Seeing that campsite sign was a wonderful relief! We checked on the water situation (thankfully there was water despite this horrendous drought) then quickly made camp, and after filtering a couple liters of stream water to drink, we made a nice hot cup of tea to sip by the pool. And it was a healthy pool indeed, full of coastal newt (Taricha tarosa), giant water beetles, tadpoles, and some kind of dragonfly larvae (?). We watched the pond goings-on the way a family watches the television after dinner, it was peacefully mesmerizing.
After our tea we examined the camp area and soon after went off to look for firewood. Picking our way through the poison oak and making sure not to touch any wood that was anywhere near any wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Andy spotted three rakes in the leaf litter on the bottom slope of a hill and we went to investigate, then left them there as we hauled dead branches off to the stove. While searching for twigs and stuff I happened upon a lovely, healthy stand of white sage, ominously framed by some even taller poison oak. I found some broken dried sage branches and brought them along to add to the woodpile.
After a few minutes Andy came back with a 20 foot dead sapling of some sort, which he immediately went to town on hacking up with a saw that some other campers (or forest rangers) had left behind for this very use. After sawing a little, he would balance all his weight on the long end and SNAP off the shortest end with his right foot, which he did a good dozen times. Our camp, being situated in a canyon, made the snaps sound like gunshot each time!
A roaring summertime fire, albeit confined to a metal stove. We threw a few tortillas on top of it to warm them - this I do not recommend. They got covered in soot & rust and came away with a metallic tang (big surprise). Carcinogens!
Wine straight out of the bottle, and me moving to the tent out of the sheer desire to lay down. Leading to me dozing off and falling asleep as I watch the boy glow in the heat of the fire. I've fallen asleep to this scene many a time, it never gets old. Though one of these days I'll make sure it's not always me retiring first.
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