Day and Night

Day and Night

  A gust blows through the not quite bare oaks, filling the air with swirling leaves. Clouds part and the sun slants bright golden light through the pouring rain. Coyotes whoop in the dark, then fall still. Their echoing cries fade to silence. The bright stars...
October Tipi Camp on Pistol Creek

October Tipi Camp on Pistol Creek

Andy,Rob and I set out Friday for Pistol Creek. Dave McF would join us on Saturday. We stopped to collect a set of poles I had left at Chanty Camp, foraging for mushrooms on our way up. Robert and I found only a few each, but my brother found enough chanterelles to...
The Drought Ends

The Drought Ends

           Friday evening, September 17th, 2021 the drought ended with the first significant rainfall in many months. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest lifted its ban on campfires which had been in place since the beginning of June. More than four inches of rain...
Mushroom Stuffed Burger

Mushroom Stuffed Burger

I had some fresh chanterelles, a half a pound of ground beef and some grated cheese left over from last night’s dinner. It was lunch time, I was hungry. A stuffed burger seemed like the obvious solution.     Ingredients   ½# ground beef 1-2 medium...
The Haint

The Haint

          The fire had burned low. Its flickering light joined the soft glow of a kerosene lantern hanging from the lifting pole at the back of the lodge.  I lay on my cot, staring up at the tipi canvas suspended overhead by a cone of slender poles.             Walter...
Filling the Permit

Filling the Permit

Friday morning my brother went with me to help get the last 8 tipi poles to finish filling my permit.  Even though I made it out of the house by 9:30 (an early start for me) it was late by the time we got to the woods. We spent a good deal of time stuck in...