Middle Fork, Swan River — ATV Trip

This past Sunday I was able to spend a couple hours riding the Middle Fork of the Swan River. (The last time I was in this area I rode the Georgia Pass [South Fork] and North Fork of the Swan River ATV trails.) This ride, plus updates on the lot and Izzy’s kittens, are the subject of today’s post.

I’ll begin with a few lot updates. Pam and I have been clearing dead wood and cutting up firewood. Pam was stung/bitten twice during our last outing as it appears that, with fall coming, some of the more aggressive insects are building nests low to the ground and under some of the dead wood we are planning to remove. We have to take a bit more care now and have armed ourselves with hornet and wasp killer in spray cans. We’ve made the decison to work higher ground on the theory that the bugs prefer the wetter areas of the lot and the higher, drier parts will have fewer nests. As such we will begin working the saddle area and upper parts of the lot.

This plan has some issues as there is not a good pathway to get the aluminum trailer into the saddle. Plan B…cut a small trail large enough for the 2-wheel dump cart to use and ferry the wood down to the driveway where we can load it into the trailer.

Our last load of wood was the largest single load we have brought home so far.  Two evenings of labor and we had the logs cut into firewood, delivery scheduled for this upcoming weekend. A long  Labor Day  holiday will allow us to get more brush taken to the burn pit and stage more firewood to bring home. Temps have dropped into the upper 40 degree range already in the high country, a reminder  cold comes to the higher elevations early in the fall, and at least one ski area reported a snowfall already. (Snow only lasted a day or so.) We need to get our wood out without wasting much time.

Load of logs from lot became firewood

Firewood ready to load and deliver

I bought a new chain saw to help the work go faster. My old (30+ years) Craftsman has problems and parts are not available to do the repairs, so Pam let me buy a new Jonsered 2245 saw. It has proven to be a nice upgrade.

I was at Sanderling this past weekend (solo visit) and put the new solar charger in place. I hope this fixes the problems with the solar panels not keeping the battery charged but we’ll take the generator with us on the next trip as backup. On my solo visit I hauled the trailer over to the dump site, emptied the grey and blackwater holding tanks, and topped off the fresh water tank. We should be good to go for a long Labor Day weekend visit.

Subject 2: Izzy’s kittens.

Izzy’s 5 kittens are at the “really cute” stage, exploring their world, wrestling with each other, and developing distinct personalities. All are very friendly with people and will attack shoe laces and pants cuffs if given a chance. We will try to get individual photos soon but here is a short (2:46) video clip of some play time:

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After finishing the “trailer chores” on Saturday, Sunday I took an ATV ride up the Middle Fork of the Swan River. The last time I was in this area (Georgia Pass) I had ridden the North Fork of the Swan River and had enjoyed the outing a great deal. I had seen moose, mountain goats, and some great scenery.

This trip was not quite as exciting (no moose) but I did see a few more mountain goats and lots of high country scenery. Afternoon rain cut my trip a bit short; I had no rain gear with me and above tree line elevations (pockets of snow were below me) getting wet means getting cold in a hurry. I headed back down the trail and received only minor showers until after I made it back to the truck and had the ATV loaded.  I ran into pockets of hard rain on my way home. I’ll need to add a poncho to my ATV gear.

Here are a few photos of this outing:

Lower end of the Middle Fork of the Swan River

Cabin marks the Swandyke town site

Middle Fork, Swan River

Above timberline where snow often stays all year, about 12,600 feet

Big views from top of trail, looking west

End point for today but trail continues on

Mountain goats frequent the area

Side road #258 leads back to old mine

Highlight of the day was, again, seeing mountain goats up close. Here is a quick video (2:34 running time) featuring 3 mountain goats. Note how one is still shedding its coat while the other two animals look neat and sleek.

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Next big outing will be Labor Day weekend at the lot.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

P.S.

I have created a gallery for my California 2013 motorcycle trip. If you would like to view it the address is:

http://www.appleattic.net/Galleries/CaliRally13.html

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Kittens are their absolute cutest, for me, at 5 weeks of age.  This litter just turned six weeks old, and are starting to be little s-h-i-t-s.  The Rifle Shelter may be coming to my “rescue” and finding a foster for the current litter until they are old enough to be altered (male kittens must be 2.0 pounds to be neutered, female kittens 2.5 pounds to be spayed).  I may need the assistance because it appears I have another preggo mom cat at the garage feeder.  Yippee.

Happy trails.