June 2007

Greetings to all,

Can you believe the first month of our 2007 season of research has come to an end? Neither can we. It was, as usual, full of fun, adventures, discoveries, and challenges. And, we only yelled at each other a couple times.

Our few days in the Kaibab National Forest, on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, were delightful, although we nearly froze our fingers off. It may have been Spring on the calendar but in this part of Arizona it felt like late winter. Our purpose for spending time on the North Rim was to resurvey the renovated DeMotte Park campground and to start a new effort - compiling a library of virtual geocache spots. Many in the Forest Service consider a geocache (a "treasure" left by one person for another to find) as plain old littering but the "treasure" in a virtual geocache is the experience, the view, and the memory. All we had to do was visit possible virtual geocache locations, collect the GPS coordinates, and take a photograph. We found four fabulous locations, took the coordinates, and got some amazing pictures. Unfortunately, at the last location Suzi left the notebook with all the coordinates for the locations by the side of a trail. Would you believe it?!

Next, we headed for a suburb of Salt Lake City called Draper (my, how that place has grown) for a meeting with the National Forest Foundation's marketing guru. Good meeting but the best thing about our time in Draper might have been the set of 9-mile range radios we picked up. Now, Suzi doesn't have to shout readings for our satellite reception; when backing into a campsite, Fred can watch where he is going and not Suzi's wild gestures; and while surveying a campground, we can go in different directions and convey our discoveries/issues to each other. Overall, the radios have been most useful and a greatly appreciated addition to our "camping toolbox."

While crossing Idaho, we were literally pushed off the road by hurricane force winds and spent a couple of days in a little private campground near Twin Falls. It was a little scary spending hours rocking and rolling back and forth inside our motor home but it was nothing compared to driving down the road in such a wind.

As soon as the wind died down we headed for Boise, ID and then north on US Route 95. Now, if you have never traveled this route, imagine all the images in the song, "America the Beautiful," from "mountain majesty to amber waves of grain," and you will have an idea of what we saw along this route. It was fabulous, breathtaking, and mile after mile of "eye candy." Perhaps the highlight of our travels along Rt 95 was our night in a dispersed campsite between Rt 95 and the Salmon River. Poor Dani couldn't understand why she wasn't allowed to go swimming but Ralf was very happy to sit quietly and watch the water flow by.

We were heading for Spokane, WA and an interview on KHQ, an NBC television station, so could only spend one night on the Salmon River. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that the interview aired but our stop in a "big" town was a good thing as we had to replace Squirt's (Suzuki) dead battery. We aren't sure if it was a cause or symptom, but once the battery was replaced the tow brakes stopped working. Repairing that problem had to wait more then a week until we got to Kettle Falls, population 1,550 and mighty proud of it. So, here we are in this little town and wondering what were the chances we could find someone to repair the tow brakes. Once again, we discovered an extraordinary RV mechanic where we least expected one. It took a couple of tries but he figured out the problem and made the repair. You got to love small town can-do attitude.

Of course, we haven't let any of the challenges hamper our work. We surveyed the sweet little Colville (cal-ville) and Okanogan National Forests and are heading for the Mt. Baker-Snowqualmie and Olympic National Forests. The Colville is located in an area nicknamed the "Forgotten Corner of Washington" but it is such a beautiful place. We have seen more wildlife, from sleek black fur bears to noble elk and more, while in Colville then ever seen in one national forest. While the Colville reminded us of a national forest in Virginia but with Montana's wide open spaces, Okanogan, nestled up against Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness, has a more central California national forest feel. This illustrates one problem we frequently run into - thinking of each new national forest as its own unique experience.

Some other observations made this month: summer takes a long time getting to this part of Washington; there is an amazing horse-back-riding bird common to the area; sunshine is a rare and wonderful thing here; gas prices continue to be painful; the stress on our national forests continues to impact Forest Service staff but they do amazing things with almost no resourses; our website's popularity is growing and we are getting over 247,000 hits/day; and, while Dani loves the wild and free experience of camping in national forests, Ralf prefers the asphalt and cut grass of a more civilized life-style.

One more highlight to June was getting our eighth Guide published. The U.S. National Forest Campground Guide - Pacific Southwest (North of Sacramento) is now available on our website. The South of Sacramento version has to wait until next year.

Well, it has been a full month and July should be more of the same. We will be researching Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie and Wenatchee National Forests and, hopefully, enjoying some warm weather and no more mechanical problems. Hope your summer has started off well.

Suzi and Fred