Tree Climbing

http://www.fs.fed.us/treeclimbing/

So that isn't me in the photo. Nor do I have any photos of my previous two-day tree climbing class...which is a bummer. But I CAN do what that fella in the picture is doing!

When walking through the office a couple months ago, I happened by the District silviculturalist and she was talking about a climbing class. After I expressed some interest in that sort of thing, she got very excited and gave me names and instructions on how to get signed up. And so I did. I didn't, and still don't, really know HOW I will be used in this capacity, but it's always better to have a little bit of training under your belt just in case an opportunity arises.

We started off class learning how to use lanyards and ladders. This involved hoisting sections of narrow ladders against the bole of the tree and chaining it on. The safety side of this involved a section of rope attached to your harness...kinda what you always imagine in a tree climber....and can kinda see in the photo above.

We saw a demonstration by a re-cert candidate on climbing spurs, rescue, rappel, etc. We didn't have the time to go through it all that first day and teach us two new guys, so we basically just observed and jumped in when we could. This involved playing around and practicing with a rappel rack as well as using nothing but ropes to ascend into the canopy. Ooh, and three-point climbing. Which is basically what you did as a kid but with more regulation involved. The scary thing is that once you get up the bole, most of the time you are expected to basically free climb into the very tops of trees to acquire cones or scion wood. (Don't ask me about scion. All I know is they top certain trees than graft that onto others back at the nursery.) This can easily lead you WAY up there. Sketchy to say the least. But, we learned the techniques for making climbing above the 4-inch diameter section...ie) the tippy-top..."safER." I wouldn't say safe, but emphasize the "ER" part.

It's interesting to note that the Forest Service has a special OSHA waiver on some aspects of safety just for their tree climbing work. For example, hard-soled leather boots with 8" tops is not necessarily good for general climbing (unless you have spurs on) which I found out the hard way that first day. Those ladders are so narrow, even with tennis shoes it's next to impossible to put both feet on a single rung. Gloves are optional unless you're rappelling. Hardhats are NOT acceptable...only climbing helmets. You get the idea.

Okay. So the next day me and the other new guy Luke ended up out at a seed orchard in Sandpoint to finish our training. Arriving at the site at 0730, the instructor says, "we're starting with spurring. Let's go." No warm up. No review. Just, "Let's go. Who's first?" I timidly volunteered, put my White's on, donned said spurs, and roped myself into the tree. The first steps weren't too bad...getting the feel for the bite of the spurs into the tree, feeling how to flick the rope up and around the bole. Gaining confidence I moved a little quicker to the first "limb-over." What that means is that you have to throw a second lanyard above the limb, move your weight onto that new one, and then release the first. This allows you to pass limbs without cutting them off. But it's risky business, because if for some reason you managed to release the one that is holding you...well, the ground meets up with you quickly. So I'm slightly above that first set of branches and one spur disengages from the tree and I have a mild heart attack. Only 20 feet or so in the air, but things are still very real at that height...standing on two 2" spurs, leaning out from the bole, trusting a rope. The single spur held and I was able to do the next limb-over. Okay, managed to get pretty high up in this tree...sweat about a gallon, and made my way down. Then the instructor says, "Alright, let's see a burnout." Which translates into: "Jump off the tree and arrest your fall using your lanyard." Hmmm. Great. I must say it went well and I thought, "That would be something to do on the way UP so you knew you could stop a fall." Luke then jumped on the tree after I got down and did just that...unintentionally. He stopped his fall entirely on the instinct of clutching that lanyard and holding it tight. Very cool.

Got that done and then moved on to another site to play with Figure-8 rappel devices. That went very well because I'm much more familiar with those and consequently had more confidence. I even had some fun with it...go figure.

Now the serious, real, mind-altering part came in. Aerial rescue. We each had to be a "rescuer" and a "rescuee." Again, I volunteered to be the first rescuer. Trusting that you get your gear right, the knots right, the steps done in the correct order, to the point that you trust your own AND someone else's life to it is mentally taxing to say the least. This done, slowly I might add, I rappelled us both to the ground. Then Luke did the same. (My made up injury was that I was just too damn tired to climb out of the tree...which was getting close to being true.)

We finished the class and the day with a written test, then some knot work. That done, we are now considered Forest Service tree climbers.

We both wouldn't mind some more practice before we're expected to really go all-in, but at the same time...it's great to have this option as a portion of our job. It's an interesting field of work. The adrenaline rush isn't exciting as much as it just makes you slow down and really think. Different than most adrenaline rushes.

But how many people can say they can climb to the tops of trees as part of their JOB? That's pretty interesting to say the least.

Lack of photos!

No, I haven't been idle the past two weekends!

The weekend after the fourth of July, Butch and I headed up to Bonners Ferry (well, northeast of there) into the woods. Into the country that will hold my ultimate prize this year, the ever present, yet ever elusive moose. Known to walk wherever it damn well pleases, at any time, for any given reason. I do not understand moose, but I like seeing them...and they taste pretty darn good too. Perhaps one will find me this fall, in the two weeks I have, and we'll develop an understanding. Otherwise, it'll be a well-deserved two weeks off of work. Yep, I've devoted an entire two weeks off in pursuit of this creature. I have to give it that respect. (Also, my tag is only good for one area and only for those two weeks. Coincidence?)

Well, we made it up there with all of our supplies. Butch now has a famous quote: "We have beer, hot dogs, and mustard. We're set!" Enjoying the way he thinks, we drove around for hours. Five to be exact. Figuring out roads, the lay of the land, camping spots, etc. We found a lot of lousy camps, some good "moosey" looking areas (the best is where he shot a bull before), good camps, etc. Noted were the camps with water, easy access, views, proximity to firewood, ample room, etc. Also noted were dead-ends, roads not on our 1974 map, border patrol agents, and again...an abundance of firewood.

We both love lodgepole as firewood despite the downplay it gets. It's easy to come by, it splits like a dream, and it burns well. Like my Dad says, "...burns better than a snowball." Consequently, we cut up some downfall lodgepole near the road and had firewood for "camp." (Jeez, could I USE more quotes?) I say camp because we just planned on sleeping under the stars. But it was great...we found a neat little dead end road next to Davis creek which had a nice dispersed site on the end of it. Private, close to major roads, good parking room for trailers and whatnot...and plenty of water. Looks like we're going to be gunning for that spot come October. We do have other options though, so that's good.

We ate our hotdogs, drank beer, and just relaxed around our roaring fire (we came home with spare firewood) before turning in under the night sky. It was just perfect.
No photos though...Butch has some, somewhere, I think.

Last weekend was an escape to Priest Lake. Sarah and I stayed at Zimmer's "cabin" (a four-bedroom house) and putted around on my little boat all weekend. It IS nice to have a motor sometimes, because we went to a small island and beached this flat-bottom outfit easily...swam, retrieved WITH the dog, and generally just played. Fishing seemed like too much work even if it was trolling; and the best part of it was probably when we motored out into the lake, cut the engine, and just bobbed along. Reading and laying in the sun. So very simple!

Dinner consisted of a brick-oven buffalo-wing pizza at Millies; breakfast was a great affair of sausage, hashbrowns and eggs. The only tough part was the empty boat trailer. I have a hell of a time backing that thing up. The best reason I have is because I can't see the darn thing! I have to jack it over until I can see it in the side-view mirror, then go from there. But backing up a single axle trailer in a side mirror is tricky. SO, I feel like an idiot and get all self-conscience, but eventually I get the thing in the water. Luckily, the boat is so light, I can usually just yard it up despite where the trailer is. I AM a perfectionist though, so I'll keep working on it.

It was entirely a relaxing weekend. Providing me with the first bed I've slept on over a weekend for the past month!


Lucca chillin


Happy Tom


Priest Lake


Priest Lake looking north


Easy to park a flat-bottom boat!

The next time we go up though, we're going to hit the upper lake. It's supposed to be spectacular.
Not sure what these coming weekends hold in store. I could use one at the house here, cleaning if nothing else. But hey, the cat doesn't care if I don't think it's "picked up" so we'll see.

Return to the Selway

Awakening early on the 4th of July we headed out to visit the Selway river. It really is a long drive down there...4 hours or so...from Coeur d'Alene. It's a bummer too, because the drive I had over there from Montana took me down past the Lochsa, which is never tiring. But going through towns and up crowded highways is annoying. I believe this is the main reason I haven't been down there as much since moving up here.

Anyways. Made it to the trailhead and got going, just in the nick of time to catch the heat of the day. It was crowded along the little dirt road, which was expected. Time to hit the trail and get out of the commotion. We were all eager to get moving.

Hike hike hike. Hot hot hot. That pretty much sums up most of that.

On the way I strolled past a big rattlesnake and the dog (who was behind me) got curious and just stuck her head right into it...trying to get a good whiff I guess. The snake backed up into a little alcove, curled, and let us know it wasn't happy. Moving on, we needed to stop and filter some water. Dumping the packs we got some sweet Selway water and noticed my pack was pretty much covered in "sweat bees." Never knew that's what these things were called. The search I did today said, "will not sting unless provoked." Well, they seemed to like my sweat quite a bit, and so would land on my pack, trousers, shirt, and skin. I'd move. They would decide that they were "provoked" and proceed to sting me. Little bastards! It wasn't a sting like a wasp or yellowjacket...but it sure got your attention!

Moving on. We found that we entered the area that most people decided was enough hiking for a day (like us) because every good campsite was occupied. Many more people than I expected to be in there. Finally located a little spit of sand and decided that was camp. "It'll be like the rafting trip" I thought. Sure enough, sand in everything eventually...but luckily not blowing around quite so much.



Lucca enjoying being in camp


Even the dog was tired


Just funny. Quick! Act nonchalant!

We had some interesting neighbors that didn't seem to understand backpacking and solitude. Two of them fished about thirty yards from our camp. Then another came into our camp (with the same group) and chatted for a bit. Throughout the evening, there seemed to always be one of them around, either watching our camp or looking at the scenery or SOMETHING. It was disconcerting to say the least. Didn't really appreciate the constant feeling of being watched.

Plenty of food, plenty of water, and plenty of driftwood for a nice fire. It was a very nice evening...but the early morning, followed by the drive, proceeded by the hike in the heat led us into an early evening.


View upstream from camp



View downstream from camp


Nice evening photo

The next day it was decided that we would hike out and proceed up the Lochsa on a mini-history of Tom. Not until after having me stroll past the same rattlesnake in the same place yet again. The encounter went better this time and I was able to snap some photos of our pissed off friend. After that, we used other snakes on the trail (I think they are racers?) to educate the dog.


Sarah on the way out. Our camp was on that sandbar in the background.


Mr. Rattlesnake happy as he got


Classic Selway photo


Bummer it was too cold to swim!

The trip up the Lochsa was interesting even for me since I've lived most of my life along highway 12...I remember saying "I could probably tell a story of something I've done up every drainage from Lolo Pass to Lolo." I guarantee that road will be with me forever. Of course, we only went as far as Wendover campground Saturday night. CONCEDED to Wendover...the dispersed sites were all occupied. One would have been perfect, but an elk decided to die there this past winter. Then the dog decided to try and roll in the carcass. No chance that campsite will be visited much by anyone this summer. Bummer. But, since we were close...breakfast at Lochsa Lodge is always appropriate when in the area.

All told, we made it back to Coeur d'Alene around 1500 Sunday. I'm one to immediately take care of gear, so I did that and spent the rest of the evening making hot dogs for dinner. (Yea, when in a campground everyone seems to want to cook hot dogs. The smell got to me and made me want some. Therefore: hot dogs for dinner.)

The good news is that this hot holiday weekend probably opened up a lot of the high country, so I'm guessing the next time I'm able to get out backpacking, it'll be up away from the sweat bees, rattlesnakes, and insanely hot south slopes. Up into rocks, ice, and the cooler temperature of the high places! I'm ready!

The Selway beckons!

Photo courtesy of American Whitewater(.org)

Alas, the 4th of July! The high country is still pretty crowded with snow pockets and the towns are filled with "out-of-staters."

Heading to the Selway to try and get away from most of this turmoil this weekend. Leaving Friday (the 4th) and returning the 6th. Simple trip beginning at Race creek. Up and back. Not sure how far in we'll go, but I'm sure a couple miles will get us out of the rat race for a couple days.

Just an informative post.