August 26, 2016
So when I knew I was coming back to Baptiste this year I requested that the Forest Service add a piece of specialized gear to the lookout's inventory, and they agreed. I tried it out for the first time today, and here it is:
It's a primitive, old-school external-frame backpack, over three feet high. Its distinguishing feature is a flat, horizontal platform on the bottom, about a foot square, designed to hold the 5-gallon refillable water "cubies" the Forest Service uses in the backcountry. Since there no water here at the lookout, I need to regularly carry an empty cubie down to a little valley about a mile below me, refill it from a small stream there, and then carry it back up. Cubies don't fit well in my own backpack, so having this one makes the job easier.
(Though not totally easy, since 5 gallons of water weighs about 42 pounds ... and when you add the weight of the container, the water scoop and funnel, and the backpack you're up to at least 50.)
Anyhow, the new pack worked well, and it was a good hike down to the stream. No bears, though I saw logs that looked like a bear might have recently clawed them in a search for insects. Unlike last year, though, the bears had ignored the two water bottles we leave at the stream crossing. They're also ignored by hikers nearly as often as not, but once in a while we get lucky:
I filled up the cubie down there, washed up a little bit in the ice-cold water, and watched some local "wildlife." There were a bunch of these little moths flying and landing near me, and they were absolutely gorgeous ... the picture doesn't do them justice. (They were a deeper, lovely blue.) Anyone know what they are?
And that was my evening. Surprisingly satisfying, really.
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Oh, and since this is supposedly National Dog Day, it's only appropriate that I post a photo of Charlie tonight, too. Here he is playing Lookout Dog, carefully scanning the valley below for signs of fire. Never mind that he's doing it from a recumbent position on a comfy pillow, and that his eyes might be closed.
