Wed., July 11, Continued

I took a ride over a couple of nat’l forest roads this morning, hoping to find Duck Lake and maybe let Lady take a swim. Dogs aren’t permitted in Butte Lake although some people let their pets go in the water. I don’t want to violate rules I’ve been expected to enforce and maybe will be required in the future. I took a couple of morning shots of Butte Lake, and then took the road less traveled.




The road less traveled:


We couldn’t find Duck Lake, or maybe we didn’t go far enough. The road went through some beautiful areas though, and the road itself was so much better than the main gravel road to Butte Lake. I then drove over to Butte Creek, where there is a NFS Campground. It is free but the only amenity is a pit toilet. The campground is absolutely stunning – well spaced and shaded sites, and you can hear the sound of the creek from everywhere. I will try to load some of the pictures. Lady drank from the creek but the water is going too fast and the creek too shallow for her to go into it much less than to swim. Here are the NFS free camping (approx. 10 sites), and the site I liked best which is alongside a creek.






Lady seems to be enjoying just lazing outdoors all day long, as I am. She isn’t eating though, and the wildlife keeps coming around for her food dish. Wildlife here consists of “a chip, chip here and a chip chip there, and a here chip there chip, everywhere chipmunk”. I remembered though that the chipmunks greatly resemble the golden striped ground squirrel (or some such name), and the way you can tell is by whether the stripe goes all the way up the back and between their eyes. Most of these are probably ground squirrels. The picture isn't all that great but you might see the squirrel/chipmunk in the center, and that's guard dog "Killer" in back, ever alert.


Speaking of wildlife, there is a big bear that has been spotted getting closer and closer every night. I believe he even rattled a bear box, and someone supposedly got his picture. I’m keeping everything in the bear box at night, except I’m sure I have cosmetics in my tent. I’m not afraid of black bears but definitely would be scared if one came into my tent.

This is what I consider a portal to other worlds. I lie back in this awful anti-gravity chair, look through the circle of the treetops and into the universe.


The anti gravity chair has no lumbar support at all. It is difficult to lock and unlock the position, and more often than not I find myself lying back in the dental-chair-position and not being able to unlock the damn thing so I can get out of the chair.

In my driving around yesterday I found a vista lookout where I was able to get cell phone reception, so I will try to turn on my MiFi tomorrow and see if I can transmit this blog entry. (Got the signal for a few minutes but then it crapped out!)