March 24, 2007

The Plat-Billed Duckypus

George "Geo" Tseko is owner of cabin #29 in the Main Canyon. On one of his recent hikes he spotted a strange creature walking through the forest. I guess that makes two strange creatures walking through the forest, but that's beside the point. I can't testify to his state of mind, but he swears that he saw a duck-like animal with three feet and a crazy hair-do. As far as I know, this is the first reported sighting of such a beast.

As a graduation present for Deb Burgess, Geo described this creature to an artist, and had it immortalized in ceramic. The model now adorns a patio table on the Pack Station deck. To honor the man who made the discovery we have named him "Curious George"; and he has officially been classified as a "Plat-Billed Duckypus". Click on his photo for a better look.

March 22, 2007

Yes, It's Spelled with Two S's

I had an interesting pack today. As you can see from the photo, it involves 12-foot 4X4's. These and the slats in the panniers are the components of Mary Douglass' new footbridge. Her cabin is on the East Fork, across the stream from the others in the group.

The "Main Canyon" crossing at cabin #67 is relatively flat with good stepping stones, and the crossing just upstream between cabins #64 & #69 has a plank bridge. So it's easy to get from the trail to the mouth of the East Fork. But the East Fork is narrow and rocky, and to cross again to Mary's cabin can be rough.

She used to have a bridge, but it washed out in either October, 2004 or January 2005; I don't remember which. The bridge, like that at cabin #64, was not fixed. It was chained to a tree, and storm waters would wash it parallel to the stream. One simply had to replace it across the stream once in a while. Well, it must have gotten splintered in the storm by a fast-moving rock or log (another good reason not to cross flood waters!).

Mary's son, Dave Douglass, brought in a new bridge for her. He made it with two 4X4's to span the stream, and wooden slats for a surface. Everything was pre-cut, pre-drilled, and pre-assembled. Then he numbered all the parts and disassembled it for packing.

This is the perfect opportunity to show how I pack such long items on such little animals (smaller than mules and horses, that is). The 12-foot lumber is extremely difficult to pack to half of the cabins using this method. As you can see, the donkeys can't make the tight turns and switchbacks. It would also require more than one packer. But it is the safest and easiest way in the "Main Canyon"; and I can do it alone.

In this case, the 4X4's were only about 30 lbs each. I also needed to pack in the slats. Since I was by myself, and two donkeys connected in this fashion is all one man to handle, I couldn't use more than Bill & Slim. So what I did was saddle them with the panniers, something we don't normally do with lumber. I tied one end of each 4X4 to the front cross of the front animal, then the other ends to the rear cross of the rear animal. This has always worked for me before, but because the ropes have to be looser than normal, the lumber has a tendency slip and slide. Today I wrapped duct tape around each rope and the lumber (click the inset photo to enlarge). This really did the trick. Once the 4X4's were in place, I put the slats in the panniers on end. A happy accident occurred when I cinched up the bags with the short lumber - they made very sturdy slings for the 4X4's. This was not necessary, but reassuring.

Everything arrived safely, and without any mid-trail adjustments. Dave will probably put the bridge in place this weekend.

March 16, 2007

Go West, Young Man

For those of you confounded by the cabin numbering system in the Big Santa Anita, try this one on for size...The Pack Station is #141. Today Brad and I packed to cabin #139. The round trip took almost five hours! That's because #139 is the cabin farthest up Winter Creek. It's actually farther west than Sturtevant's Camp.

Brad got the job to extensively refurbish the cabin, including major foundation work and new roofing. He is working with Mike Pauro and Cam Stone on the project. We started hauling building materials up today; mostly pressure-treated 2X4's & 4X4's and concrete piers. We also brought floor jacks to lift the entire cabin, nails & screws, trash bags and a wheelbarrow in pieces. We used seven animals and that barely put a dent in the materials needed.

We split the train up into two strings for safety reasons. Brad led Fred with Andy and Eeyore. I led Slim with Bill, Heasley and Calico. The night before I had to rebuild Andy's britchen and make adjustments to the saddle that Ray Underwood rebuilt for Eeyore. I was suspicious that something would go wrong today when everything started off so well. Andy and Eeyore, who normally avoid work, both let me slip halters on without any fuss or trying to run. Then the saddles fit just right. The new kind of rope I had cut up for tying lumber worked perfectly. Calico, new to hauling eight-foot lumber, didn't even flinch when the boards were loaded over her head. This is starting to sound like a set-up for something awful, but everything went relatively well. In fact, the only problem we had was with the two veterans.

The whole way up, Bill continually jammed the front of his lumber into the back of Slim's; mostly because he kept trying to snack on all the new green grass. Finally, just a couple hundred feet from our destination, Bill pushed hard enough to cause Slim's load and saddle to slip to one side. I have said it before: that's why we use donkeys for this kind of work. Mules can carry more weight, but when something like that goes wrong, a donkey stops and waits for you to correct the situation, a mule tries to run from it! Anyway, since we were just around the bend from the cabin, I just loosened Slim's saddle and let it fall to the ground, disconnected Bill's lead, and gave Slim a pat on the rear to make him catch up to the first string (good thing they're herd animals). I led the rest to the cabin and returned to carry the lumber and saddle myself; Brad taking half of the load. It seems complicated, but it was no big deal.

Another thing that bears mentioning is the result of my donkey training. I have chosen a stall for the lovebirds, Heasley & Calico, and taught them to eat in there every time. The idea was that they would be easier to catch when it's time to go to work. Besides, Calico throws a lot of hay out of the bin, and this way I can control the waste a little. So today, the second time haltering them directly form the stall, did not go well. All I have to do is halter her, and he will follow. I stepped in the stall to halter Calico and closed the door behind me. She denied my requests, then dodged my attempts, then she made a standing high jump over the stall door. I had not latched the door, so when her belly grazed the top, it opened underneath her and tripped her up. This caused her rear legs to get hung up on the old door, which has a notch worn in it just the right size for hooking a donkey hoof. She freed the hoof before I could get to her around Heasley and she landed OK. She managed to scrape some hair off the leg, but was otherwise fine. She was shaky, though, and I felt bad for her. Donkeys are big kids, and scrapes and traumas can usually be soothed by ample hugs & kisses. I'll put a guard on the top of that door.

March 12, 2007

Wounded Knee Hill

This past Saturday I packed into the Stanleys' cabin, #131 in Winter Creek. They only had a single animal load, so Slim and I got out early to beat them up to the cabin and to get back in time to help with the store and parking.

It was a relatively uneventful trip in, and I got to #131 before the Stanley's and the keys actually worked. So far, so good. Eric Woodyard had asked me to pick up some phone repair equipment from his cabin, #130 across the trail, up on a hill. His keys worked too and I quickly located the gear.

I loaded Slim, fueled him on granola bars and head down the hill. As I placed my right foot on the rocks that serve as a patio step, one of them gave way. I went down hard and really tweaked my knee. This event coincided with the arrival of the Stanleys. They heard the crash, looked up the hill to see me on the ground, and went about their business. They seem like very nice people, though, and I don't mean to suggest that they ignored my plight. They probably heard the stream of obscenities and decided to give me some space.

It doesn't matter anyway, as I was able to walk in a minute or two. But I did have two rocky miles and seven stream crossings before reaching the road. As I approached Roberts' Camp, I saw a Sierra Madre Search & Rescue crew headed toward me. For a second I thought that the Stanleys had called them to assist me, but they were just training. I dropped the phone gear in the Roberts call box then limped a miserable half-mile back to Chantry.

The knee really stiffened up overnight and I had a painful time of it on Sunday. I bought a neoprene brace and have mostly stayed off the knee all day today. It feels much better. I hope it improves by morning, as I need to pack for Tony and Chris Chasteen to cabin #40; then again to #40 on Thursday. Also the corral is now a mess because I haven't been able to dump the wheelbarrows.

Even a minor injury can really jam the works, and it's one more reason why I am so careful on the trails. My mistake on Saturday was to put more faith in that particular rock than any other rock because it was being used as a step. I am aware of so many things that can hurt me out there, and I expect the unexpected, yet I still get injured. I can only shake my head at the people who go frolicking carefree through the wilderness as if it were a city park.

March 9, 2007

Thank You!!

WHEW! It has been a crazy, busy week and I have been neglecting my web duties. I wrote about Deb's graduation party on Page Two and what a big production it was. It took a lot of work by a lot of people. What I didn't say was that everyone left me alone at the store, on a Saturday, to go to Deb's graduation ceremony. Fortunately they arranged for back up. I bet it won't be hard to guess who came to the rescue - Eric Woodyard.

Actually, I want to thank the Woodyard family (where were you Paul?). Eric informally planned to stay for the whole day, but arranged for his wife, Monica, to help in the afternoon in case he had enough. Eric is our resident Dutch oven chef, and on a whim he decided to make Pulled Pork Sandwiches for sale. They were a big hit and I think he'll make it an irregular thing.

Eric's daughter, Gabby, came up to run the register for the day; she brought her friend Taylor. Gabby was a little nervous about running the Quick Books program that operates our cash register, but she did just fine. She also picked up on the prices, hiking directions etc. Eric told her I might make her famous on the website if she helped us out, so here you go... Gabby Woodyard is on the left, her friend Taylor is on the right.

March 2, 2007

Ratings Are Up!

Welcome to Greg's Blog; brought to you in part by the Archer Daniels Midland Company. It seems that quite a few people are reading this thing. In fact, mine is probably the most influential poop-scoopin', donkey-packin' mountain blog that you are reading right now. Folks are telling their friends and last week I got a plug in local Sierra Madre paper The Mount Wilson Observer. Recently I got an e-mail from a reader in Japan, home of the affordable and reliable Toyota automobile.

But never fear, even with its new-found notoriety, this little blog will not outgrow its humble beginnings and, like The Home Depot, will continue to serve the local community. Remember: you can do it, The Home Depot can help. No, my fame won't affect the look or feel of this blog one bit, although the kudos are refreshing - as refreshing as an ice cold Coca-Cola.

Well, this blog entry is finished. What am I going to do? I'm going to Disneyland!



Stay tuned for the rest of...      the story.