Ruth's first backpacking trip

Jase:

A few summers ago, we had just been camping and had taken niece Emma to a lake with her name. She caught a fish (her first?). It was a fun easy trip and got me wondering if there were other lakes with our family names that we might visit. Playing on Google Earth (addiction confession) I found a Ruth Lake in the Emigrant Wilderness. It is not far from the north edge of Yosemite and a one or two day hike from the nearest road. Emigrant Wilderness is also know for its beauty and fine fishing so I began my efforts to convince Ruth to go. I searched for other water features with our names and I don't recall any coming up.

A trip to Ruth Lake is more than 12 miles one-way. This means at least an overnight stay, preferrably more to relax and rest the feet after that distance. Close to Ruth lake are several other lakes and points of interest (at least to me).
Breaking the trip down to four-6 mile hikes makes it a minimum of three nights. Keep in mind that the elevation of the trail varies from 8500' to over 10,600'.

At some point I was convinced by wise friends that a warm-up hike would be a good idea to see if Ruth would be up to an adventure of this scale. I started looking in the Lake Tahoe area for trails and campsites with a view. I found lots of trails with amazing views. Most campsites along the trails in the wilderness areas do not have a view of the big lake.

Settling on the Desolation Wilderness I soon found that we had to choose a zone in the wilderness and reserve our first night AND camp in that zone the first night. Being summer, demand was high and my choices were really limited (10 days before hike). After searching through the areas within a day's hike of the trailheads, the Velma zone seemed the best choice, if not the only zone available. It includes Upper and Lower Velma Lakes as well as Granite Lake and Azure Lake. The Velma lakes are each about the same distance from the trailhead, about 4.6 miles and about 2000 feet of climb. So it would be a good hike to compare to my future backpacking plan.

I purchased the permit online, $5 per person for the first night plus $6 reservation fee, totaling $16. The only thing lacking gear-wise was footwear for Ruth and a backpacking tent (women like their privacy) but I found a cheap one on Craigslist two days before our trip, and boots for Ruth the same day (blisters to come). Ruth would use an ancient external frame pack, possibly a BSA model from 30 years ago, and I would use my own slightly newer external frame pack. Weather.gov gave us a forecast of 50-70 degrees, breezy with gusts up to 20mph.

We woke Monday at 5:45am and started preparing to leave, hoping to be on the trail by 8:30am. The Forest service rents bear canisters for free so I wanted to pick one up before we hit the trail. We didn't get to the Taylor Creek Visitor Center to rent the canister until 9:30. There I bought a map of the Desolation Wilderness and we headed to the trailhead, just a few miles from the visitor center.

Eagle Falls Trailhead is directly across Highway 89 from Emerald Bay at the southwest edge of Lake Tahoe. There are two parking lots at the location but they were both full and with heavy traffic and road construction conjesting the road we were forced to park about 1/4 mile south of the trailhead on the roadside. The sun was bright and it was already warm~80 degrees. I was wishing I had worn lighter clothing instead of jeans. Our packs seemed light. We had weighed them the night before without water, mine at 24 pounds and Ruth's at 19.

The trailhead was a beehive. Tourists coming and going to see Eagle Falls, Backpackers and hikers headed up and down the trail. The trail was very intimidating from the beginning, with lots of stairs. Eagles Falls is just 100 yards up the trail and features a bridge over the stream and a pool above the fall big enough for lots of people to wade or swim. Just after the falls is the wilderness boundary and a lot fewer people. The trail climbs aggressively over much of the next mile in a southerly direction toward Eagle Lake; the trail is not very wide as it skirts the side of the steep Maggie's Peak-North. Much of the trail is shaded by firs and cedars but a lot of the trail is in the open, skating across smooth granite with the trail marked by hand placed rocks to define the edges.


We decided to rest after a mile at the conveniently placed Eagle Lake, a mile from the trailhead and 500' higher. The lake is in a steep-sided bowl nestled between two ridges of granite. There were lots of day-hikers and swimmers enjoying the lake so we took a couple pictures and continued our hike.







As we climbed higher the trees thinned out and Ruth noticed more Jeffrey pine with its butterscotch scented bark. I have to say here that one of the highlights of this hike is the ever-changing aromas as the landscape changes between granite outcropping, lush alder groves, dusty pine forest, musky montane chaparral (couldn't identify this particular stinky shrub), and sub-alpine marshland--do mosquitoes have a smell?!

Hikers were much fewer above Eagle Lake. For the next couple miles we played trail leapfrog with a group of young adults, most of whom were hiking in sandals. Their destination was two mile beyond our own. I can't imagine backpacking in sandals! We still crossed paths with day hikers and backpackers on their way out of the wilderness and I usually asked them where they had been.

Over our heads on either side the bare granite peaks towered, hiding Lake Tahoe and long distance views from all but a couple points on the trail. I felt some trepidation as we climbed that we might never get out of the canyon and have the view open up around us. But I shouldn't have worried. Our trail pretty much topped out after 2.6 miles where we met the Bayview trail, an intense sister trail to the southeast. There is a low dome of granite just north of  the trail. I ventured out alone here while Ruth waited and was treated to a view of Tahoe as well as the water cascading down from Lower Velma Lake toward Eagle Lake. Nowhere on the trail was this view possible so it was definitely worth the scramble up this little dome.

The trail bends west here and another mile of easy up and down brought us to another fork in the trail. To the left was the trail to Dick's Lake, to the right was the Velma Lakes trail. Turning right we were now traversing a gradual descent heading northwest straight for the Velmas. We decided to stop for lunch. A flat granite boulder provided a spot to munch and enjoy a catnap before moving on. We knew we were getting close to our destination and the anticipation of hitting the trail's end was growing.

We continued slightly downhill for nearly another mile when we noticed a body of water to our left. We had reached Upper Velma Lake! Now to find a campsite. The lake looked marshy, as in mosquito heaven. Wilderness rules dictate camping at least 100' from water and the trail. We were also instructed to camp in established sites if possible and that those sites were marked. I planned on camping on the far side of the lake so we trekked on.

Continuing with the lake on our left we soon crossed the outlet of Upper Velma, a beautiful creek that looked worthy of a swim. We pressed on though, hoping to find a place to relieve our shoulders of our packs. We found a place where we could cross by hopping across dry rocks. Upper Velma was as clear as could be. I half expected to see fish swimming but the water did not appear deep and I had recently read that efforts are being made to remove trout from these Sierra lakes to increase the native Yellow-Legged Frog populations.

Mosquitoes gave us a warm welcome as we circled the lake heading south. Ever on the lookout for a campsite we crossed the outflow from Lake Fontanillis into Upper Velma. Most of the west shore was either sloped granite or marshy areas infested with bloodsucking insects. We had to walk more than 1/2 mile around the lake before finding a decent site at the south end. It wasn't marked, but we had yet to see a marked campsite so we didn't feel bad about the location. We camped a couple hundred feet from the lake hoping the mosquitoes wouldn't find us. A stream fed the lake not too far to the east where we replenished our water supply.

It was around 3pm by this time. We set up camp and decided to nap. The afternoon sun was too warm in our backpacking tent so I put up an extra rainfly to shade us. Shade, combined with a slight breeze, cooled us off enough to enjoy a decent nap.

At dinner time I told Ruth she had to light the stove by herself  since it was her first backpack adventure. She lit the stove extremely well and in no time (about 13 minutes) we were enjoying beef stroganoff a la Mountain House. I surprised her with dessert of freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches.

We debated hiking back to see Lake Fontanillis but we were both still tired and too footsore to make the effort. We prepped our camp for the night. We had rented a bear canister but it wouldn't fit in my pack so we had left it behind. We placed our stinky garbage far from camp for the night and double bagged our smelly goodies with baking soda. Other measures were taken as well to keep the bears away but we didn't have any nighttime visitors nor did we hear about any others who did.

We slept as well as we could expect on a couple inches of cushion. With sunrise we enjoyed instant oatmeal for breakfast and then we were off on a walk to Lake Fontanillis. Lake Fontanillis is about 200 feet higher than Upper Velma and the outflow from Fontanillis is almost entirely over a smooth slope of granite. Some of the flow is a sheet of water more than 20' wide! It looks like a fun slide but the slope is broken up just enough to discourage riders.

Climbing the granite hillside was vigorous exercise and we were glad to reach the top. Lake Fontanillis was beautiful and seemed vacant of human activity. We wished we could spend more time there but it was only an overnight trip. The view from the edge looking over Upper Velma and over Tahoe was gorgeous and really made the trip worth it.

At this point the inevitability of the return trip was upon us. We headed back where we had stowed our packs ready to go and began the hike back to the Suburban. We chose a slightly different route out, making our way along the stream we camped near up to the Dick's Lake trail. We found a little pond there that was great for swimming. It was nice to cool off and hike with clean feet. Soon we met up with the familiar trail. Yesterday's memories of the different parts of the trail came back to us as we hiked down, places where we accidently lost the trail, met other hikers and their advice and stories, rocks we had rested on.


I always detest getting back in the car after a trip like this. Its like waking from a pleasant dream that you know sleep won't bring back.

All in all it was a great trip and I would do it again. I had an amazing and enjoyable time and a new adventure with my best friend, who didn't complain at all, even with blisters forming on her heels.

Directions

Mom and Dad have a mission blog! mavysmission.blogspot.com

The Applegate Mavys, Second String - by jason

Tonight, as a family, we watched the LDS First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Of course it wasn't live as it actually was broadcast two weeks ago. But this was our first chance to see it. The lights in our home were turned off except for the Christmas Tree. The kids all sat quietly while we listened to the beautiful music of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. One by one each of the boys fell asleep and I was filled with joy at being able to gather with my family at Christmas time celebrate the birth of our Savior through music and inspiring words from our church leaders.

I've reflected lately on why I  feel differently at this time of year than others. Why does the "Christmas Spirit" invade my heart and mind at this time of year and not so much the rest of the year. I know that Jesus Christ IS the Son of God, that he resurrected the third day after he was crucified, that he suffered for the sins of all who would repent, so that we could return to our Father in Heaven. And that knowledge effects how I live my life. And logically December shouldn't be any different.

But it is. Maybe you know why. Or maybe you have your own reason why. One reason why I feel different is because of the many happy memories I have of this time of year. From childhood to adulthood to parenthood, so many memories make this the best time of year, remind me of friendships with people that are far away, and this season gives the promise that there is hope for many more great memories.

Perhaps the biggest reason that it feels different is because, inspite of world events, there is a greater measure of peace on earth and goodwill to men in our communities at this time of year. Eleven months out of the year Christmas, Christ really, seems to be forgotten by popular culture and the main stream media. But come Black Friday, before in some cases, the music we all know and love is pumped out by many radio staions and in the majority of retail establishments (it causes us to part with our money more freely). And I'm not against it at all. I've realized it brings me joy knowing that so many people around me whom I don't know are celebrating with me, that we are unified in some small way in our faith in Christ. And the fact that we can publicly worship in song and tradition is one of the greatest blessings we enjoy in this land.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Jason

New Years Day Talk

One of the first things I learned as a full-time missionary was that God follows patterns. He follows a pattern for speaking to his children and calling them to repentance. He follows a pattern for teaching us divine truths. He follows a pattern in blessing our lives for our obedience to his commandments. This is a profound faith-promoting principle. With this fact planted firmly in our minds we can go forth in any endeavor without any predictability of the outcome but with the knowledge that our righteous efforts will yield blessings and our heed to the commandments will sanctify us and fill our hearts with peace and good will to men. We can work with the assurance that God will lead and guide us in our efforts as long as we are diligent and obedient.

Let’s look at the example of young Nephi and his brothers in attempting to retrieve the brass plates from Laban. The commandment was extended by the patriarch and leader of the family, Lehi.

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. (1 Nephi 3:7)

Nephi’s attitude from the very beginning is a lesson to us in faith and trust in the Lord as well as devotion to the Being he recognized as his true king and ruler of heaven and earth. Nephi was confident in the outcome of his future labors and he must have had some good lessons taught by his parents to have that kind of faith. Lehi said of his elder sons:

And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.
Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured. (1 Nephi 3: 5-6)

In contrast, Laman and Lemuel had poor attitudes regarding what they saw as their father’s requirement. I would like to point out that the scripture does not say that Laman or Lemuel refused to their father. I am sure that they would not at this point have challenged the authority of their father. I hope that each of us do not follow their example of accepting a commandment, and murmuring against the Lord or his annointed servants because of the perceived difficulty of the task.
Nephi demonstrated his willingness, even up to the loss of this life, to complete the work that had been placed upon his shoulders. He ventured into Laban’s presence after his brother’s life had been threatened. He even returned to Jerusalem after his own life had been imperiled by Laban.

As members of the church God gives each of us responsibilities. As I prepared this talk I was at first immediately humbled by my inadequacies and my shortcomings. I am a detail oriented person. I have always been interested in understanding how everything around me works. In my tasks I am intent on perfection and become frustrated with my mistakes and perceived imperfections. What I see as flaws in appearance of my work or performance seem to me, as if viewed through a scope, to be more glaring than the good qualities of what I may be or make.

I am sure we have each had moment where we questioned why God has given us responsibility. We see our faults and deficiencies as Paul stated: “For now we see through a glass, darkly…” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We must remember this fact. Our perception of ourselves and of our worth is limited by our mortal human nature and by the veil that we passed through at birth.

Our vision of ourselves can also be skewed by our choices and our desires. One of the devil’s most effective tools is guilt. A man striving to follow the Savior may at times feel guilt for previous sins or mistakes that casts a shadow over his mind and clouds his perception of his divine nature and potential, his individual worth, and most importantly his capacity to improve.

The Savior taught that our weaknesses are an enabling gift. According to this words recorded by the prophet Moroni:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them (Ether 12:27)

We can view our weaknesses as blessings from the Lord that remind us of our dependence upon his grace and infinite love. Our weaknesses put in greater relief his perfect life and can inspire gratitude and determination to follow his example. Our Father in Heaven knows that we are not perfect and still he loves us because we are his children. Each of us is of great worth to him and through our weaknesses we can become strong in faith and trust in the Lord and strong in living the commandments of Lord.

As members of the Church we are commanded to meet together often. In addition to Sacrament the Priesthood meets regularly in quorums and conferences. According to the Handbook for Administering the Church, “the primary purposes of quorums are to serve others, build unity and brotherhood, and instruct members in doctrines, principles, and duties” (p. 40).
President Stephen L Richards (1879–1959), former First Counselor to President David O. McKay, taught: “A quorum is three things: first, a class; second, a fraternity; and third, a service unit. Within it the men of the Priesthood learn of the principles of the Gospel, establish true brotherhood, and carry forward the work of Christ. It is a God-given association from which they derive more of lasting advantage than from any other fraternal organization in our society. Its prime purpose is to encourage and safeguard the individual.”

Just imagine what great things are possible for a group of united priesthood holders who sit in council together, teach one another the gospel and serve without expectation of compensation. They become strong in faith and focused in purpose, and endowed with the power of God, to serve His children who may feel weakened in testimony, struggling financially or in health, or grieving for loss in their family.

The contrast immediately comes to mind of a group gathered around a bar consuming intoxicating drinks or vapors, creating an altered state of mind where their benefit to mankind is questionable if not completely negated.

In a recent priesthood meeting here in the Highlands ward we were each asked to write our testimonies as a means of preparing ourselves to do missionary work. I am grateful for that opportunity that was presented that day. And while I didn’t have enough time to write everything I wanted I want to share what I wrote with you to close my talk.

I know that God lives, that He is the father or our Spirits, and as our father He loves us.
I know that he desires our happiness and wants us to return to Him where we can enjoy everything he has.
I know that Jesus Christ is our Heavenly Father’s son, that he lived, he suffered the eternal penalty for our sins if we would repent, that he was crucified and gave up his life, and that he resurrected on the third day.
I know that because our Father loves us He sends us messengers with his words. I know that Joseph Smith was one of these true messengers and that he literally saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon was translated by him through the power of God.
I know that the Book of Mormon is God’s word. I know we can improve ourselves and our lives by studying the Book of Mormon and applying its teachings to our lives.
I know that God is interested in us and will help us through our struggles, sometimes through miraculous means. His power is on the earth today and is at work.
The Lord gives us commandments and when we make covenants of obedience with him we are blessed. Keeping our covenants will surely bring us back into his presence.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

A musician in the making

This year Rachel completed fifth grade. One of the opportunities for fifth grade students is to participate in band. Pomo School's band includes trumpets, saxophones, flutes, clarinets, and drums. The school district is lucky to have quite an inventory of instruments.

Rachel's first choice was saxophone, but there weren't enough initially so she chose to learn the clarinet. She did very well as a first year. At the end of year concert she even got to play a clarinet-piano duet with the music teacher, Mrs. Margaret Miller.

We didn't have a video camera so we recorded this at a later date.

Yup, that's MY daughter!

Ruth:

We've never been the kind of parents to go up with our children to the pulpit and help them bare a testimony.

At fast and testimony meeting yesterday, Rachel turned around (Yes, we are taking up two benches now) and asked me if I was going up there. I quickly replied,"NO" as I held Aaron in my arms and the other boys were close at hand needing to be reverenced. The meeting began, testimonies were shared, and then it happened. Rachel, seeing a lull in the meeting, shot out of her seat and up to the stand. She ended up having to sit next to the bishop as she waited for one other person to share their testimony. Then it was her turn. That brave little girl walked up and stood at the microphone. It was clear that she was nervous and that she was thinking hard about what to say. She has written her testimony in her "Faith in God" booklet, but this was the first time she stood in front of the ward. It took her a minute to get some words out, but when they came, they were heart-felt and very sincere. She spoke of her testimony of the church being true and how she loves her family, even if she doesn't show it all the time. She expressed her desire to be like Christ. After she was finished, she walked quickly back to our bench with tears starting to flow. I greeted her with a tissue and a firm embrace. She is such an amazing example to her siblings and to me! I am so proud to be able to claim her as my daughter! She is indeed a blessing to our family!!! Rachel, we love you!

Another blog

Hi, all. I've created another blog for myself. You can reach it by clicking on the link to the right: "What NOT to do."

Jason's Deer Hunt - Part Two

Saturday started very cold, 27˚ and clear. We loaded all our gear in our backpacks, ate breakfast and drove up the mountain to our traditional start point. The snow had definitely thinned since Wednesday and the day was promising to be nice.

The trail up the mountain was easier where the snow had melted. The snow was still thick above Pink Rock though. We glassed up the hill but didn’t see anything.

Dad and Lyman at Pink Rock

Dad broke trail through the snow from Pink Rock to the top, not an easy chore at that elevation. We trudged slowly through the snow. The glare of the sun off the snow made it very difficult to see.

Lyman approaching the top squinting against the glare.

As we crested the mountain the snow thinned and we took a break where we could look down over an open area on the east face. We like to glass here and often see deer in this spot - when there isn't snow.

We saw a couple does across a draw but no bucks. So we continued down the mountain towards our hunting camp.

The mountains to the left are the Sweetwater range which climb over 11,600'. Directly in front of us is an unamed range. The highest peak on the right is Walker mountain which is nearly as high.The snow on this side had melted in the lower elevations here where the mountain faced more south. We jumped more chukar on the way and found more gooseberries to eat.

Glassing the "Nursery"

We made it to our camping spot without seeing any deer, then saw a couple run up the mountain as if we might have spooked them. So we set up our beds and ate lunch. Following lunch we strapped on our canteens and started our hunt up the canyon.

The canyon is divided by a creek. The north side is broken up by several deep draws but is mostly open with little bit of sagebrush. The south side is heavily wooded and we don’t hunt it for that reason. Our hunt on this afternoon was up the creek through the bottom of the canyon, watching the hills and openings. We move very slowly when hunting, taking a few soft steps then stopping to watch and look. When we stop to glass an area we may be still for several minutes before we start moving forward again.

We spied a group deer on the hillside, all does, and watched them for a few minutes. Moving on we heard cows up ahead. We found them and passed by. Soon we saw another group of does up on hillside. We watched them but again there were no bucks around. The sun had set and we were almost a mile from camp so we turned back.

Dusk in the canyon

We got to our camp at dark and made dinner. Dad and I enjoyed a rehydrated spaghetti dinner. It was still early when Dad and Lyman went to bed. I like to stay up late because I don’t like to wake up to early when hunting.

I woke up early Sunday morning anyway. It was still mostly dark. I heard some footfalls and poked my head out of my sleeping bag. Fifty feet away I could see the silhouette of a pair of deer, though it was still too dark to make out any features. One of the deer snorted at me, something mule deer do when they are nervous and aren’t sure about the presence of another creature. I tried to continue to watch them but it was too dark and they moved out of sight quickly.

The morning brightened quickly. My plan was to hike out and drive myself home to be at work by Monday. Lyman and Dad were going to stay and hunt. But Lyman wasn’t up yet and I was interested in seeing if there were any deer in a feeding area near us. So I took his gun (couldn't find his 10X binocular) and climbed up to a nice vantage point where I could watch. I didn’t see any deer so I returned to camp.

I packed up my stuff and headed out of camp. I skipped breakfast because I figured I could eat when I got on the road. The hike to the truck is about three miles; from our camp at 9,000’ it climbs to 10,000’ and then drops down to 8,500 where it meets the road. I took my time on the ascent, watching for deer and planning to look in one particular spot near the top of the mountain. I came out of the trees on the east face of the mountain and walked straight past the slope that I had wanted to look down on. I didn’t feel like turning around so I continued on, deciding to look down into an area we call "The Bowl", a semi-circular draw with a steep funnel shaped slide at the top that terminates in a ravine.

I stopped at the first spot where I could get a glimpse into the Bowl. There at the bottom was a doe. I watched a little longer and spotted another, and then another. I moved down closer; there were several trees protecting me from being seen. I saw a few more does. Then I spotted a buck bedded down. Through my binocular I could see he had some decent antlers though I couldn’t make out the points. I was sure he was legal though and worth having. I dropped my backpack on the spot and moved away from the edge of the bowl where I had been watching. As soon as I knew I was out of sight I started running back to the hunting camp to tell Lyman. I was hoping I would catch him before he left camp. But I was afraid he might have started hunting up either side of the canyon.

It was nearly a mile back to camp. As it was all downhill I was able to run almost the entire way, leaping over sagebrush with huge strides and imagining myself spraining my ankle. I got back to camp without any harm though, but Lyman and Dad were gone. If they had climbed up the south side of the canyon I would never find them. If they had gone up the north side it would take me quite a while to get to them. So I guessed that they headed up the creek since they didn’t reach the end yesterday. I started up that direction, whistling occasionally and knocking rocks together to call to them. But they never heard me. Unbeknownst to me I walked right past them about ¼ mile out of camp and that’s when they got my attention. I told them about the buck and we immediately headed back up to the bowl.

I still had a pretty good adrenaline rush and I was in a hurry to get back up the mountain. Without backpacks or anything to weigh us down (except for one rifle) the hike was much easier.

Lyman on his way up.We approached the top with care. I led Dad down toward the edge of the bowl until we could see some deer. Then we started looking for the buck. We had great position in the shadows of the lodgepole pines growing at the edge of the slide. When Dad found the buck he signaled Lyman to come down so he could see and get into position. There were several deer in the bowl as well as another buck, a spike. Dad or Lyman identified the bigger buck as a 4-point (which means four points on one side).

Lyman moved down closer to the edge to get a better position. He waited several minutes for the buck to move away from the other deer so he could have a clear shot. The buck began working away from us though. Suddenly the 4-point lifted its nose high in the air. It had caught our scent, which was really foul after so many days in the woods, and was acting very nervous. I was afraid the deer was about to bound away. He was facing almost directly away from us when Lyman fired. The buck fell and rolled down the hill through the snow coming to a stop 100’ down the hill. Dad and I congratulated Lyman on a great shot. We were thrilled with our success.

Lyman moved down the slide to the deer while Dad and I headed back down to camp to retrieve his and Lyman’s gear. When we arrived at camp I was feeling sick from the morning’s exertions (traveled three miles, 1200' of climbing, 1200' descending, without eating my Wheaties). Lyman dressed the deer while Dad and I rolled up camp and climbed back up the mountain.

About 400' below the top, the toughest part of the climb.

When Dad and I got back up to the bowl we loaded my backpack with as much of their gear as I could carry. This would limit the weight they would carry to mostly meat. They were going to walk down the mountain and meet me at camp.

I made the climb over the top and back down to the truck and drove down to camp. My plan to leave without them was abandoned when I spotted the buck. I drove down to the meadow and waited for them at the back gate. I got out and explored around the trailhead for a while. Then I went back to the truck and took a short nap. Dad and Lyman surprised me a short time later by driving up in Dad’s truck. They had taken a different route back to the road. We went back to our camp in the meadow and loaded up and headed out. At dinner Dad said, “Its too bad for that buck that the last thing he ever smelled was us!”

The antlers are about the same height and width. Lyman's have one more point on each side. Both sets have only one eye guard.

Jason's Deer Hunt - Part One

Warning: This is long! and one sided...Lyman and Dad, you're welcome to correct/alter/twist my words or submit additions (editions?) here as you wish.

On the Monday before my October deer hunting trip I went to a shooting range after work to make sure the .280 was sighted in. I arrived at 4:30 pm and the place was going to close at 5:00. So I had very little time. At 4:45 I had my target set up, eye and ear protection in place and the rangemaster called “Open Fire!”

The sun was setting behind the target so it was pretty difficult to see. I don’t recall if it was windy but I was having a difficult time keeping the target in view through the scope. Every time I would get the crosshairs on the target my view would start to fade away. So each shot took over a minute. My plan was to shoot three groups of three shots. With two shot left to go the rangemaster called out the two minute warning. Feeling rushed, my last group wasn’t very good. In fact I could only find two of the last three shots. But my second group was about an inch over the bull’s-eye so I left satisfied.

Tuesday night I got home from work, finished throwing stuff in the car, kissed Ruth and the children good-bye and left for Applegate. I spent the night at Mom and Dad’s.
Day 1 - We woke around 6am to finish packing and loading the truck. The trip up to camp was uneventful, though the gate on Highway 108 was closed at Pickel Meadows. We drove around the gate and found Lyman in camp. He told us of rain on Monday and snow on Tuesday that had kept him from hunting very much.

There was snow up on the mountains so we decided to hunt the rest of the afternoon but come back down and sleep in the meadow. With that plan in mind we headed out. We parked in the usual place and rock-hopped across the creek. Lyman slipped and got a foot in the water but didn't mention it until later. The mountain was covered with snow from the previous day. It had softened and refrozen making a slight crunch with each step and with Dad’s walking stick. It was very cold and clouds covered the sky, but the hike was steep enough that I started shedding layers fairly quickly. We saw lots of deer tracks heading down the hill but none going up. We could hear snow falling from the trees as it melted.

The climb at that elevation is quite a workout. It’s easy to get your heart rate going. We paused often to look around and take breathers. I don’t want my heart pounding when I am shooting so I like to go slow. Even with our slow pace I developed a headache, most likely from the elevation and my lack of fitness. About two-thirds of the way up the mountain we came to an outcropping of pink granite we call Pink Rock. Snow completely covered the mountain here, about eight inches deep, and we still hadn’t seen any deer, though at this point that is not unusual. All the tracks we have seen are still headed downhill, which was not good news.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement, a small grey mammal that at first I believed to be a bobcat. It was moving across our path, and then I realized that it was a coyote. I pointed to show the others. The coyote continued and actually turned toward us. Lyman got ready to shoot but the coyote saw him and at 100’ from us, turned and bounded back away and up the mountain. Then another coyote jumped up out of the snow and ran away up the mountain.

At that point we talked about our options, about not seeing any deer or tracks going uphill or side hilling, and the amount of snow. We decided to change course and instead of climbing up and over the mountain into the canyon on the other side, we will work our away north along a ridge where we usually don’t hunt. This would allow us to occasionally look over both sides of the mountain.

We proceeded with this plan until Dad decided that he didn’t need to continue with us. He would head back to the truck and down to camp. Lyman and I would continue hunting down this ridge and find our way back to camp. There used to be a horse trail leading this direction off the mountain that I was interested in finding.

Lyman and I dropped down the west side of the mountain through the snow. I was excited to be exploring new area. We found our way back to the ridge as it was steadily falling away to the north, the direction we were going. We took a couple opportunities to sneak over to the edge where we could and peek down into open areas. There was still snow everywhere though and we saw no deer. We continued down the ridge.

We had hiked about ¾ of a mile when we came to a plateau where we could look down over an open bench where there was a prime feeding area. The eastern exposure here was exposed to more sun and protected somewhat from wind. This bench is also almost 1000 feet lower than Pink Rock so the snow had begun to melt enough to expose some feed. We watched and glassed for maybe ten minutes when I got up and started to move away along the plateau. I had moved some 50 feet when Lyman softly called me back, saying there was a buck and to stay down. I moved carefully back to him where I could look over the edge. Through my scope I saw the buck, and then Lyman said there was another bigger buck behind the first. Upon finding the second buck I moved into a prone position to get ready to shoot. I was a little concerned about hitting the rocks in front of me, but decided it wasn’t going to be a problem.

The first buck was a spike and seemed to be aware of us but not afraid. Mule deer tend to be curious when they cannot smell you and you aren’t standing up. The second buck was oblivious and was standing broadside behind the spike, calmly eating and slowly working towards our left. I waited for a signal from Lyman to shoot. I could not see the buck’s antlers very well and was waiting for him to tell me whether to take him or not. I also wondered if he would want to shoot the buck since he was the one that spotted it. From my position I would lose my shooting angle very quickly if the deer moved very far. It seemed like a full minute had passed before he said to take him. I squeezed the trigger and the gun clicked. I hadn't loaded it when we left the truck!. I slid the bolt back and chambered a round. The buck hadn't moved. I took the shot and the buck reared up a little and fell down away from us and lay almost completely still. The spike just stood there. My ears were ringing and the headache I had got suddenly worse with the shot. I reloaded and continued watching. Lyman complimented me on a nice shot. With the dead buck on the ground we started working our way down. The spike finally decided it didn’t want to be around and ran off. We also jumped a doe out of the trees.
This picture is after the snowmelt on Friday. We were on the top of the outcropping towards the right.
We came to the buck, a 3x3. First we took a picture. Then with Lyman’s instruction I gutted the deer. We pulled it into some trees. I scrubbed my hands clean with snow. It was still very cold and the deer would be fine there until we could retrieve it tomorrow. We had about 1-1.5 hours of light left to get back to camp. We found our way, not by any trail, in a nearly straight course of almost two miles back to Leavitt Meadows and to our camp. We told Dad about our hunt and he congratulated me. We finished the night eating hot dogs, grapes and cantaloupe around the campfire.

Thursday morning when we woke up the air was a crisp 36˚, which was warmer than usual. We ate breakfast, hot granola for me. Dad and I drove up to the base of the mountain where we would hike in and retrieve my deer. Lyman would hunt from the meadow up to the bench and work along the bench to the south, hunting the openings.

Dad and I worked our way side-hilling as much as we could because our destination wasn’t much higher than where we started. You can see that it was still fairly cloudy.Descending onto the bench we were surprised when we jumped a covey of chukar. We got to the deer and with some effort, got it hanging from a tree. We were halfway through butchering the deer when Lyman arrived. He had a rough trip up the mountain, climbing the steep terrain through the tall bushes. He helped finish the deer. Then he continued his hunt while we headed back down the mountain. Instead of going back to the truck, we went straight down the hill back to the meadow. We got back to camp tired and took a short nap. We drove to the back of the campground to wait for Lyman. A doe and fawn crossed the road in front of us. Then we saw a covey of quail work their way across our view, eating as they went. I tried to open the door to take a picture, but the quail fled into the cover.

When Lyman returned we drove back up the mountain to retrieve his truck. He told us he got a shot at a big forked horn but he missed. Dad then took us to Carson City for dinner. In the fields near Sonora Junction we saw an incredible number of deer, at least twenty does and fawns and one buck. Lyman didn’t have his license or tag with him so we didn’t stop. We ate dinner in town and then returned to camp.

Friday morning began beautifully. We had decided to hunt from the meadow up the mountain to the same bench and work our way south as Lyman had the day before. It was at this point that I borrowed Lyman’s camera. I wouldn’t be doing any hunting, just hanging back and enjoying the scenery. I wanted to capture some shots of the areas we visited.

We started walking to the back of the meadow, but Lyman and Dad decided they would rather not climb 1500’ to get to the start of the hunt. So we got in the truck and drove part way up the mountain.
To Lyman’s chagrin we found a place where we could cross the creek across a large deadfall. We were blazing a new trail at this point and not sure we could find a way around the mountain to the desired point. But we made it with just a little steep climbing and a shorter path than our original route.
The day was clear, sunny, and almost warm. We slowly worked our way along the side of the mountain, glassing every opening and occasionally tasting gooseberries along the way. The landscape was very pretty with patches of snow all around and covering the ground under the trees. The aspens were fading from green to yellow and some leaves were falling. The tops of the mountains were completely covered in snow. But the temperature was better than the previous two days which gave us hope for a good snowmelt. We covered nearly 1.5 miles when we turned around. We then found a group of five deer, all does. We watched them for awhile to see if any bucks were hanging around. Then we moved on. We didn’t anticipate seeing any bucks for the rest of the day so we moved a little faster than usual. Instead of going back to the truck we decided to take the old trail down the mountain and identify as much of it as possible so it could be found from the bottom. We were able to find most of it and set up some markers so it wouldn’t be lost again. Here is the area we hunted outline in red. (picture from internet)

When we got back to camp it was evening. We went out to Sonora Junction again to see if any deer were in the fields. This was the closing weekend of deer season for this area so we saw a lot of hunters driving slow, watching the mountainsides. There were no deer to be seen. So we went back to camp and ate dinner. We talked about what we would do tomorrow and decided that we would hike over the mountain and into the canyon, feeling that the snow should have melted enough that the deer would have moved up to where we like to hunt. This night was clear. We were able to look up and find the Andromeda galaxy. Jupiter was also very bright and we could see three of its moons.

Part Two to follow!

Sunday nap

Taking after Daddy!

Trip to Southern Ca

Jason had to go to Scout camp the week of July 5th -10th. So I decided that instead of hanging around my house, with nothing to do but take care of the kids and be hot, I would head down to SO. Ca. to visit our good friends the Bruschke's. I convinced my youngest sister Mary to tag along and help with the driving and the kiddos. And let me just say right now that it was wonderful having the extra help! We headed out in the afternoon of the 4th and arrived in LA just in time to see Fireworks going off everywhere! so much for thinking we would miss out on seeing any this year! I think we saw about 20 different shows and maybe some illegal ones too! The air on the Freeway was filled with smoke for part of the time there were so many fireworks! Needless to say the kids enjoyed watching fireworks from the comfort of their own car seats!

We had a wonderful week shopping, eating good food, going to the beach and swimming in the local pool. The weather was overcast most of the week and it even rained on Tuesday, the only day we were able to meet up with my brother Mark. It cleared up before we got there, thank goodness, and we were able to visit the Cabrillo National Monument and one of the beaches in San Diego. At the beach in San Diego, we played on the boogie boards and enjoy some time playing in the sand!

I enjoyed all the time I was able to spend with our wonderful friends and my Little sis. and bro.!!! I hope we can go visit again soon and that Jason will be able to come with us next time! I'm so blessed to have been able to go on this trip and grateful for such good friends and family! Love you guys! Thanks for the wonderful week!


These are most of the pictures that I took of our trip, so it's a long one! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

(Rachel with two of her favorite things)

What an amazingly wonderful big girl we have been blessed with! Rachel has been such a life saver with all the help she gives me and her family members! She is a joy to be around and loves her family. Today we will be celebrating her 10th birthday. Wow she's getting old! She requested Hamburgers for dinner and a cake that looks like a chocolate chip cookie with a bite taken out of it.

We have invited a local grandma over to celebrate the occasion with us! Our good friend Lynnette Ramsey was Rachel's Primary teacher a few years ago and she taught Activity days for her too. She was even able to come to Rachel's baptism. She joined us for a field trip to the Oakland Zoo a couple months ago too. We are blessed to have such a good friend to share these fun times with! Rachel really has enjoyed having her in our lives.

Now for more about the beautiful birthday girl! I thought it only fitting to share more about this talented young lady on her special day, so here it goes:

Some of her favorite things
color: Green

dinner: Mexican food

dessert: Chocolate Ice cream

best buddy: Her cousin Joshua Bunting

subject in school: Art

book/series: The Secrets of Droon

thing to do: You can always find her with her nose in a good book, or playing with her siblings.

Rachel is so good at finding ways to help around the house and with her siblings. She likes to think of David as HER baby and I can always count on her to be willing to pick him up or save him from his brothers and or sisters that get too rough around him. She was even a trooper and fed him stinky baby food every now and again!

Thank-you for choosing to be part of our family Rachel we love you bunches and hope you enjoy this beautiful day!!!!!

Back to Blogging!?!?!

Hi all, have you missed me?.....(Crickets chirping in background)......

Wow it's been a busy year! I really tried to do everything but I just found that I was stressing myself out too much! Homeschooling was a wonderful experience. I feel that I accomplished a lot that I wanted the girls to learn and experience. And now that School is out, I plan to get back into blogging! The cute kiddos will be back in public school next year (Bitter sweet). But I've found that I really need that quiet time in the mornings for house cleaning, shopping, paying bills, and exercise (things that have taken a backseat to the schooling) to help keep me sane! Is that bad?

Now I have a lot to blog about and try to catch up on! So this may take a while to get back into the habit! Some encouraging words may help. (hint hint)

Rachel's birthday is tomorrow, so I'll see ya then! hehe

Isn't it clear?

Our comic in chief declared that "Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency."

Mz. Pelosi promised “We will bring transparency and openness to the budget process and to the use of earmarks, and we will give the American people the leadership they deserve.”

It isn't even debatable that these promises have been broken over and over. And I won't argue that Republicans don't lie either. But since these folks promised transparency, people ought to wise up and see that these people are as transparent as can be. They have a socialist agenda. They intend to remove our freedoms enough to control our lives so we can't hurt ourselves. They intend to take away our defenses so that we can't protect ourselves. To make sure everyone is equal they are intent on stealing from the middle class and giving to the lower class so that things are more fair and more equal.

I think there is plenty of transparency when these folks open their mouths. Whatever they promise that seems to be in line with what the people want, you can be sure they are working for the opposite.

Gratis

J: Yesterday I had a FREE Saturday again. No plans to be anywhere but home and it went great.

First: I took the Christmas lights down and put the last Christmas box away.

Second: I cleaned up the willow tree cuttings that littered the driveway. We have a corkscrew willow that is very pretty when trimmed well and leafed out. Each year it puts out new long leafy branches so it has to be pruned or the branches die en masse. I pruned it a week ago but never got the chance to cleanup and never delegated that chore.

Third: I mowed the lawn. A neighbor was nice enough to stop and comment on how nice the lawn looks after all the effort that has gone into it. There are very few lawns in our part of town.

Fourth: With the lawn mowed I moved to the back of the house and started laying out the new pathway. It has been covered with white rock that has slowly slid to one side due to the slope of the path. I had an idea to make some steps/retainers for the rock so it won't slide. I'm not much of a landscape designer so I don't know what we will do with everything else around it. But here is a picture of the progress so far.
The 4x4s are leftovers (gratis!) from other projects and from pallets from work. I had to do a little digging to make them sit level. The bottom set of boards is level with the patio. The next step up sits on the bottom step and will continue on in this fashion. The voids will get filled in with gravel. Iron form stakes hold the 4x4s in place. They are pound in level with the top of the boards. I've got a bazillion of them laying around so I am glad to use them. They are also being used for grow boxes in the garden. I skewed the front edge of the steps a little bit to make them a little unordinary.

Needless to say the project is not yet finished. I ran out of 4x4s but will remedy that his week.

While I worked on the path Ruth was setting up the new watering system for the garden. You can see the pipe and sleeve under the new pathway. It's almost ready. Tomorrow we will plant our starts for FHE! We will use old ice cream buckets for mini green houses. We will have to weigh them down at night so the wind doesn't blow them away. But, excepting for Ruth, I've always leaned to the more practical than attractive!

After lunch I got the grill going at a low temperature and threw a rack of pork ribs on the grill. Kept the temperature from 200-250 for five hours. Lunch was late so the meat wasn't ready for dinner (we all sampled it though and WOW! was it good) but we ate it for dinner on Sunday with corn-on-the-cob! I like to season the meat with a custom mixture of spices including ground sea salt, season salt, coarse ground pepper and garlic salt. I don't measure any of it. Just mix up enough and rub it in good. Costco sells a bottle of sea salt with a grinder in the bottle cap. Everybody loved dinner!

Enjoying Spring!

Aw, to be young again! Need I say more?

Spring is almost here

Peach blossom on our third-year tree.Blossoms bud on the Purple Leaf Plum.

Progress

Jason: I finally had a Saturday to spend with my family at home yesterday and it was great. I've been ill the last couple days but woke up feeling considerably better. There was bacon in the fridge that needed to be cooked, so I got that started. I asked the kids to choose between pancakes, Swedish pancakes, and french toast. Pancakes! was the majority choice so Kaitlin came to help me make the batter.

Everyone enjoyed their pancakes with butter, syrup, and Cool Whip. Fresh oranges, bacon, and apple juice rounded out our delicious meal. Then the chores began. Dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, taking out the trash...all the kids were helpful.

Then the fun began. Remember the project I started back in December? I got stalled because I didn't have the right router bit. Then I fouled up the first glue-up. Yesterday I got back into the building of the two bookcases with the intent to have them put together before the day was through.

I started by correcting a couple mistakes I had made. Then the first bookcase went together fairly well with Ruth's help in the assembly. As you can see, our dining room doubled as a workshop. Maybe you've read Sterling North's "Rascal." The boy in the story will do anything do accomplish his goals.

On the second bookcase I found that the grooves for the shelves were not quite square with the front and the parts wouldn't fit together with any ease. So I had to correct those slightly. Everything takes longer when you are using hand tools for almost everything. The shelves and sides were all cut and squared with hand tools.

With both bookcases, after the sides and shelves were all together, the front and back edges did not quite line up. Ruth helped me to plane down the high spots to make it all line up. She did pretty well for a first-time plane user!

We nailed the backs on and filled all the holes. I showed the girls how to seal the knots with white glue and let them handle that task. They were sure excited to be involved. They can't wait to paint!

The shelf heights were determined using the Fibonacci sequence.

Of course after we were done the sweeping and vacuuming had to be redone.

After the kids were put to bed Ruth gave me a haircut and I got to sweep again!

Ruth: We were all so happy to be able to spend the day together and that we accomplished so much! It so much fun to see how excited the kids get when we let them help with these sort of projects! Thank-you for a wonderful day Jason!!! You're awesome!!!

P.S. We may be on the verge of going private. Someone added themself as a follower to our blog who we do not know. Their intent appeared to be to direct traffic to their blog to generate income. It is not hard to block a follower though so we won't take that step yet. However, if you have to log in to read one blog, i.e. Tim/Vanessa/etc., then you're already logged in to read everyone else who is private. So it may not be long...

Day of rest

jase:

With six children and only a tiny yard for them, there is always something demanding our attention even/especially on Sundays. After church we return home and make lunch, ususally popcorn, fruit, cheese, and some summer sausage or salami if we have it. Following lunch is naptime for at least four of our family so that means "Quiet Time" for the rest. During quiet time the only activities allowed are reading, coloring, or writing. Every other activity has proven to generate noise beyond the acceptable level. Even coloring and reading don't work 100% of the time. But generally "Quite Time" works pretty well.

What doesn't work well for myself is the actual napping. There seems to be a paradox in that the duration of a successful nap is inversely proportional to my emotional state when the nap is ended. In other words, the longer the nap I get, the grumpier I am for the rest of the day. The shorter the nap, the less grumpy I am. Today we came home, ate lunch and then laid Aaron down in our bed with Ruth. David was laid in his bed. I settled into the recliner and read for a little bit. Then I napped for about 30 minutes. I had made an appointment to visit someone later which kept my nap short. So I awoke feeling pretty good. We walked to the other family's home and had a good visit and are now home and everybody seems in good spirits. Last week I slept for much longer, and definitely felt a little more selfish/self-centered when I got up.

Have you noticed anything similar at your house?

Hope you have enjoyed your Sunday and all your weekend!