Trip Date: January 30, 2018
Find this SpotSometimes a day trip can be just what the doctor ordered. Big long adventures are great for the soul. Short trips to not too far destinations are just perfect for those times, and a day trip with almost no packing or preparation can also make you feel spectacular.
This has been a raging week or so. We were in the Mojave two weeks ago, and we refinanced our house just as I returned. That freed up some money that led to pursuing several projects around here that I have wanted to do including expanding the pond in front. I am guessing we will, well Robert and his brother under my supervision, will dig out about 9 yards of clay soil. So, the question of what to do with it has been scrambling around my dome for a while.
The soil is so clay heavy I didn’t want to distribute it around the garden, so I finally caved and rented a dumpster from our friend Dave at Atlas Disposal. Robert and his brother will come tomorrow to dig out the extension. I also am building a tee-pee type structure out of cedar and White Birch poles from a tree that Kristen and I cut down in the backyard of her mom’s house, the house Kristen grew up in.
I wanted to use the poles of the Birch tree for the posts of a covering I intend to build over the walkway in front of the house, but the logs were too big. So I will use a couple for the poles of the tee-pee. I will use some of the clay soil to pack in between the poles and possibly fill the entire inside of the tee-pee, again just as a disposal option. Then I will plant some Clematis vines around it and maybe some creeping, hanging type plants up on the edges to see if they spread over the tee-pee. It could become like a living cone.
Since I couldn’t use the Birch limbs for the posts, I needed a few more cedar posts to go along with the 3 I already have gathered. I will choose the 4 best and use them for the cover and use the rest for the tee-pee, or cut them up for fire wood.
So this was my third time to this spot in the El Dorado NF along Packsaddle Road. Steve and I had come up here after we had cut wood along Silver Fork Road. We had a fire in a rock outcropping and BBQ’d saaaaaaaaaasauges, had some beers and wine. It was outstanding. The clearcut allowed the sun to get in there and we watched the sun follow the ridge and finally fall behind it, signaling it was time for us to head home. It was an awesome spot.
Steve and I came back again to the spot to gather up the cedar trees that had been left along the side of the clearcut. We had noticed them the first time we came, so we made a point of coming back. This early December day, it was so warm, we worked without shirts and BBQ’d in the shade. My stupid brand new saw wouldn’t work so we couldn’t take any wood home, but we did make one pile and elevate many other logs on a stump or rock, to keep them off the ground and above some of the snow.
This was the day of our triumphant return to gather those logs. It also signaled a departure from my usual process of getting my firewood permit in the Fall and gathering wood fairly late in the year. We stopped in the ranger station at 8 mile road and got the permit from Stephanie. She was awesome, much nicer and sweeter, and way better looking in her snug fitting uniform that showed off her curves and figure. That’s what Bill told me anyway; I didn’t notice.
We got our tags and headed up the hill. The Sierra’s were covered in snow, absolutely sparkling white as we headed out of town, but I assumed most of it was at higher elevations. We were only going up to about 5000’, or so I thought. I visualized some snow on the ground, a dusting maybe, but there was a lot of snow on Silver Fork Road, way before we started the real climb up Packsaddle. I began to wonder if we would make it, and even though I would be disappointed, I didn’t want to get all pissed off, especially for a shortcoming that hadn’t happened yet.
There were good tracks in the snow, and plenty of places where the road was clear, so before long we were at the turnoff for Packsaddle. Again, we had tracks to follow, until we didn’t. We were close, within a mile, so I really wanted to try now. We plowed along. The snow wasn’t deep; we never lost traction, I just don’t like driving in the snow, nor do I like being the first vehicle in and the only vehicle around. We had shovels, and the day was young, so we could get ourselves out of some minimal trouble, but pitched over the edge and down the snowy embankment would be another story.
We kept making progress and I began to gain confidence in both the rig and because I knew we were close. And sure enough, we made it. It was awesome, because again the clearcut allowed the sun to blaze in and melt the snow, so we had clear dry road right in front of our spot.
After surveying a bit, we even decided to drive over the huge burm they put in to keep vehicles off the spur road alongside the cut. Steve and I had driven down here last time, but there wasn’t any snow.
We made it down, turned around, and backed right up to the pile of cedar posts I had left. It was awesome. I was so excited we made it up and the logs were still here, and we got all the way back to them. As I scouted about finding the logs I had leaned against trees, or upon stumps to keep them out of the snow, I was regaling Bill with the stories of when Steve and I were here. As I was stumbling about, I came to a stump with our wine glasses and the opener still sitting there as if it were just left yesterday. What a greeting.
This day, January 30, 2018 was also ridiculously sunny and warm and I soon took off my long sleeve shirt, much like the December, 2017 day Steve and I had been here. It was a glorious day. Bill and I were soon at work cutting up the posts that were too small or short for the walkway covering. We selected 4 or so that were good candidates, and had them all loaded in an hour or so. I got the loaded rig, back over the burm and out alongside the road before we relaxed and enjoyed our victorious day.
Again, it was too hot to be out in the sun, so we set up in the shade in a spot that was clear of snow and had ourselves a little respite. Fire, beverages, saaaaaaaaaaasages, success, gorgeous day, visions of Stephanie frolicking in the snow; it was all good. It was cooling down and I lay alongside the fire, drying out my boots and warming my feet. I recalled stores of John Muir sleeping in the Sierra’s alongside a fire and the embers. It was a freakin awesome day.
Find this Spot
Wood Cutting Day Trip Photo Gallery
