and in high winds—but on a river the keel makes it harder to steer and if it catches on a rock the current can flip you like a pancake.

Nancy and I were given a canoe, paddles, and lifejackets and off we went down the river. The first thing we came to was the Fall Creek Falls which are always very scenic. This year the creek was running at full capacity due to the heavy winter snowfall and wet spring.

Soon after the falls we came to the Highway 26 Bridge over the river. The bridge pylons are one of the only true hazards on this part of the river. The South Fork of the Snake River is big deep and wide and flows at a pretty good rate through Swan Valley. If a canoe hits broadside against a bridge pylon the power of the water quickly swamps the canoe and can wrap the canoe around the pylon pinning it and anything (or anyone) in it underwater. The river guides warned the Scouts to be sure they stayed away from the pylons and to run straight through the openings.

After a couple of miles on the river we came to a set of rapids—big riffles really. It was our first true challenge and Nancy and I came through without any problems. We shipped a little water over the bow as we broke through waves but nothing too serious. One of the Scouts’ canoes swamped in the rapids and I was very impressed at how quickly and efficiently the lead river guide came to their rescue and single handedly emptied their canoe of water using the curl technique and got them back on their way. The river’s banks are steep and the water is swift so there are few places to get to shore to empty a swamped canoe. It has to be done on open water.

There were three staff members serving as guides on the trip. There was a lead guide and two guides who were training under her. They were using a point and sweep formation. The lead guide was at the point, leading the group, and no one was to get ahead of her. The second guide was sweeping, in the rear, and no one was to get behind her. The third guide was the stern paddler in a canoe with the weakest Scout paddler in the bow and they stayed in the middle of the pack. This plan worked very well but at times—especially in rapids—the group tended to bunch up too much and I don’t like to be crowded and need room to maneuver in whitewater.

A couple of miles later we came to another set of rapids—larger than the first. We had some confidence from the previous rapids and paddled our way through most of them with little trouble. Near the tail of the rapids we were cut off by one of the Scout’s canoes and another canoe was pushed by the current onto our right side. I was steering hard to the left to avoid a collision—which in rapids will almost certainly cause a capsizing. We got on an angle to the current and I felt the current grab the keel of our canoe and before we could react our canoe swamped and we were swimming in the river.

The water was shockingly cold and we both had a hard time breathing for a minute. The lead guide was quickly to our rescue, emptied our canoe, and steadied it as we climbed back in. With no damage (except our pride and Nancy’s lost sunglasses) we were on our way again.

In the next rapids the leaders of the Varsity team swamped and were rescued by the lead guide—busy girl! We paddled over and I thanked them for swamping to make us feel better. Soon after that we stopped for a snack and bio-break. After another hour of smooth water we stopped for lunch and a rest. The Scouts found a couple of garter snakes and had fun chasing them for awhile. They caught one and the other one escaped unmolested. In typical boy fashion a few of the Scouts wanted to smash the snake with a rock but we convinced them to release it unharmed.

After lunch we got back in the canoes and headed on our way. We had stopped just upstream from a protected area for bald eagle nesting. The area was posted and no stopping was allowed for several miles. We were able to see two bald eagles, one soaring and one perched in a tree, which is always a thrill. We also saw several egrets, herons, and buzzards during the float.

We went several miles without incident. There were a number of small rapids, some sweepers to avoid, and the river branched, divided, and split around islands in several places, but there were no serious rapids or obstacles to cause any problems. In fact, the river was almost boring for the last several miles of the float—until about a mile from our takeout.

The most common obstacles on the river were drift boats and fly-fishermen, and they were everywhere. We did our best to steer clear of them but in some places they were so numerous there was no way to avoid them. At one point we came around a bend just as a guide lost his drift boat. He had pulled up to shore and his client was wading in the river fly-fishing. The guide had beached the boat and was watching and coaching the client. As we watched the boat started to drift downstream and by the time the guide noticed it he had to run hard after it, dive in the water, and swim fast before the river carried it away. It made for an amusing moment.

Close to the end of our trip the river made a large zig-zag curve and there were some big rapids we had to run—the largest of the day. To make things more interesting there were several big jet boats powering upstream just as we were negotiating the rapids downstream. Although non-powered watercraft have the right-of-way over powered craft the operators either didn’t know or care about that little rule. That made some difficult rapids even more challenging.

Nancy and I got though the worst of rapids just fine and as I was feeling the rush of victory and complimenting my paddling partner for a good run the current hit our keel just as both of us were leaning to the left and over we went.

So, we had to be rescued again. My poor wounded pride. My poor wet cold wife. My poor sunglasses I loaned to her and never saw again. I was in the stern so I have no one to blame but myself—the stern-man is the skipper. I’ll have to cut a corner off my canoeing merit badge.

About a mile after our second swim was the Heise takeout and boat ramp. We got everyone off the river, loaded the canoes on the trailer, and Nancy and I squished our way to my car and drove home. We had a wonderful time but what I thought would be a five-mile easy (dry) float ended up being a thirty-mile double wet trip. This was the first—and I was afraid the last—time Nancy had been river canoeing with me.

Just a week later Nancy and I were at Powder Horn and part of that training included a canoe trip down Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. That’s the same trip I took the kids on last fall. Much to my surprise Nancy agreed to brave another river with me. It was a great trip and we blasted through several rapids like pros. We stayed dry this time and Nancy might even go canoeing with me again some time. (But not on the South Fork.)

Aug 18, 2009

Powder Horn



Nancy and I have been off “playing” again. (Nancy was playing, I was working.) We attended a BSA training course called Powder Horn offered by the Grand Teton Council at our Island Park Scout Camp. I served on staff and Nancy was a participant, but there wasn’t much difference in what we did.

The purpose of Powder Horn is to train Scout leaders how to organize and plan high adventure activities for older Scouts and Venturers, and to expose the participants to a variety of high adventure programs presented by experts in the field. We learned about primitive living skills, mountaineering, low impact camping, backpacking, fly tying and fly fishing, ecology and plant identification, dutch oven cooking, whitewater river running, scuba diving, sailing, caving, mountain biking, GPS navigation, expedition planning, climbing and rappelling, rifle, pistol, and shotgun shooting, archery, and working with youth.

Here are photos of some of the things we did:

Nancy Crossing Warm Creek






Nancy Trying to Make Fire




Mountain Biking the Warm River Trail (the old narrow guage railroad bed to Yellowstone NP)




Dutch Oven Chef










Modern Mermaid












Look Out--She's Armed and Dangerous!