AUGUST 31

EAST CAMAS TO SPRING CREEK

Mode: Horseback with outfitters Mel & Chris Montgomery and friend Kimberly

Today is a relatively easy day hike with not too many up-hills and the luxury of mules carrying all of our tent gear, clothes and food. Camp is on the hillside of a small valley with a spring seeping out from a rock crevice. Mel has a seasonal 12 x 12’ canvas tent with three camp beds, a butane stove, and a wood stove.

We will be spending three days and two nights with the Montgomerys on what is being called a mule-assisted backpacking leg. We have already spent several days with Mel and are looking forward to more time with him and his wife. As we found with his horses it appears that Mel’s mules and equipment are topnotch.

One of the areas we travel through is a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Sheep Experiment Station with an added sign that states, “Guarding Dogs. Fenced areas are controls to compare against the sheep allotment areas. Where the sheep have bedded down there is a definite difference but otherwise it would be difficult to tell the difference between the open pasture land and the fenced areas.

After unloading the mules and setting up tents we all help with camp chores. Paul (Paul and Charlie from the Support Team are with us for this leg of the Journey). Kevin and I get to clean out the spring - lots of dead grasshoppers, moss, and silt. Kevin even enlarges a hole slightly down from the waterhole as a “wash basin.” We take up about 3 gallons for the evening water supply. As we arrived early we still have daylight to eat by and a relaxing evening. The sky is blue with white clouds but gray ones are moving in so will have to see what the night brings. From the Journey, dana