Milestones
- 9th time in 9 months to go camping.
- Part of my 2nd Annual “Bike-A-Palooza” (SEE the Whole Trip)
- 4th U.S. state camped. SHOW ON MAP
- 1st time camping 3 nights.
Background:
 | 23-days out: Email update from the campground… “There are currently Stage 2 fire restrictions at our facility that prohibit all fires, including those in fire rings, as well as charcoal usage and smoking (except in an enclosed vehicle).” 8-days out: Fires in Eastern Washington have officials ordering residents to evacuate. Portions of I-90 are closed. Gray Fire and Oregon Road Fire have burned nearly 20,000 acres… Text from my friend Linda (nearby resident): “I would seriously consider downloading this app WATCH DUTY. I think you might just be entering hell! Our two fires near me (20miles out) have I think 10-20% contained. We’ve got a ways to go still.” |
 | 7-days out: Email update from the campground… “Bears frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers”. All I could think of was Hugh Glass (The Bear Attack Survivor) (c. 1783 – 1833). He was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, trader, hunter and explorer (just like me). LOL He is best known for his story of survival and forgiveness after being left for dead by companions when he was mauled by a grizzly bear. |
Arrival:
- It was an uneventful drive to my campsite at Bell Bay. Arrived about 2:30, unloaded the car. It was dry and sunny, so I didn’t even zip up my tent (uh oh). I checked the weather forecast, and it wasn’t supposed to start raining until 10pm. I had about 4hrs until dark.
- I drove 2-3 miles from my campsite, over to the bike trailhead in Harrison. My ride started out gorgeous at 3:45pm, and ended up pouring rain at 6:45pm. I stayed out too long.
- I drove back to the campsite as fast as I dared, because I new everything was getting wet. I guessed correctly, there was a puddle of water in my tent, and my gear bag had some water in it. My fault… I got greedy.
- I threw all my equipment in the tent and zipped up. I setup my bed and cooked dinner.
- The bottom of my freeze-dried meal packet had the following words written on it: “Wake up with a purpose, go to bed exhausted”.
- I did both, and went to sleep… as the thunderstorms pounded outside.
- The next day was a stormy, rainy mess.
On my last day, there was no bike riding. I went into town to get gas, and buy a couple of camping items to make things go easier. When I was getting gas at a rural gas/grocery store, I met Mr. Leon Ice who offered to help me pump my gas. The pump was hard to reach, so I gladly accepted. Turns out, we have the same birthday, he was 69 and I was 61. He looked 20 years older than me. He invited me to his place for a beer. I declined. But he was such a sweet man, and I’m so glad to have met him.