Forgot to mention the incredible storm that rocked us the first night we were here. Yesterday's entry was hasty since we worked late, supper was a drawn out affair, helped out a windblown camp group that ended up staying the night with us; so i only had a little light left to write in.
Anyhow, the storm was a doozie, came back around twice and was impossible to sleep through. 2 or 3 lightning and thunder combos were instantaneous and made me jump in my sleeping bag. Talking about it the next day, i wasn't the only one wondering if we ran a trial by lightning. All the campers we met yesterday couldn't help commenting on the severity of the storm.
Today was a pretty relaxing day overall but some tought moments here and there. Moose Pass is as captivating as everyone said it was. Maybe more intriguing than captivating since I'm left wondering if the pebbly quartz streambed rises into canyoning waterfalls like the one west of the George-OSA portage. Moose Pass is quite a signifigant cleft in the ridge. Visible from miles away.
Climbed the trail to the east of Moose Pass. Lots of really hairy cutting to do. Warden took care of most of it while I hauled the gear up some daunting climbs. Whoever built that part of the trail definetely wasn't fucking around. As always the quality of the view is directly proportional to the difficulty of the climb. When we got to the top we could see all the way from McGregor Bay to the grassy ridges between David and Boundary. Quite an expanse.
Not much further down the trail we ran into a god awful mess of fallen trees. I did the sawing with some coaching. Must watch out for the angle of my cuts and to keep the bar at a consistent angle. Was blowing some mad smoke for a while and really failed on a backcut because of this issue. In other words, still a lot to learn but glad to be learning it out here where you never know what challenges will be around the next corner.
We ended up having so much to cut that we ran out of gas and only got a km and a half cleared. Stashed our gear and will be back for more tomorrow. Did some strategic mapreading on the way back and avoided all the ascents on the ridge by following a gully that parralels the ridgetop trail before eventually rejoining it. Some more expert routefinding that you'd expect from backcountry staff meant avoiding the thick brush, slippery rocks and fallen tangles of trees at the bottom of the pass in favour of a high game trail that parralelled the creek. Lots of scat, deer hair caught on a twig before eventually catching up with the real thing.
Campsite 50 really nice, good swimming, great view, wide, ascending tentpads.
My turn on dinner tonight, stirfry turned out well but could have made more of it. Looking forward to fishing sometime soon. Pike Maki?
Also scored a great fleece combo yesterday from a campsite for fall and winter adventures and just all around comfort, wish i had my wash kit with me so i could clean them and wear them right now. Very cold last night.
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