IT’S NO SECRET…..

I do love the mountains! Backpacking trips into high mountain country is my favorite vacation! To lift your eyes towards the high country one day and then relax in a soft chair with hot coffee in the cool, early morning sunrise, watching the first rays of sun light up the mountain tops and fog covered valleys far below, the next day; there’s nothing like it! I wish everyone could experience such a memorable event!

For the most part, my experiences usually left me with a desire…..no….a longing, to return for the sequel. Trips that make you long to return are usually trips that made a positive impact. Rarely did I ever find the opposite to be true. I can only remember two of those; even then, it was a poor choice of trails. Better planning could have fixed that!

My fourth trip out this year was one of those difficult trails. As I grow older, I find it more difficult to get into the shape I need to make backpacking easier. The leg muscles seem to always be sore, never getting strong. I tire more easily now. I’m sure the day will come when the backpacking will end. In my mind, I would love to hike forever (and perhaps I will). In reality, until the end comes, I will continue to do my best and experience the most amazing vistas I can find.

The Enchantments was my destination a couple of weeks ago. Although the weather turned sour with rain and fog, it was a memorable experience! The steepest trail I had ever encountered was this one! The Aasgard Pass is one to remember! You should try it!

More on this hike later….

WILDERNESS TREK 2010
August 12-16, 2010
Jefferson Park,
Mt. Jefferson, Oregon


This year’s Wilderness Trek was, perhaps, the best and most spiritual of all of our Wilderness Trek’s. Every day was filled with viewing God’s creation and studying God’s Word from the Book of Colossians. Evening devotionals were Spirit led and filled with discussions, reading and prayers. We learned about and from each other. New friendships were made that will last for a lifetime. God was, indeed, in our midst. What a blessing it was to be a part of this experience!

Wilderness Trek 2010 began serious planning stages as soon as we learned that our request for a Group Camp Permit for the Wonderland Trail was denied for the 3rd or 4th year in a row. Leaders were selected and the sign-up list filled by our Teens. Everyone was informed of our decision to go to Jefferson Park on the North side of Mt. Jefferson, Oregon and camp on the shores of Scout Lake.

A week before departure, Alyssa Beekman, Josha Moss and I (Mike Thomas) made a quick overnight trip to Jefferson Park for a “scouting expedition”. We wanted to make sure we knew the trail conditions and what to expect once we arrived in the Park. We found a large campsite at Scout Lake that should serve our site needs. We actually camped at a secondary option on the shores of Bays Lake. The next day we looked around for activity options, and then headed home.

At 0700 Thursday morning, August 12, we loaded up our teens in a 15 passenger van and headed south. Two teens had dropped out which left us with 6 teens and 4 adult leaders. We stopped at McDonald’s in Salem for a breakfast snack, then back on the road towards Detroit Lake, Oregon. About 10 miles out of Detroit we cut off for a 7 mile dirt road trip to the Whitewater Trail Head, where we would begin our actual hiking. Our destination would be on the North Shore of Scout Lake, a distance of 6 miles and 1800’ elevation gain.

It was a beautiful sunny day; exactly like you would wish for, if wishes came true. The air was cool, the sun was shining, and the lower elevation temperatures would be in the 80’s and 90’s today. Ours would be a bit cooler in the upper elevations of Jefferson Park.

We stopped along the trail at the first rocky outcropping that gave us views of Grizzly Peak and Woodpecker Ridge to begin prep work in our Journals that Josha, our female adult leader, had prepared for everyone. It began by allowing us to do some goal setting for the trip and then have a time of sharing our goals or prayer needs with each other. It also gave us time to have a bite to eat and replenish our energy for the final 3 or 4 miles of uphill hiking.

We arrived at Scout Lake beneath the majestic 10,497’ Mt. Jefferson, a Stratovolcano less than 100,000 years old that resides in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the Cascade Mountain Range. It is the second highest snow covered mountain in Oregon in a rugged area named the Jefferson Wilderness and is perhaps one of the most difficult volcanoes to reach in the Cascade Range.

We camped at about the 5900’ elevation level with beautiful picture window views of Mt Jefferson reflecting in Scout Lake. Bays Lake to our right was deeper and more scenic but had limited campsites for a group our size. Russell Lake to our left was shallower, but also with limited group camping sites. God wonderfully provided for our needs.

We immediately began setting up our campsite with tents. Fortunately, Josha and I had learned from our previous “scouting trip” that the appetite of the Jefferson Park Mosquito was voracious! So I had made a trip to REI, our local outfitter and purchased a Mosquito proof tent and packed it into the Park with my gear. We ran a cord between two trees and pulled it tight in order to hang our Mosquito tent directly over our campsite seating area that was comprised of two logs in an “L” shape. Campfires are prohibited in the “park” so the tent fit well with our immediate needs!

The tent skirted out about 11’ and tall in the center, adequate for our sitting needs. It was within this “cone of silence” that most of our interaction, sharing, singing and praying took place in our evening devotionals. We agreed that what was said “in here, stays in here”. During the daytime, it was used for a place of retreat from the pesky bugs that relentlessly hounded our very sanity!

Our first afternoon was spent setting up camp, exploring and resting. Our evening dinner, prepared by Josha Moss was a generous helping of Spaghetti with Meat Sauce; very fitting after a strenuous hike to the mountain. It was delicious and filling. Following our meal, we readied our night by securing our food and snacks in individual bags to hang from a rope between two trees to keep unwanted rodents (Chipmunks) from helping themselves to our food during the night.

We met under the “cone of silence” mosquito tent for our evening devotional. Greg Woods led us in a time of worship and sharing that turned out to be quite amazing, as it did every evening we were there!

Our sharing time was a spiritual highlight of our time together. Listening to our teens express their very hearts to each other was unlike any other Trek before. We listened to their hearts and prayed for each other’s needs. We could see God at work in the lives of these kids like at no other time we could remember. It was a wonderful time together this first evening.

We ended our devotional around 10:00 and planned tomorrow’s events. We then headed to our tents and warm sleeping bags for the night.

Morning came early on the Mountain. We boiled water for coffee, cocoa and instant breakfasts before we began an hour of personal time with God, praying and reading His Word from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Each day we devoured a portion of the Book of Colossians, which became our center point of devotional that day.

The personal time began by having us go off alone to spend a moment in silence listening for God before starting the day’s study. We then read chapter 1–2:5 and answered the written questions: “What verse stands out to you and why? What is God teaching you through today’s study? Pray about how you will respond to what God is teaching you today”. It was thought provoking and helpful to focus our minds on spiritual matters that could help direct our paths for years to come.

Following our alone with God time, we assembled beneath the cone of silence for singing and discussion. Greg always had us focused on God for the day and provoked us to be aware of ways we saw God at work around and in us that day.

We packed our Day Packs with snacks, lunch and water for a long hike to the top of the Ridge, along the Pacific Crest Trail. The hike was through beautiful meadows, around beautiful Russell Lake and across streams of cold, clear water from melting snowfields. We often stopped to filter a new supply of the most delicious water you could imagine!

Patches of melting snow still dotted the area on this day in the middle of August, as we made our way upward to the 7000’ elevation level of the Jefferson Ridge. From there, we had magnificent views of Olallie Butte and Olallie Lake with snow capped Mt Hood to the north. To the south, Mt. Jefferson was magnificent! We looked down on Russell, Scout, Rock and Bays Lakes and an overview of Jefferson Park. In addition, we saw many other ponds of water. One in particular caught our eye. It was close to the Ridge on the south side, still mostly covered with snow, but with a crescent of blue and turquoise along the edge, giving it that appearance of glacier water. It was beautiful!

From the PCT at the Ridge, we proceeded to hike even higher along the ridge, attempting to get to Park Butte about 3 peaks towards the Southwest. The hike became difficult and most of us turned away from continuing that quest. Three of our teens, more young and agile than the average continued on to rock hop to the top. The rest of us decided to skate down the scree (loose rocky soil) and do a little “cross country” to connect with the PCT down below in the valley.

Soon, we were descending onto a large snowfield, braving our fears and having a lot of fun coming ever closer to our trail. Some of the teens were very cautious, taking their time trying not to slide into the imaginary abyss or tumble onto the rocks. It appeared to me that they were only mimicking Greg’s descent! Others came running and sliding on the snow as if skiing! It was so much fun; they wanted to do it again!

We followed a stream from the melting snowfield as it tumbled down hill through beautiful wild flowers and lush vegetation. Soon we were on the trail drinking from the cold stream of liquid crystal.

The day ended as did the day before with our evening meal (today was Mashed Potatoes with Chicken and BBQ) and a time of devotional.

We gathered beneath the mosquito net, our “cone of silence”, and shared together. We sang songs and then prayed for each other, especially to the needs we shared on the trail our first day. It was very warm and moving. Rodney Whiteside, our fourth adult leader, on his first Wilderness Trek with our Metro Teens, was very moved by the sincerity and spirituality in each heart.

The prayers from each of our teens was moving and uplifting. It was, perhaps, the most wonderful moment I have experienced in a long time. I thought, how rare it is that most of us adults never hear our teens pray, especially our girls. As an elder in our church, I have prayed many prayers and heard many others. But growing up in a church where women have no public leadership role, the prayers are usually by men, but occasionally a young man or teen will lead one publicly. My most memorable prayer was listening to Lindsay Tester pray specifically for me at Wilderness Trek 2008, as we went around in a circle praying for the person next to us. I was nearly moved to tears hearing her words.

As we concluded our prayer time and ended our devotional, one of the boys mentioned the name of one of the bright star clusters in the sky. We all turned our faces skyward and, at that moment, a Meteor, shooting across the night sky, brighter than any we had ever seen, screamed southward directly over our cone of silence, splitting the heavens in two! It was amazing! It was a very long, wide and bright streak of light that everyone saw, a very fitting end to a prayer and to our day! Thank you, God!

Day 3 began as we awoke and ate breakfast, as previously. We separated for our quiet time to meditate and read more from Colossians. We gathered back together after a while and shared our thoughts. Greg did an exceptional job of leading our thoughts as we all went around taking turns sharing our hearts. The “Cone of Silence” was there to prevent us from revealing to “outsiders” the things we shared beneath the Mosquito net. But the intent of our hearts was to get to know each other better and to help each other reach our personal goals.

We packed our day packs and headed out “lake hopping”; going around Scout and Bays Lakes to view the Park from various vantage points nearby. Following that adventure, we returned to camp to “do our thing”. Some relaxed, some talked and some went off to other adventures. I took a nap before taking my afternoon walkabout towards the north, cross country through meadows of snow, water, flowers and streams. It was a peaceful time for me to allow the thoughts of the world, the worries of work and the stress of life pour from me. I was able to pray for our kids and focus my thoughts on the kind of man I needed to be as a leader in our church.

I returned to camp at sunset in time for my share of Beef Stroganoff. Our evening devotional was amazing; even greater than the previous evenings. Greg was filled with the Spirit and provoked our thinking even more. It lasted well over two hours, and yet seemed to fly by. I grew more amazed at our young people; viewing deeper into their hearts. I am falling more in love with these young Christians than I thought I could.

Day 4 was Sunday, the Lord's Day. We arose before daylight, dressed and headed towards the east to greet the sunrise with a time of worship. We took our day packs, water and Bibles and began following Greg along the rocky trail. At one point we veered off the trail and hiked "cross country" to a knoll that Greg knew about. It was there that we began focusing on a time with God. Greg directed us through a time of singing, reading and praying. As the sun rose, we each participated in Communion. We were on Holy Ground. It was an amazing experiece to greet the first rays of sun on our faces, while lifting our hearts to God and communing with Him.

The afternoon was a day of “free lance”. We all did various things today. Following our morning’s alone time with God and reading the last chapter of Colossians, we gathered together for sharing. Greg directed us towards deeper Spiritual thinking. We shared our hearts with each other and learned even more. We discovered things about each other that were private, or buried away in our hearts so no one could see. We found out that we, young and old, were much alike; that years make little difference.

The afternoon was spent in Bays Lake. The kids went swimming in the cold glacier fed water; jumping from rocks into the frigid liquid, claiming it was “just right”. Uh-huh.

Our last evening together was intentional. It began with our final meal together; a hearty bowl of Beef Stew. I was just now remembering that this year, unlike any other previous Trek, we had no leftover food to go out and bury. This bunch was hungry!

Greg concluded our time together with a beautiful culmination of thoughts that inspired us towards greater faith. Rodney continued to be amazed at the Spirit of these young people. He, himself, going through some personal struggles, was encouraged and strengthened by these kids; moved by their words. It was, indeed, a time we all felt encouraged by each other. Josha proved, again, to be an excellent leader, organizer and writer of our study guides for this Trek. She is an amazing woman, filled with the Spirit and devoted to making these events meaningful to the teens. The evening was perfect.

Day 5 began with breakfast and our final session beneath the cone of silence.

Afterwards, we began packing our things in our backpacks; tearing down camp and preparing for the hike back down. Donning our packs with a grunt and a prayer, I led the team to a quiet spot along the trail where we took a group photo with Mt. Jefferson in the background; making a memory.

It was six miles to our van. We made it in two hours. We kept mentioning hamburgers and fries along the way to keep them moving; much like dangling the carrot in front of the mule to keep him walking.

We packed the van and headed into a place I knew of in Salem, where we would stop for a greasy meal of hamburgers and fries, and do our post-trek thoughts. It was a wonderful lunch! The sharing was good. The meal was great. It was very special.

Arriving at our church parking lot to greet parents, we departed, each to a different place. Some would be going off to college in other states. I feel a special bond to Lindsay who is going off to college in Arizona, as she has been with me on all of our Wilderness Trek’s. I will not soon forget her servant heart and how much she has grown.

We came home tired but very refreshed in spirit! Mike Thomas

WILDERNESS TREK 2009

The backpacking experience offered to the high school teens in our church is designed to give our teens the opportunity to experience God in the wilderness. A combination of seclusion, fatigue, trail food, tents, less comfort and electronics fasting, coupled with a spiritual emphasis of scripture, journaling, prayer and focusing upon God’s working in our life, has immense value.

The very words, “Wilderness experience” not only means being in the great outdoors, away from the normal hustle and bustle of city life, but also confronting the moments of “wilderness” in our own spiritual lives; times when we are feeling insecure, less appreciated, pressured, tempted, inadequacy or emptiness.

The treking experience of the Metro Church is designed to meet all those experiences head on. The high mountains of Oregon and Washington offer much to experience. The high country brings to life the feeling of seclusion by seeing vistas unavailable to us in our everyday lives. Snow in the summertime; mountain Goats grazing on sparse vegetation along steep hillsides; Elk keeping watch from mountain meadows and valleys teeming with cold water and green grass; Deer quietly feeding among wild flowers of all kinds and colors; Marmot and the timid Pica busy keeping watch on their territory and putting away food for the coming winter; melting glaciers and snowfields falling hundreds of feet down ancient lava, through beds of pumice, connecting together with other streams to form rivers and lakes.

God is at work in us and we take the time to experience Him at work. Distractions are minimal; everywhere we look, we see Him working in His creation. We are the Sheep of His pasture; created in His image, nestled in the hollow of His hand on the high mountains.

The experience is not always one of scenic beauty, warm sunshine and astonishing sunsets. Sometimes, the weather turns sour and becomes unfit. Such was the experience of Wilderness Trek 2009.

We were taken to the parking lot of Timberline Lodge on the south side of Mt Hood. The parking lot was half full of vehicles; many of which had brought skiers and snow boarders to the mountain to ski the Palmer Glacier. The air was crisp, wet and windy. The temperature was around 38 degrees and heavy clouds covered the mountain top; visibility was limited. The forecast called for cooler than normal temperatures with moderate precipitation and occasional sunshine.

Our destination for today was a high place above the Pacific Crest Trail 2000 called Paradise Park; a vantage point that offered beautiful views of the west side of Mt Hood towards Portland and the Oregon Coastal Mountains. We began walking in heavy fog, blowing rain and chilling temperatures, hopeful to find warmer places. The five miles of good trail took us into the bottom of Zig Zag Canyon where we crossed a raging stream from the melting Zig Zag Glacier. The wind had diminished somewhat but the temperature and cloud conditions remained. We stopped along the stream to view a nearby waterfall and take a small break.

Soon we were climbing out of the canyon for another two miles to the Paradise Park trailhead. The steady climb kept us from getting cold, but taxed our high altitude breathing and stamina, especially for us old timers! The rain never let up.

As we reached our camping area, we found the place deserted and had our pick of camp sites. The hillside was socked in with heavy fog and cloud cover. Rain continued to fall. The wind was gentle enough, but still gave us a deep chill through our wet clothes. We encouraged the teens to quickly set up their tents, get out of their wet clothes into something warm and dry, and to get inside their sleeping bags to warm up. The last thing we needed was for someone to get hurt or come down with hypothermia, which was very likely in this weather.

About four hours later, Josha Moss braved the cold, wet outdoors and began preparing a hot Pasta meal for everyone. Greg Woods, Brian Simmons and I, Mike Thomas, had hunkered down in my two-man tent discussing the events of the day and the prognosis of what was to come, when one of the teens called us to dinner. Slipping back into our wet boots and rain gear, we took our plates to Josha where she gave us a generous helping of thick meat sauce, bubbling in a pan on the single burner stove, and hot Pasta from a second single burner stove. It was a meal fit for a King! There’s something wonderful about the taste of a hot meal on a chilly evening on the first night’s stay.

The teens slowly withdrew from their warm sleeping bags to brave the cold for their share of the hot meal. As each of us finished, we began shaking and shivering from the continuing cold, wet wind. We quickly headed back to the comfort of our tents, warming beneath our sleeping bags.

Darkness soon fell and we slipped away into a deep sleep, awaking often to the sound of the wind and the heavy droplets of water upon our tent.

The next morning wasn’t much better. The sun came out for a few minutes and then was gone. Brian pumped our water container full of filtered water and we began to think about breakfast. There was no organized mealtime for breakfast, as each of us took care of our own breakfast and lunches for the entire trip. Brian used hot water to make himself a hearty hot meal from a freeze dried package of Beef Stroganoff, claiming that he needed something “substantial”. Greg made himself a freeze dried meal of scrambled eggs and meat, along with a cup of hot chocolate. I made myself a double hot coffee and had Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal for my breakfast. As the kids got up, we kept the hot water coming for their use.

Following breakfast, the four of us gathered inside my tent, a brief respite from the wind and rain, to make plans for the day. The outlook appeared bleak to remain on this mountain. Most of our clothes were wet and the cold, overcast conditions continued to pound us. We decided to try to find a spot where cell phone coverage could get us in contact with our pick-up drivers and attempt a rendezvous at the Ramona Falls Trailhead parking lot for an evening pick-up. Brian and I took a walk along the trail to a vantage point out of the trees where we once camped during a previous trip with my daughter and her friend. The “no service” warning was steady and the prognosis appeared bleak. About to give up, the signal indicated 5 bars and I quickly made two calls; the first to Sue Tester, mother of one of our senior teen girls, Lindsay. Leaving her a message, I made the second, which was answered by Dawn, the wife of our driver, Mark Doberenz. I gave her the message as quickly as possible and she understood. No sooner than completing the calls, my phone signal went away and I saw again, the words “no service” on my IPhone. We thought it ironic that in our time of need, God came through for us once again!

We returned to camp and rousted the sleepy kids, telling them to get up and dress for the hike off the mountain. They needed to finish breakfast and then break camp; packing tents, sleeping bags and all they brought.

Water continued to drop from the treetops as we packed our backpacks. We joked with each other about having to carry an additional 5 pounds of water off the mountain in the form of soaked clothes and tents! At one point during the packing, the clouds cleared a view of Mt Hood and we quickly took advantage of it. Greg lined us up and snapped a couple of pictures before the clouds moved back in and obscured the view.

Soon on our way we stopped along a particular outcropping long enough to check cell phone service and get my messages. The only one I wanted was verification that our drivers would be waiting for us at the Ramona Falls Trailhead. Sue had left me a message assuring us they would meet us at the pick-up point this very evening. Reassured, we continued our downward descent along the Paradise Park Loop Trail and connected with the Pacific Crest Trail.

I was hopeful that one particular point of interest would be visible to the kids and we could drop our packs and enjoy the scenery. As we approached the overlook, we were pleased to be able to see snowmelt from McNeil Glacier cascading down the rugged lava gorge, producing waterfalls one after another. The canyon was deep and dropped off perhaps 2000 feet or more. I led the way to an outcropping; a “tooth of time”, down over the edge of the cliff and watched as the kids peered over the edge to see yet another amazing waterfall far below.

Off in the distance was another canyon, cut deep into the ancient lava beds; melt-off from the Sandy Glacier. These two streams, plus a few other small ones farther down the trail would come together and become the headwaters of the Sandy River. We were a little anxious about this stream, not knowing what to expect, as we had to cross it down below. The kids enjoyed the time relaxing on the “tooth”, having lunch, laughing and taking pictures. This was the first time we had real fun this whole trip! The sun was shining and warming the rocks; everyone was enjoying being warm for a change! About the time we started to leave, the clouds cleared the way for a good view of Mt Hood, dotted with snowfields and glaciers. It was near perfect, for a short time.

Continuing on down the trail, we approached the wide Sandy River wash-out, perhaps 100 yards across and followed the Cairns and trail flags to a location where we could cross the narrow river on a roughly made footbridge of three small logs and a few rocks. Bridges across the Sandy never survive the winter snowmelt when the high water clears away everything left behind from the previous year. This bridge was a welcome sight. I waited on the opposite side as each one carefully crossed the makeshift foot bridge. This location was about 4 miles from Paradise and about half a mile from Ramona Falls.

Ramona Falls was spectacular as always; a scenic waterfall, unlike any other we’ve ever seen, cascading down Basalt Lava chunks, creating a large mural of living water that many people photograph or watch. We dropped our packs and soaked in the view, taking photos and enjoying this beautiful creation.

It was 3 ½ miles to the Ramona Falls Trailhead parking lot. The walk was through cool forests and along the clear stream that was once Ramona Falls. The high, solid rock cliffs along the opposite side were unique. We found it impossible to photograph them and make the pictures come close to what our eyes saw. Nothing can ever take the place of the human eye; the clarity, the depth, the sharpness and the magnificence cannot be matched by any camera.

Again we crossed the Sandy River, much wider and more water this time, but upon a nice foot log with a matching hand rail to hang onto. About half a mile from the parking lot we were met by our drivers and Brian Simmons, who had gone on before our group to drop his pack and come back to assist anyone who needed help. We had made good time.

It was good to drop our packs into the trailer and sit down on soft car seats! We had taken 6 hours to make the 8 mile trip from Paradise Park. Everyone was ready to stop at a nearby “greasy spoon” and dive into a big, juicy hamburger with a stack of fries and a big cola…..and so we did!

Sitting around our table, Greg asked each of us to take the time to try to figure out why the trip turned out like it did. Our expectations before the hike were visions of planned, structured personal time with God, scripture reading and reflection. Because of the extreme weather conditions at Paradise Park, our expectations were never realized. Perhaps God had other plans for us. Perhaps He protected us from something that could have happened had our own plans been realized! Perhaps it wasn’t God at all; perhaps it was other forces at work in us. Whatever it was, we now have time to reflect and ask ourselves, “Why?”

We’ve already seen several ways that God has been at work in us. One of the most impacting was that we had returned in time to comfort our Brother in the Lord, and his two kids, who had lost a wife and Mother unexpectedly. When I told Greg about our Brother, he said, “That’s it! That’s why we’re back so soon!” Perhaps it was.

Mike Thomas

PLEASANT VIEW SCHOOL, forever young!

To this day, memories of my grade school days still linger in remote patches of my mind. Various thoughts come and go as if a random roll of the dice brings up another nearly forgotten memory. I do enjoy those moments because my grade school experience was good. We were all farm kids, bussed in from all directions and taught by teachers of all types; most were very nice to us.

That old yellow school bus turned around in our lane. We always had time to run out and get on when it pulled up. The Kings lived further down the road but it was steep, narrow and unfriendly for vehicles like our school bus. They would have to ride or walk up that old steep hill every day.

Pleasant View had a Dining Room in which we ate our sack lunches. The school provided milk and an occasional treat of some kind. I will never forget those little glass bottles of milk with the paper lid that was easy to pull off. Once in a while we had ice cream! We always had fun sitting around the dining tables on benches, talking and laughing and cutting up as if we had good sense!

We are all "Baby Boomers". Some have passed on from this life into the next. As I look at the old school photo, faces of my friends are forever frozen in time. I haven’t seen them since 1960, except one. So, to me, they are all forever young, just like I remember them!

The Old Ice House

is probably gone; torn down or abandoned by now; not much use for those today. Most folks have means of making their own ice in their own homes. As a kid growing up in NW Arkansas, my folks used to make weekend trips to Ozark to buy groceries and ice for our Ice Box. Refrigerators were expensive in those days, but without electricity we wouldn’t get one for a few more years yet.

The Ice Box was an insulated wooden cabinet with two or three compartments; upper, where the lid opened the top to allow a block of ice to be stored in the metal lined compartment, and a lower, also lined with metal where food needing refrigeration was placed. This device was the predecessor to modern day refrigerators that use Freon to make the cooling work.

The old Ice Box worked by a process of “cold air falling”. With the upper compartment filled with ice, the closed door chilled the air and trapped in the cold, which fell from the top to the bottom compartment through slots, cooling milk, eggs, cheese and other foodstuff.

The chunk of ice in the top section never lasted long and would be completely melted in a few days.

I loved seeing the ice men at work cutting out blocks of ice! They would bring out a large, square chunk from the freezer; about 3 feet cubed, hung from an elevated rail with giant tongs and drop it near the dock. It would go skidding along the old wood slab flooring. They would then take an ice pick and start jabbing holes in the ice block in a straight line. This would break off a chunk of ice about 12 inches thick by 3 feet long. Depending upon how much Dad wanted they would cut it again.

I loved watching the ice chips flake off in the sunlight as the ice pick fell. I never thought much about where the ice came from; I just assumed it came from a room somewhere.

Also, ice tongs were very cool!

MILKING COWS

Growing up on a farm provided us with many opportunities. Even the State slogan said it, “Arkansas, Land of Opportunity”!

Although we didn’t have much, we always had enough. The way I see it, the difference between “poor” and “dirt poor” is simply ‘the dirt’! If you were dirt poor….. YOU DIDN’T HAVE ANY! Well, we had 360 acres of Arkansas dirt under our feet…. More than we needed! We seldom had two nickels to rub together, but we had land!

We also had plenty of MILK! We milked Cows until we were blue in the face! Didn’t we, Pat?? Fresh milk EVERY day! We drank milk like nobody’s business! When we couldn’t drink any more, Dad started paying us 2 cents a glass to drink it! We thought we were in BIG MONEY! Ha! We still didn’t have two nickels to rub together…..but we had lots of pennies!

NOW I KNOW.......

So my letter from the United States Department of the Interior simply said, “We could not get your reservation request to work using any of the alternate start dates and/or alternate camps”. It was signed by “Dan” of the National Park Service, Mount Rainier National Park, Tahoma Woods, Star Route, Ashford, Washington 98304.

This is my second year in a row to try for group camping rights on a particular section of the Wonderland Trail. The first time I ever tried to do this, we were approved! It was a Slam-Dunk! Two failures kind of put the “summertime overcrowding” into perspective.

Fortunately my uncanny organizational skills have already created two contingency plans to take the teens backpacking. Plan “B” is to do a stretch of trail from White Pass Washington, Southbound along the PCT and jumping off to take Lily Basin Trail to the end. Plan “C” is to do a stretch of the Timberline Trail, about half way around Mt Hood, Oregon.

The hard part will be getting in shape!! Wait! Isn’t “ROUND” a shape??

MULBERRY, ARKANSAS

As a kid growing up in the 1950’s, Arkansas had a lot to offer. The drive from our country farm to the “big city” was about 25 miles down a dirt road and a narrow bridge across the Mulberry River. The hot summer months dried everything; thick dust fogged the road as cars passed by. Roadside bushes and trees would sit covered in fine Arkansas powder until the next hard rain fell.

Dad drove an old pickup with a cattle rack on the back. He would let us kids ride in the back when we went into town. I doubt Mom liked it much but we loved it! We often stepped up on the first rail; hanging on tightly to the top rail, chest and head above the cab of the truck, wind in our faces; hanging on for dear life! Mom didn’t like it when we hit the blacktop highway, where Dad could get up more speed. We didn’t stay up there long at those speeds, either. We couldn’t get our breath! Not only that, but to get hit in the face by a June Bug or a Bee at those speeds wasn’t much fun!

Can you imagine that kind of event happening TODAY?? WOW! Cell phones would be dialing 9-1-1 and reporting irresponsible parents to the Cops in a heartbeat!! CSD would show up and haul off the kids; parents would be cited and put on probation and all kinds of newspapers would write about it!

Sometimes Dad would stop by the old Millsap place on the highway and buy us a Watermelon to take home. We enjoyed stopping there and exploring around while the grownups talked. Mrs. Millsap was a First Grade Teacher at Pleasant View School where we attended. She was very nice. I will never forget her. She was a short, round lady with yellow hair, and most always had a smile on her face. Her and Mrs. Addy were my favorite teachers growing up. Mrs. Addy taught second grade.

I wish I had a picture of 1950’s Mulberry to show you, but I only have one taken in the 1940's, although the only thing that changed were the CARS. The whole town wasn’t 2 blocks long. Towards the end of town there was something in the middle of the street….. I can’t remember exactly what it was. Perhaps a large marker, or a statue…. Whatever it was, it was a natural place to make a U-TURN and head back the other direction to park on the other side of the street. The old stores looked like something out of Western days; General Stores, where you could find most anything you need…..nothing like today, of course! There was a Dime Store that sold stuff for as little as a Penny. Us kids were dirt poor and seldom HAD a Penny! But we liked going in there and looking at stuff. Mom once said that she didn’t mind taking us 4 boys into stores with her because we wouldn’t touch anything…..we just looked. (Have you seen kids in stores doing THAT today??)

Mulberry is where Dad would take us sometimes to get our hair cut by a real barber! We grew up with Burr haircuts so it wasn’t hard for him to give them to us at home. But once in a while he took us into “Gene and Shorty’s Barber Shop” to get us trimmed up proper, I suppose. One day he had Gene and Shorty give us Mohawks! Mom wasn’t too impressed but we kept them all summer long. It made it harder for us boys to play “Cowboys and Indians” because Cowboys don’t HAVE Mohawks! I don’t recall, but I suppose we just played “Indians” that summer!

But one of the coolest things to see in Mulberry…..and we usually ALWAYS saw him ….was the Cowboy! I wish I could recall his name, but I can’t. He was a grown man but with a mind of a 9-year old kid, so they say. He was all dressed up in a cowboy outfit; jeans, shirt, boots, hat and scarf. He looked a lot like the old cowboy pictures of Roy Rogers! Maybe that’s who he was trying to look like! He also wore two big guns in a holster on his hips. The holster was all blinged up with sequins, leather strings and baubles that shined in the sunlight! It was quite impressive to us cowboy-type boys! The two big shiny guns were only Cap Guns, but they looked very cool to us! Jimmie (I’ll call him Jimmie because I don’t remember his real name, and besides, this is my story), would always go around town, in and out of each business to say hello to everybody. Everyone knew him by name and greeted him when he entered and said goodbye when he left. He was like an icon, a fixture in a little one horse town with nothing else going on. Every day, so they say, he would make his rounds, greeting people.

I recall one day that stands out in my mind more so than others. Dad had some banking business to do so we were standing in the Bank when “Jimmie” came through the door; sunlight shining through the big glass door behind him in. He walked in like he owned the place, waving and smiling and greeting everybody he knew; bowlegged and cowboy suit and all. His Spurs jingled as he walked and his cowboy hat was tipped back on his head in a relaxed sort of way. He made his rounds and then headed out the door.

Can you imagine that kind of event happening TODAY?? WOW! Cell phones would be dialing 9-1-1, Swat Cops would be screaming up with guns drawn….and bank employees would be face on the floor praying to live through it all!

Well…..those days could only happen in THOSE days.

LOST IN THE 50’S

Being a Codger Boomer, I must confess that, in my opinion there’s no music like 50’s music! To pin it down even closer, I’m drawn to the late 50’s music, from 55 and forward. Ahhhh, those were the days, my friend! (Oops …… 1960’s sneaking in).

Everything musical from Doo Wap to Bop Sha-bop meant a lot to me I suppose. I was almost 10 when it started for me. Music can make quite an impact upon a young mind. Even though I went to bed early in those days, I still heard Bill Hailey and The Comets “Rockin’ around the Clock Tonight”. Being nearly Hillbilly, I loved “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” and “The Yellow Rose of Texas”. Those were good’uns to sing along with! I remember my friend and I singing along (in our deepest 8 or 9 year old voices we could muster) “16 Tons”, as we rode the school bus to Ozark to get our (I think Polio) vaccinations. Ahhhh, those were the days, my friend! (Oops …… 1960’s sneaking in again!)

How could we EVER forget those songs that taught us more than 3rd Period English Class EVER COULD?? Songs that said, “Be Bop A Lula”, “Ooooooh Wah, Oooooh Wah Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”, “Dip Da Dip Da Dit Dit” and “Boogady Boogady Shoop”, just made the English language come ALIVE!

There are so many more…..too many to count. Great songs of the 1950’s! Great music of our times! I don’t hear it much on the radio anymore. There was a station here in Portland that used to be dedicated to 50’s music. Unfortunately, they succumbed to the next generation and moved on to more modern music, like the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. It’s okay…..but nothing like the REAL music!

So what is your favorite kind of music? What’s your era??

Goat Rocks Dreaming

So Brian comes up to me this morning and said he was thinking. Being eager to tell him what I was thinking, I interrupted him and said I was thinking about an alternate trail to take the teens if Rainier didn’t work out. I said, “How about the back side of Goat Rocks starting at White Pass?” Brian said that’s exactly what he was thinking about! So there you are! We think alike even though he’s much smarter than me!

So “Plan B” is to start at White Pass, Washington and hike South on the Pacific Crest Trail, making our way over the top of Old Snowy Mountain and connecting with Lily Basin Trail, hiking to the trailhead on the North end. Campsites are plentiful and will give us an opportunity to camp, once again, below Hawkeye Point and see all the sights of 2 years ago plus some! Brian, you HAVE to be on this one!

So, if The Wonderland Trail application is rejected we will proceed to Plan B and do the PCT from White Pass!

It’s a WIN WIN !! I like it!