Kya
First the sad news. Kya, the junior member of the aesthetics committee, loyal pack member, and cheerful travel companion, died at the end of last year. She was a bit over 10 years old, and had been fighting cancer for the last 9 months. Kya was a rescue; we adopted her when she was about 2yo. For the next 8 years, we made her happy, and she made us happy. She is, and always will be, held in our hearts.
During her illness, we decided that we wanted to give another rescue Malamute the same chance to spread cheer as Kya did. So, in mid January, we drove out to Spokane to adopt Tana from WAMAL. Wonderful folks...visit their site:
Washington Alaskan Malamute Adoption League.
Introducing Tana.
First meeting at the rescue kennel:
Lunch break in Annie on the way back home:
Tana is about 2.5 years old, and is very sweet, smart, and affectionate.
She clearly had a somewhat hard life before coming to us, multiple owners with no Malamute experience, before being given up to WAMAL and living in a kennel for 3 months. So, she has a few issues, like separation anxiety, fear of being brushed, almost no training, and perhaps a touch of ADHD.
Nevertheless, she is a wonderful girl, and is already starting to calm down, learn manners, and trust that she will not ever be hurt again.
We just came back from a 5 day trip up the Cascade River basin (in the MBSNF) as Tana's introductory taste of camping in Annie. As with most of our trips to date, this is pretty close to home, under 2 hours drive time. But it is true Cascade back-country, with relatively few visitors. Just the way we like.
It's still pretty early in the year, and most of the week was wet and rainy, with occasional blue sky.
We took road 1570...badly rutted and potholed, until a washout, probably Vee Creek, and set up our camp just before the stream.
The creek feeds the Cascade River, not far below our campsite.
The map shows that 1570 ends not too far ahead, at the junction with 1571.
Next morning, Tana and I crossed the washout and walked down the road to the end of 1571, at Kindy Creek.
Multiple smaller streams cross the road, with their own mini washouts and water bars.
In any case,there was a very nice camp spot right near Kindy Creek, if only we could get to it.
Kindy Creek:
Tana and I carefully considered the appeal of the new site vs. the risk of getting Annie stuck across the washouts and rough spots. Remember, Annie is an extended length Transit with a 6ft rear overhang and a nominal 16deg departure angle.
We had recently replaced Annie's OEM highway Hankook tires with Nokian WR-C3s, specifically for improved wet and rough road handling. We decided that, with the new tires and with Annie's airbags inflated to the max, we would probably survive the trip...chances were possibly as good as 80%.
We went back to Annie, and informed Renee of our conclusion. She was nervous about crossing the washout, but Tana was very persuasive.
So off we went. Turns out we were correct. Some bottoming out at a couple of the smaller stream water bars, but that only caused some scraping at the trailer hitch. We'll get a hitch mount roller before our next outing.
Set up at the new spot. Kindy Creek is just beyond the trees.
Now to explore the creek. The map claims there is a trail that runs upstream, after a bridge that used to cross Kindy. The bridge is long gone, and the water was way too cold, deep, and fast to try wading across. So we admired and explored from this side.
There is no doubt that spring is springing, even though the temperature never hit 50F, the hills had fresh snow, and it mostly rained.
We continued to explore, interrupted only by telling jokes,
taking naps,
and watching a Springsteen acoustic concert.
We explored road 1570 after it's closure at the 1571 intersection. It turns into a trail, with a lot of water bars.
The trail formerly known as road 1570 switches back, climbs and climbs, and then meets up with Vee creek again...which completely wiped it out.
It would have been a real mess to get across the washout, and climb back up to continue the hike. So we didn't.
Instead, we broke camp and headed down to road 1550.
Unlike the 1570 area, where the river valley is pretty narrow and deep, the valley widens into a fair size flood plain. Road 15 is up on the eastern hillside, and1550 crosses the Cascade river a bit south of Silby Creek. Our campsite is on a raised bit of land, shortly after the river bridge, and barely above the wetland. Fortunately, this early in the year, mosquitoes were not yet a problem.
1550 then climbs steeply up to a trailhead leading to some mountain lakes. This early in the year, we did not want to go that high, because the trailhead itself was likely still snowed in.
So instead, Tana and I walked a ways up the road to get some nice views of the river valley.
We also took a trail which runs along the river.
There is a marshy lake adjacent to our spot which reminds me of the Dead Marshes northwest of Mordor.
Ah, good times, good times...
Actually, the area is quite pretty, with skunk cabbage in the bog,
lot's of interesting things to sniff,
fresh spring growth,
and Misty Mountains
When you think about it, not Mordor-like at all. The lake, breaking into spring, and surrounded by misty mountains, is downright fine looking.
