July 27: First Full Day

July 27

Our first day of activities:  Coffee/tea/hot chocolate are available around our campfire as early as 6 am.  We tend to get there around 6:30 right after the yoga group heads off to the meadow.  Since the temperature dropped below 32, it’s quite cold and the fire feels wonderful! Breakfast starts at 7:30 over at the Big House:  hot oatmeal with dried cranberries, blueberries and raisins, sliced almonds and pecans. English muffins are warm off the grill with butter or three delicious jams.  Fresh fruit and plain yogurt are also there along with all the coffee/tea/hot chocolate.  We try to finish and clear out before the yoga group arrives around 8:30.  All the lunch supplies are laid out so everyone makes sandwiches from cold cuts or pb&j, grabs fruit trail mix and/or mixed nuts, Ghiradelli chocolate squares, oreo cookies and plumcots (plum and apricot hybrid fruit).

At 9:30, we gather at the pavilion to start our orientation tour.  Everyone has a headset so we can easily hear Richard as he takes us on a new path.  We learn that aspens have rounder leaves while poplars have more pointy leaves even though they are in the same family.  He shows us a carving that was on a tree when he was a boy; the carving of a house is now quite distorted as the tree continued to expand its trunk.

In the library, we see a trace that used to carry Marv’s mother hanging on the wall.  Indian baskets and interesting photos adorn the walls.  Books are available to us on topics relating to the history of the Indians, the land, the flora and the fauna.

We visit the kitchen and the anteroom with pictures of Richard, Penny and their family.  We learn of the huge tree that fell and split the house and see the pictures of the destruction which has since been repaired; the rootball is outside as a reminder.

  Penny takes us across part of the Sallie Keyes river, first by a solid bridge of two huge logs connected by a walkway, then across the suspension bridge to the first cabin their father built.

It’s a two story structure with the second floor reached by two foot high steps designed to allow storage under them but difficult to use.  Again, a huge tree had struck the house and a new bedroom is being added on in the new design. 

We see the little house on stilts that their dad had built to store the mattresses when they were little and came here to camp.  Since the stream has moved several times and the area has flooded just as often, adjustments had to be made.

Lunches today are eaten back at camp before we leave at 1:30 for the hot spring and pot holes.  We opt for the longer trip which is over the solid bridge, the suspension bridge and a board bridge before going across a meadow and up and over hill and dale before reaching the hot spring.  Half the group stays to take advantage of the 10 x 10’ “hot tub” and the use of the lake. The rest continue on up another distance to the stunning area of the pot holes.  Strong rushing water has created very deep areas so many of the group can jump from either 6 or 12’ drops into very cold water. We watch and enjoy the views.

Returning to the hot spring, we thoroughly enjoy the water despite the muddy bottom where you can feel the very hot water entering from below. 

We arrive back at camp in time for happy hour served with eggplant and roasted pepper, hummus, feta cheese or spinach and avocado dip on either gluten free crackers or pita chips with wine.  After freshening up, dinner is delicious with pork loin (cooked in a large oxygen tank converted into a propane rotisserie), herb chicken, spinach salad, rosemary roasted potatoes, grilled zucchini with summer squash and onions as well as hot homemade olive bread.  We finish with chocolate chip cookie bars with or without walnuts.

Marvin Krientz provides us with an interesting slide show on the local Indians with information on Indian life, basket and bow and arrow making, as well as detailed information on how they utilized the acorn.  Many steps happen before they can eat the acorn meal.

The evening concluded with a star gazing out on the meadow.  Unfortunately, the moon was ¾ full so fewer stars were available.  However, thru Richard’s telescope, we see the craters on the moon!  We also see a shooting star, a satellite moving very quickly above us, an airplane and identify several constellations.