2010 February 18
Elwha Campground
Distance biked: 5 miles
From the comforting swaddles of my sleeping bag I emerged just in time to bid goodbye to my foreign friends, who were now headed up to the Interstate to hitch a ride back to Port Angeles. For myself, culinary experiments were the first order of the day, including a poridge of oatmeal and chocolate chips.
Seeing my water supply was low, and since Elwha has no running faucets, I then decided to visit some local falls I had heard about. The park map revealed a curious oddity, though. Having lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, I was amused to see not only their name is Madison Falls, but they are near Appleton Pass! With the words rose a little tide of nostalgia. The falls I found to be a picturesque hundred-foot cascade dropping into a shallow pool. From this basin I filled bottles for boiling later.
Water lines shut off during winter in certain National park campgrounds. I'm not sure why; but the good part is grounds without potable water are free to camp in. The downside is that boiling river water time and an excess of fuel which I hadn't anticipated. How I wished for my Steripen, an electronic device which uses ultra violet light to break down the DNA of micro organisms. The pen weighs little and is more effective than chemicals, without changing the flavor. Best of all, it uses rechargeable batteries and takes just one minute to purify a liter of water. Faced with this sudden energy crisis, I and my Leatherman set out to conserve fuel by fashioning a hobo stove from the previous night's Hormel chili can. Boil it did, but unfortunately the soot from the wet sticks left an awful residue on my pot and I decided rather to buy more fuel than spend half an hour each day scraping tar.
Its odd how one's taste can change. I recall eating tuna as a young boy and liking it but later stopped. Today I ate and actually enjoyed tuna for the first time in more than a decade. What changed? For dinner I stewed fresh onions, russet potatoes, mushrooms, romano cheese, and Bear Creek minestrone soup mix. It was good, almost fatally good, since my lack of portioning skills produced about three peoples worth, and, not wanting to waste, I downed it all with a promise to be physically active sometime soon. That is, if I ever woke from the stupor it set me in. The lot was chased admirably with a Sierra ale.
Before succumbing to slumber I began Geerhardus Vos' opus, Biblical Theology, and found the fare intriguing. Somehow my mind kept wandering, though, to thoughts of marriage and long-term goals. At twenty-five years old, I feel a certain weight to move forward in a definite direction, but what that way is seems shrouded in an impierceable veil of providence.
Elwha Campground
Distance biked: 5 miles
From the comforting swaddles of my sleeping bag I emerged just in time to bid goodbye to my foreign friends, who were now headed up to the Interstate to hitch a ride back to Port Angeles. For myself, culinary experiments were the first order of the day, including a poridge of oatmeal and chocolate chips.
Seeing my water supply was low, and since Elwha has no running faucets, I then decided to visit some local falls I had heard about. The park map revealed a curious oddity, though. Having lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, I was amused to see not only their name is Madison Falls, but they are near Appleton Pass! With the words rose a little tide of nostalgia. The falls I found to be a picturesque hundred-foot cascade dropping into a shallow pool. From this basin I filled bottles for boiling later.
Water lines shut off during winter in certain National park campgrounds. I'm not sure why; but the good part is grounds without potable water are free to camp in. The downside is that boiling river water time and an excess of fuel which I hadn't anticipated. How I wished for my Steripen, an electronic device which uses ultra violet light to break down the DNA of micro organisms. The pen weighs little and is more effective than chemicals, without changing the flavor. Best of all, it uses rechargeable batteries and takes just one minute to purify a liter of water. Faced with this sudden energy crisis, I and my Leatherman set out to conserve fuel by fashioning a hobo stove from the previous night's Hormel chili can. Boil it did, but unfortunately the soot from the wet sticks left an awful residue on my pot and I decided rather to buy more fuel than spend half an hour each day scraping tar.
Its odd how one's taste can change. I recall eating tuna as a young boy and liking it but later stopped. Today I ate and actually enjoyed tuna for the first time in more than a decade. What changed? For dinner I stewed fresh onions, russet potatoes, mushrooms, romano cheese, and Bear Creek minestrone soup mix. It was good, almost fatally good, since my lack of portioning skills produced about three peoples worth, and, not wanting to waste, I downed it all with a promise to be physically active sometime soon. That is, if I ever woke from the stupor it set me in. The lot was chased admirably with a Sierra ale.
Before succumbing to slumber I began Geerhardus Vos' opus, Biblical Theology, and found the fare intriguing. Somehow my mind kept wandering, though, to thoughts of marriage and long-term goals. At twenty-five years old, I feel a certain weight to move forward in a definite direction, but what that way is seems shrouded in an impierceable veil of providence.
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