backcountry

Spending more time working and camping in the backcountry this summer. Same valley, Sol Duc, different section of the trail leading up to the High Divide and views of Mt. Olympus. Lots of rock moving and dirt hauling. Evenings around the fire sharing stories and picking on each other. Some food we share, most of it we hoard to ourselves. Watching our pile of canned beans and tomatoes turn into a pile of cans burned clean by the fire. Drying wet clothes when the weather allows. It's a different kind of fun, the kind you feel damp, gritty, and worn out during, and romanticize weeks later. In reality it's just a half decent way to get paid to be outside.

Mt. Olympus, from the High Divide. Clouds blocked the view moments later.

Choaty and Horse fitting rocks into turnpike.

"Show me your rock-work face."

Camp, afternoon light filtered through the canopy.

My plastic house and dirty laundry. Discarded packaging of a good meal.

Sol Duc River. Bathtub and faucet.

lake mills

Winter means we're back on the Elwha project. The goal is to get plant regeneration off on the right foot by putting thousands of native plants in the ground. Constructing access trails for hiking plants to revegetation sites is critical. With dam demolition nearing completion, and the park getting ready for the hordes of visitors that will come to view the newly drained reservoir, we're beginning to transform access trails into pathways ready for the public.

Hiking out to the planting site.

Clear, cold days. The worksite got two hours of sun.

Two sentinels, watching the old lake bed from their posts.

Only 30 feet left to demolish. These upper pieces will remain as a memorial.

Filling turnpike before covering with top dressing.

Taylor, posing with the tool of choice, demo site in the background.

One big chunk of cedar equals five cedar beams.

Shane, chief gravel coordinator.

Hot lunch.

Sam, scoring logs embedded in the fine sediment.

Brand new trail with a brand new feature. Three years ago this photo would be ten feet under water.

Elwha River, Lake Mills, Mt. Fitzhenry, and Mt. Carrie.

spike

Eight days on, six days off. Camping at the Sol Duc trailhead, eating well. Carrying tools up trail, cutting windfall, building features. Everything you own is damp, nothing dries. A bit of sun, and it's over. We call it spike.

Morning on the Sol Duc River while hiking to work.

Trevor, sizing up his cut.

Smallest tool for the job.

Kerf.

Clearing trail. Before and after.

Exiting the trail after a long, drizzly day.

Kicking back at camp. My hovel.

The wood stash.

Bear bins. Breakfast for dinner.

Building puncheon aka boardwalk.

Splitting construction material from yellow cedar.

Deckboards.

Big nails.

JZ, master craftsman.

Finished product.

F. N.   9.14.13   C.C.C.   F.C. Wagner.