Bass Creek Camping – October 2014 – Part 3

Bass Creek 1_G12 074
Campfire in the morning

Sunday October 12:  Wake up early; too dark to sit out, so I make mint tea and sit inside to read “A New Earth” until it is light enough to head outside to make a campfire.  The wood under the pull-outs is a bit wet, but the wood under the tarp is good and dry, so I soon have a cheery fire going. The way Tolle explains some concepts in “A New Earth” helps me to make sense of the lessons from “A Course in Miracles” which were not resonating with me.  A different way of looking at things can be very good.

Bass Creek 1_G12 092 Bass Creek 1_G12 094Ang and Oden come

about 11:30 and we

have time to do a

walkabout taking

photos of raindrop

on leaves and

other delightful

after-rain images.

Bass Creek 1_G12 105
Give her a camera and a cup of coffee…. and she is all set!

Then we head out to see my sister, Lillian, who lives about 10 miles outside of Stevensville on the other side of the Bitterroot valley.  As we look back, we can see snow on the mountain tops on the western range.  We have a nice visit with Lillian; I let her know that I have been to a doctor for the first time in about 20 years and that there are some health issues going on.

Bass Creek 1_G12 111
Lillian, Carol, Ang

Bass Creek 1_G12 115
Oden displaying 12-year-old dorkiness

Bass Creek 1_G12 117
Lillian’s driveway

From the eastern side of the valley where she lives, we have a clear view of the snowy mountains to the west, so more photos are taken as we head back to the campground.

Bass Creek 1_G12 120
Across the Bitterroot Valley – we are camped over there

Back at the Pony, after Ang and Oden leave, I do some editing and read portions of the journal from 1979 to 1980.  There was an entry regarding a conversation Katie and I had regarding priests and bishops, and how bishops could tell the priests where they had to go.  Katie, who was four years old at the time, totally got the idea and decided that she would be a bishop when she grows up so she can tell people what to do.  It was really quite delightful, the best part of the whole 6-month journal, and it made her day when I sent it as a text to her. No campfire tonight as it is a bit chilly this evening and more comfortable inside, even though I struggle to read by the available light.

Monday October 13:  Wake up early with leg cramps, but luckily I am able to go back to sleep and get up after daylight to go out build a campfire.  I make tea and as I get settled by the fire to read, the tea spills and I have to go back inside to make a new cup.  Clifford is up and we have a discussion about the pan that needs replacing, which gets me thinking about what I have been reading about ego  – is my suggestion to use more butter in the pan merely a suggestion or is it my ego coming forward to say I know better than someone else how to use the pan.  There are definitely some grey areas here. I do a walkabout looking at the other campsites, gather wood, and explore the woods which are enchanted, I’m quite sure.

Bass Creek 1_G12 109
Enchanted woods

Bass Creek 1_G12 145
Old school cello is camping cello

Mild temperatures and sunshine in the afternoon gives me the opportunity to play the cello again today.I am not very satisfied with this cello, not liking the sound of the A-string or 4th position, both of which are used all the time.  It creates a quandry for me – how to go camping AND have a pleasing instrument to play.  Haven’t felt like playing the flute because the higher registers are not appealing to me.  Oh well……

And so goes the day. Later in the afternoon the picnic table at the vacant site next to us is still in the sunlight, and I move down there to continue writing in my journal until the sunlight is overtaken by shadow. Before the sun sets behind the mountain, the last rays hit the young aspen grove on the hillside across the meadow from where we are camped.  What a wonderful burst of color.

Bass Creek 1_G12 093
Last glow of light on the aspens

Back at our spot, I build another great campfire and sit out editing until it is too dark to see.  As the fire dies down, I leave the embers to glow while I go inside to join Clifford and make us a tasty dinner.   After dinner, I make notes in a word document from the old journal.  Not sure I want or need to save the old journal once that is done.  I had written down many dreams that might be of interest, but maybe not worth keeping, either.  If I was going to learn from them, it should have have been then. Head to bed, thinking how much different my life is now.  The struggles of that period of my life are far behind me.  How joyful it is now to be camping, drinking a morning cup of coffee or tea by a campfire, having the day to read, write, or walkabout taking photos, and quiet evenings with Clifford.  My kids are grown and are people I enjoy spending time with.  Life is good.

Bass Creek Camping – October 2014 – Part 2

Friday October 10: Looks like it will be a sunny day,

Bass Creek 1_G12 087
Morning campfire and tea

but I make a small campfire so I can sit out to read and write until it warms up some. I read “A New Earth” and write in my journal, enjoying my hot tea and the warmth of the flames. After breakfast I go searching for wood for the campfire, finding some cut wood behind one of the camps. The woods here are dark and mysterious, and dense with a variety of trees and shrubs. I almost expect a wood nymph to show herself.  I think I could explore forever and not tire of it.

Bass Creek 1_G12 077
Woods dark and mysterious

Bass Creek 1_G12 060

Bass Creek 1_G12 061
Shrubs highlighted by a ray of sunlight

After several walkabouts to take photos, bringing back some wood each time, the wood supply begins to build up. This is a good thing, since the forecast is for rain one of these days. I have another campfire in the evening as it is much easier on my eyes to edit by natural light until it gets too dark to do so.

Bass Creek 1_G12 073
Evening campfire

Saturday October 11: It is mostly cloudy this morning,

Bass Creek 1_G12 075
Mostly cloudy

so I build a campfire, glad for the wood I gathered yesterday. The guy in the campsite across the road from us says we can have the wood that is at his spot, as he isn’t using it. I happily gather it up, stockpiling some under the pullouts of the Pony and the rest goes in a pile that I cover with a tarp at the first sign of rain. I keep the campfire going as long as I can, but eventually the rain becomes too heavy for me to read or write outdoors and I am forced to go in to continue with my editing.

I brought one of my old journals with me from 1979 to 1980, and begin reading it, curious if I should keep the old journals or begin getting rid of them. The entries are mostly quite brief, but bring back painful memories of how difficult my life situation was at that time. I am ever so grateful for all the good memories I have since Clifford and I have been together. And this camping trip to Bass Creek will be the next addition to the good memories bank.

Bass Creek 1_G12 026
Good memories at Bass Creek

Bass Creek Camping – October 2014 – Part 1

Wednesday October 8: Yesterday we made it as far as Ang’s cabin on our way to Bass Creek south of Missoula, Montana. This morning she and I have coffee while we chat, and after sharing breakfast with her and Oden (my grandson), Clifford and I head on to Bass Creek.

Bass Creek 1_G12 003
Sharing a cup of coffee at the cabin

We arrive at the Charlie Waters campground in the early afternoon and are surprised to find it nearly full, which is unexpected for a mid-week day in October. We later find out that hunting season for something-or-other just started and there is a church group gathering. There are not many sites to choose from; Clifford wants sunshine, I want secluded and pretty. We drive through the entire campground at least three times before we compromise on a site: not secluded, but pretty with the woods behind the campsite, and a moderate chance of sunshine throughout the day.

Bass Creek 1_G12 030
Exploring the woods behind the campsite

We explore the woods at bit, looking for the creek that we can hear. It is not accessible right at our campsite, but can be reached further along. Then we get the Pony set up and this is home for the next couple of weeks.

Bass Creek 1_G12 016
Creek hidden in the woods

Thursday October 9: Wake up to sunshine and beautiful blue sky. I set up a small table and my chair in a big patch of sunlight, make a cup of French Press coffee (doesn’t need electricity, as well as making good tasting coffee), then sit in the sun’s warmth to write in my journal and begin reading “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle. The book opens by discussing the insanity of the human race because of ego identification with thought. So far, so good.

After breakfast we drive to Stevensville to get ice and a few groceries. I am pleased to find that the Super One store there has a good section of organic produce. On the way back, we explore the group campground not far away, a couple of side roads, the picnic area, and the road that goes beyond the trailhead and up the mountain that is across the meadow from us. In our exploration, we find a little niche off one of the side roads with a couple of primitive campsites. Good thing to keep in mind for next time.

Back at camp I edit “Against All Odds,” my project for this outing, while Clifford does research and plays with his ham radio gear – his projects. I play my cello for a bit

Bass Creek 1_G12 145mod
The cello

before walking across the meadow to take photos. The autumn colors are just beginning here.

Bass Creek 1_G12 034

Bass Creek 1_G12 035The light in the afternoon hits a grove of young aspen on the hillside across the meadow causing them to glow as if lit from within. I can’t get to them now, but I am certainly drawn to their vivid color.

Bass Creek 1_G12 031
Aspen grove on the ridge

Bass Creek 1_G12 018
Another family of aspen

Katie calls: she is concerned that I am not getting enough good meat in my diet, based on the lab results I have received, so she is bringing her family and dinner out to our camp this afternoon. When Katie, Jeremy, and the kids arrive, we build a good campfire. Katie cooks a great dinner over the fire; we eat and visit until after dark. It is such a treat to have visitors, and especially fun to have visitors who cook!

Bass Creek 1_G12 040
Katie cooking dinner over the campfire

Bass Creek 1_G12 043
Jeremy and Finley

Bass Creek 1_G12 046
Justice holding little brother Jude

What an enjoyable evening! A really nice end to this lovely day at Bass Creek.

Scouting Outing

So, what makes you want to get up in the morning?  This is an important question to ask and answer for one’s self and then make sure you do it as often as you can.  The “shoulds” and the “musts” and the “to-do” list so often take priority.  I think, at this point in my life, I would be a lot healthier if I had done way more of the things that make me want to get out of bed.  But I’ve always been the type to take care of the shoulds and musts and the to-do list, letting them have too much of my precious time.  Of course, if one has a job to do – do it in a timely manner, in an attentive way,  But, again I say, do the things that bring life into you as often as you can.

So, today, as most days, I want to find a pretty spot outdoors to take photos, preferably where there is water.  I just don’t want to go by myself, as it is a chilly overcast day, not the best day to be outdoors.  However, Clifford says he’ll go with me.  Hooray! So, right after breakfast, off we go.

We are always scouting for possible places to camp, and because of the weather, decide to scout close to home.  First we drive up a gulch with the name Lake Road.  Now that sounds pretty good, but not too far up, there is an active mine and the road seems to end in their big parking lot.  Hmmm…….  No lake here for us, so we head back down and find Two-mile

Scouting Outing Nov 041
South Fork of the Coeur d Alene River

Creek Road, crossing over the South Fork of the Coeur d Alene River just outside of Osburn.  We drive up this road.  It is kind of pretty here with a very small creek running alongside the road.

Scouting Outing Nov 045
Two-mile Creek

Once we get to a spot where the road narrows and climbs, we know this is not Pony (pop-up tent trailer) camping country, but it was fun to take a look at it.

Next, we decide to head over Lookout Pass to the Taft area, as we had heard that there are places to camp up that gulch.  We have been intending to explore there for months and just never got to it.  On the way, we stop at Elmer’s Fountain to take photos of the ice that is beginning to build around the fountains.  The water flows down Gold Creek from Gold Lake.  Up the mountain from the fountain location is a small water dam and a water flume that skirts the mountainside before a final steep drop to a valve which controls the flow at

Scouting Outing Nov 047
Elmer’s Fountain (the smaller fountain)

each fountain. The water supply remains unfrozen during the winter because the builder, Elmer Almquist, a miner from Mullen, was smart enough to store the water upstream in a horizontal mine tunnel.  The water is reputed to be wonderful tasting.  Seems I am there when the water drinking fountain is frozen, but I would love to get some of that water for drinking next spring.

The highway is clear, but it begins to rain as we near the pass.  On the Montana side, there are low clouds obscuring the mountains and the rain is heavier.  When we reach the Taft exit, we discover that the road is covered with a thin sheet of ice.  I take a photo of a

Scouting Outing Nov 055
Creek at Taft

creek that we would have crossed over, but this is as far as we are going today.  It seems like a good idea to head back to Wallace before the freezing rain settles down on the interstate.

Scouting Outing Nov 056
The Road Not Taken

We didn’t find a place to go camping, but an outing with a few photos makes my day.  The to-do list remains largely ignored; I am doing only those things that I would do even without the list.  Of course, not everyone can do this everyday, but when you can, give it a try.  Bring as much joy and meaning into your life now, today, and every day.  Life is too precious to waste on getting all of one’s ducks in a tidy row.  Let them run wild now and then and see how it feels.

Trout Creek in August – Part 5

Tuesday August 19th: After light fills the Pony, I continue to doze off and on and when I get up, Clifford is out sitting in the sun, still in his pajamas. Nice comfortable start to the day. I get my spot set up, looking down toward the river

Trout Creek - 9 - 3 090and read the next lesson in Course in Miracles. I have been interested in it for years, but now that I have a book that has been lent to me, I find that I am not resonating with many of the lessons thus far. It seems more useful for me to be reminded to be grateful for all and to accept that there is good somewhere in any situation, rather than being told that it is not real. My life on this planet seems real to me and the question is how to make it meaningful and joyful. However, I am willing to pursue the Course for awhile longer.

I spend more time with the river, taking my role of TVK (Traveling View Keeper) both seriously and joyfully.

Trout Creek - 9 - 3 078

Trout Creek - 9 - 3 108For those who missed my earlier declaration of being a View Keeper, the phrase was coined by Dewitt Jones, my most favorite photographer. I have modified my position to TVK since we will be doing a lot of traveling in the next months (years?), so the view will be changing often. However, the importance of awareness and appreciation for nature is of vital importance everywhere, all of the time, so TVK is a valid modification of the beautiful concept.

Trout Creek - 9 - 3 091I had plans to write letters and edit photos, but I started reading Sherlock Holmes, a big fat book of stories that Clifford got on the sale table at Barnes and Nobles yesterday – and that is how I spent my day, a bit of a change of pace for me.

Wednesday August 20th: Wake up to rain and distant thunder. I gather twigs and wood, and get a nice fire going in the rain.

Trout Creek - 9 - 3 104During a lull in the rain, I read the next section of the Course, and after breakfast, the rain lets up enough that I can sit by the fire to write in my journal without too many raindrop blotches on my page. Later, I pick more June berries to take back to dry,

Trout Creek - 9 - 3 132munching as I go.

Trout Creek space 9 010I take a few more photos, saying good-bye to this place for now. Hard to leave, but we must pack up and head back to our other life, a life that still needs us in our typical roles, at least for a while longer.

Trout Creek - 9 - 3 134
Roses in Wallace

Trout Creek in August – Part 4

Sunday August 17th: I begin my day by saying good morning to the river, taking photos, trying to keep my feet dry as I step from rock to rock to get the right vantage point, but after awhile I just slosh around in the shallows, enjoying the coolness of the water on my feet and admiring the colors of the pebbles that surround me.

Trout Creek - 9 - 2 030

Soon it is time to get ready to head to the Melaleuca class that I am going to attend in nearby Superior. I’ve been using the Melaleuca products, but want to learn more. The class proves to be interesting and informative. Anyone interested in learning more, let me know.

Back at camp, I’m missing having my cello here, but cellos are hard to take camping: too big, too delicate, too hard to hide when we are out and about. What to do? What about a smaller instrument? A violin or a viola? Perhaps I will look into a flute: they can be had quite reasonably at pawn shops. Many years ago I enjoyed playing the flute, so maybe it can come back into my life.

Trout Creek - 9 - 2 047

Monday August 18th: I get ready for the day while Clifford drives to Superior to use the internet. When he returns, I am ready to head to Missoula. We run a couple errands including a bookstore quick-fix for Clifford at Barnes and Nobles, then on to join the Wattersons for a baseball game. I am not a baseball fan particularly, but everyone else, even the grandsons, ages 2 and 4, are great fans of the game.

Baseball-1
My grandsons, ages 2 and 4, get an autograph from a  favorite baseball player.

For me, it is fun to have time to hang out with Katie and her family. I ask Jeremy about flutes at the pawn shop where he works, and yes, indeed, there are several there. I do think I will look into this a bit more.

As we drive the 60 miles back to the campsite, Clifford and I talk about the ills of society. From a local tribal level, like women gathering to put a yurt for one of them,  (check this link for photos of women at work:  http://angelamacdonald.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/putting-up-the-yurt/ ), to affordable non-toxic infrastructure, there are so many good and constructive things that could be done in so many ways on so many levels. Why, with so many brilliant minds and a planet of resources, why is this not being done in ways that maximize opportunities and freedom for individuals without forcing conformity to political and corporate agendas? Although we can’t solve the problems, it is worth thinking about what this means for us and what part we can play in making the world a better place. We arrive at our campsite at midnight and go directly to bed.

Trout Creek in August – Part 3

Trout Creek in August – Part 3

Friday August 15th: Dark and overcast in the morning. We make a trip to Superior to get on the internet so Clifford can continue his research. Back at camp, I pick June berries to make a topping for yogurt. Most of the berries are drying on the branches and I will pick some later to add to trail mix. Even dry they are tasty little gems.

Later in the afternoon the dark clouds finally drop their burden of moisture; I set up my table and chair under the awning to watch the rain as I continue to write in my journal.

Trout Creek space 9 043 Later I join Clifford inside and begin editing photos until the battery on the netbook runs low.

An enjoyable day here at Trout Creek until a mishap with the hammock put a damper on things. Clifford invited me to sit with him, but the ropes gave way, leaving us both with tender tailbones. I am hoping that a good night’s sleep will repair the damage. In spite of the soreness, a good dinner followed by yogurt with June berry topping is a treat at the end of the day.

Saturday August 16th: As soon as I am up, I get ready to head to Alberton to join my daughter Ang in watching the play “Briar Rose” as performed by members of this little community. We join a friend (who had done a very convincing rendition of the wicked witch in the play) for lunch before Ang and I head down to the “natural pier” as I am eager to take photos there. There is a great rock formation in the middle of the Clark Fork River that is quite scenic and deserving of the attention of a TVK (Traveling View Keeper). We walk out onto the bridge, admiring the river and the rock.

Trout Creek - 9 - 2 001 Trout Creek - 9 - 2 002Trout Creek - 9 - 2 008Trout Creek - 9 - 2 012We linger awhile, then head to her place on Ed’s Creek about 7 miles out of Alberton, as I want to give my grandson Oden a cello lesson. After the lesson, which goes very well,  Ang and I visit awhile over a cup of coffee before I head back to Trout Creek. It was a fun day, pleasantly coming to a close as I sit at my vantage point at the top of the path looking down to the creek before darkness tells me to go inside.

Trout Creek in August – Part 2

Trout Creek in August – Part 2

Wednesday August 13th: Our plan is to join Katie and family for an outing to a baseball game this evening. Clifford has an important call to make at a designated time, and we have errands to run, so we leave camp as soon as we can. It is a weird day where almost nothing goes as scheduled, except for Clifford’s phone call while I visit with Mom. A heavy thunderstorm changes our plans for the evening; no baseball game for us. Just as well, as I am feeling beyond exhausted as we drive back out to the campground. The thunder-storm left twigs, small branches, and old dead trees strewn about, as well as dampening everything inside the Pony around all the windows, which had been left open. It has been hot and dry since early July. How were we to know that today was the day that the pattern would change. Luckily we have dry sleeping bags in the Blazer; other than the pillows being a bit damp, we have dry sleeping accommodations.

Thursday August 14th: It is raining and pleasantly cool. After awhile the clouds part a bit, allowing sunshine to come and go throughout the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. I do a walkabout to take photos of droplets

Trout Creek space 9 008

before I set up a chair and table where I can look down the path to the creek.

Trout Creek space 9 063

I just sit, allowing myself to be nurtured by nature: a still pool of water,

Trout Creek space 9 022

trees and shrubs in many shades of green with leaves, needles, and fronds only gently stirring as little breeze fairies move among them,

Trout Creek space 9 031

the creek with its musical sounds, the sunshine coming and going,

Trout Creek space 9 037

birds chirping. I just sit and take it in. I write in my journal and then walk down to the creek to take more photos

Trout Creek space 9 066

Another walkabout browsing for June berries, more nurturing by nature.

Trout Creek - 9 - 2 040

Later, lying in the hammock, the thought crosses my mind that this is the way to have my body laid to rest rather than burial or cremation. No fear or pain this way. In the quiet of the moment I think sadly of my youngest son. What really happened to him I’ll probably never know – a burden of this life.

The afternoon brings a big thunderstorm. We stand under the awning relishing the power of nature and all the goodness of the rain, gathering several quarts of water as it runs off the awning to supplement our water supply.

Trout Creek space 9 048
So healing to be here all day.

Trout Creek in August – Part 1

Trout Creek in August – Part 1
We are mid-way in our triple move. Sorting, packing, cleaning, moving, unpacking, more sorting, more cleaning. It seems endless. It actually started over a year ago when we decided to move to from New Mexico to Idaho. Now the moves are local, which makes it less of a big deal in some ways, but the physical and mental overload is similar. The store, Rocky Mountain Organics, is closed and everything has been moved and the space cleaned – so we are pretty much done with that one. The Carnicom Institute has been packed up and moved across town, the old space cleaned, but the unpacking has yet to begin. Hundreds of books need to find their way to shelves again and all the lab equipment and gear needs to be set up and made functional – so we are only halfway through this one. The other move involves leaving the cute house we have lived in for almost a year and moving two doors down and to an upstairs apartment that has needed lots of love and attention for a long time. We are mostly moved out of the other house, but not entirely. Moving the rest of our stuff and getting the place ready for either renters or hopefully a buyer still has to take place. And making our new digs work for us is part of the challenge. I am exhausted by the moving, as is Clifford along with all his concerns for the institute. So – we are taking a week off to camp by a creek and allow ourselves time to rest and be nourished by nature.

Trout Creek space 9 052
Trout Creek

Tuesday August 12th: While Clifford takes care of necessary phone calls, emails, and posts in regard to the institute, I pack for the outing and get the house (the one we are moving out of) and the apartment ready for us to be gone for a week. It is late in the afternoon by time we are ready to go. Our destination is Trout Creek Campground outside Superior. Upon arrival we are very happy to find a site with a view of the creek available.

We get the Pony set up and soon Clifford is ready to try out his new deal: a hammock.

Clifford in His New Hammock
Clifford in His New Hammock

A simple dinner, clean up, and off to bed – it is already 11:00 p.m.

Cabin City

Camping at Cabin City – June 29 – July 2, 2014
Clifford left on Friday to set up camp at Cabin City, luckily getting the spot we had had before that we liked, even though there were a lot of other campers here. He came ahead of me as he wanted to set up and participate in the ham radio field day on Saturday. He had a good time in spite of the rain and learned a lot about field day. There may be some interesting correlations with the chemtrail spraying and the ham radio signal quality and strength which would also apply to such things are HAARP frequencies, electromagnetic communications and weather control.

Since I’m still working at the store (Rocky Mountain Organics in Wallace, Idaho) I was not able to join him until Sunday evening. When I arrived, he had just gotten a campfire going – very nice, as the evenings do cool off and it had been rainy here much of the time since he arrived. Just as we got ready to have dinner, it started to rain again, but luckily it was short-lived and we were able to revive the campfire and enjoy heading out again.  As the sun reached low to the horizon, the color through the overcast moisture-laden air created an unusual but lovely ambient color.

xx
Ambient Evening Color

Monday was a gorgeous day… a wonderful sky with no chemtrails to mar the deep blue. An afternoon hike cross-country from our camp was sweet with the many blooming wild flowers: trillium, daisies, thistle, bluebells, buttercups, honeysuckle and others that I don’t their names.

Thistle Head
Thistle Head

Clifford even picked a little bouquet of daisies for me which brightened our picnic table for the duration of our stay.

Daisy Bouquet
Daisy Bouquet

In the evening I played my cello outside, to the delight of the neighboring campers whose little daughter was learning to play the cello. As the sun went down, cool air moved in and another campfire warmed our evening.

Campfire
Campfire

Tuesday proved to be another gorgeous day.

Gorgeous Blue Sly Day
Gorgeous Blue Sky Day

We drove up the road and parked at the trailhead along Rock Creek, which might be more aptly called Brush Creek. Even though our entire hike was along the creek, we seldom saw it due to the dense brush. As we hiked, we saw signs of wildlife: elk and deer tracks in the muddy spots on the trail and recent bear scat and many overturned rocks, a bear diligently foraging for ants. I sang a little bear song and when the thimbleberry became especially dense, Clifford got out his harmonica and played a few tunes. I have never seen so much thimbleberry; it was thick and tall, frequently as tall as me, obscurring the trail. Hard hiking for me, but at least the trail was relatively level.

Thimbleberry
Thimbleberry

I especially enjoyed the many wildflowers. In addition to the variety seen yesterday, there was also brilliant red Indian paint brush, honey suckle, delphinium just beginning to bloom, and many others.

Indian Paint Brush
Indian Paint Brush

Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle

Once we were satisfactorily hot and sweaty from hiking, we found a shady spot under a big old douglas fir where we found seat-size needle-covered rocks and a respite from the brush and thimbleberry. We enjoyed a little snack of an apple and a tortilla while we rested in the shade. The mountains behind us and across the creek from us are steep and often rock-faced. Clifford talked about some of the experiences of surveyors in these type of conditions, both his experiences as a surveyor and the experiences of others, especially in the 1800’s when the idea from the “powers-that-be” in the east ordered the surveying of the west in preparation for the settling of the land, having no idea that some of this land could not be settled. Some very hardy brave souls had taken on the task of surveying and one has to wonder how many of them were injured or died in the process.

The Trail Along Rock Creek
The Trail Along Rock Creek

Ice and food is running a bit low, as we had not originally planned to stay until Wednesday, but we come up with a good meal none-the-less and enjoy the evening by the campfire.

Wednesday morning – I make a little campfire, not so much because it is chilly out, but because I enjoy the comfy ambiance of it while I drink a cup of tea and write in my journal. Today we will have to pack up and head home to obligations, but we are grateful for the time we have spent here being in the outdoors and for the time to read, write, think, study, and meditate. And take photos, of course!