MISSING LLAMA FOUND! Rainy was Rescued

MISSING LLAMA! Rainy's Lost in the Mount Hood Wilderness (Part II)

THE SEARCH IS ON: I will be camping this Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon at Devils Half Acre on the old immigrant trail of Barlow Road, so that I can begin another search for Rainy. Here is a picture of Palmeteer Point From Devils Half Acre where I will be camping. I believe Rainy is somewhere within the vicinity of this picture. Palmeteer Point is the high point to the left in this picture. My thought is that it would be natural for her to gravitate down to this meadow, where there is plenty of grazing grass and water.


PICTURE OF PALMETEER POINT WHERE RAINY WAS LOST: This picture below includes Cher and Fancy Pants on top of Palmeteer Point about the time when Rainy took off in to the forest. It was a beautiful day, even though it was hot. One theory I have is that she was delirious from the heat and lost her awareness of reality. The climb up was arduous and I don't think any of us, man or beast, was prepared for the 90+ temperatures we experienced that day. Normally, Rainy would have stayed on the trail and followed the other llamas, even if she lost sight of them.


HOW TO FIND THE SEARCH CAMP: Devils Half Acre Camp Ground can be easily accessed at Barlow Pass just off of highway 35 (it is also where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses highway 35 and there are signs to designate the trail crossing). Once you make the turn in to the Barlow/PCT turn out you will take the Barlow Road down about a mile and a half to Devils Half Acre. It's a dirt road, but if you go slow most any vehicle can make it. I will be camped right off the Barlow Road. If you come, just look for the burgundy Chevy pickup with a white stock trailer right off the Barlow Road around the Devils Half Acre Camp/Meadow. If you want to help with the search, the best time to come would be any time between Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. I'll have food and drinks for everyone who shows up to help. But, by all means, please call me before Friday afternoon to let me know, which would help my planning. My cell phone number is: 503-816-4415. But, if you want to just show up, that's OK, too.

MISSING LLAMA! Rainy's Lost in the Mount Hood Wilderness (Part I)

WHAT HAPPENED? This past Saturday Pam and I went llama packing in the Mount Hood wilderness, just off the Pacific Crest Trail near Barlow Pass, when we lost one of our llamas to the forest (see picture below of our lost llama, Rainy). We were ascending a view point called, Palmeteer Point, about 2.5 miles from Barlow Pass (See the Map Below), when Rainy lost sight of our pack train, veered off the trail and headed in to the forest. We didn't know that Rainy was lost until two young ladies, who were up on the point ahead of us, asked us when we got to the top of the point, "are there other llamas up here besides yours? Because we just saw a llama with a green pack and axe making her own trail straight down in to the forest." When I heard them describe the llama I knew it was Rainy and I dashed down the point to try and catch up to her, but she vanished in to the forest before I could find her.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN? An hour before she disappeared, about half way to Palmeteer Point, I had disconnected Rainy's leader from our other three llamas because she was starting to straggle and restrict the pace of the pack team. It has been my practice with Rainy to untether her when she gets like that on the trail and let her bring up the rear. It seems to help her get motivated when she is behind the others; having to catch up. Of course, we always made sure she stayed within eye shot of the other llamas ahead of her. However, on this occasion we were ascending a tiered incline just below the point and on one of the tiers she must have lost sight of us. Perhaps she thought we went in another direction? Perhaps she became delirious from the heat? Perhaps she simply refused to go up hill any longer? We went back to where we last saw her and I found her tracks where she veered off the trail and followed them as far as I could. The tracks led around the point, where the girls saw her, and then down in to the densely canopied forest. Palmeteer Point drops steeply down to the old Barlow Immigrant Road and is heavily forested all the way down. But, once I got in to the canopy just below the point I could not see her tracks any longer. The forest litter was so heavy that her hoof prints couldn't indent the turf enough to be seen. If it had been the rainy season I am sure she would have left far more hoof depressions on the ground and other ground signs. I spent about 45 minutes looking around, but since Pam and I were alone with three other llamas, we decided to go back to the trail head, hoping that she would double back to our starting point, like many stock animals do. When we got back we didn't see her. I then walked down the old Barlow Road for two miles until I reached the point on the road which is just below Palmeteer Point. Again, no signs along the road. When I got back to the Pacific Crest Trail head we packed up and left for the Ranger Station to make our report, but they were closed by that time. We then made a plan to return the next day to look for her.

I talked to one of my friends, Matthew Lee, who volunteered to come with me and Pam to search for her on Sunday morning. We made up a flyer with Rainy's picture on it, that said, "MISSING LLAMA" and other contact information. I provided enough information that someone could identify her and contact me if found. On our way up Sunday we stopped at the Ranger station at ZigZag to make our report and leave a flyer with them. Then we placed flyers at trail heads in the area, as well as on the Barlow Road.

THE NEXT STEP: I plan on returning Friday after work to spend the weekend hiking and camping looking for her, unless someone finds her between now and then.

Day Hiking The Southern California PCT: April In Southern California 2010 (Part II)

As I said in my Previous Post (April in Southern California 2010: Part I) I went to Southern California to see my dad. While there, I spent a lot of time hiking parts of the Pacfic Crest Trail. The day after I arrived I went up to Idylwild and hiked up to the Pacific Crest Trail just below Mt. San Jacinto. I had heard that the snow was heavy this year and long lasting. My intent was to go 20 miles each day, but this day I only went 8 due to the amount of snow I had to trudge through once I got up to the PCT. In normal years at this time there would not be any snow on the trail, or very little. Here are some photos of the trail in and around Saddle Junction, just 2.5 miles above the mountain town of Idylwild.



After the snow experience, I decided I'd better find portions of the PCT to hike which were at lower elevations. Another PCT access point not far from my father's home was the PCT cross point at Highway 74 just before it descends down to Palm Springs. The starting elevation was 4800' and I was able to get the 20 miles I desired. I went 10 miles in and 10 back, with an elevation gain of over 2000'. The wildflowers were wonderful and I wasn't prepared to see such beauty. But, this is spring and that is wildflower season in any Southern California year. Growing up as a young man in Los Angeles I never realized such beautiful flowering occured in the deserts of California. Of course, at that time I was more interesting in the size of my biceps than I was in the wonders of nature. Here are some pictures from that trail that day...






When I arrived at my turn around point, 10 miles, I met three young men taking a break very near the trail. I asked if I could take my break with them and they were eager to accept my request and talk with me. They were three Israeli soldiers who had just been discharged from there duties in Israel. They decided together to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and were amazed at the scenery thus far experienced. The other hikers who started out with them at the Mexican Boarder gave them the trail name, "The Israeli Gears", because they marched in step with each other and looked very mechanical. They invited me to keep up with their blog on line and to join them for part of the hike once they got up around Portland Oregon where I live.

From Left to right: Tom, Yashov, and Ishai.

As I headed back to the starting point I encountered a not too friendly Western Diamond Back snake on the trail. He was lying right in the middle of the trail and I just about stepped on him. He was oblivious to me until I turned around and faced him. Then, he coiled up, shook his rattle at me and tried to scare me off. Hiking in Southern California is not all glorious, but he was a beautiful creature, even though potentially deadly.



I spent my last full day in Southern California hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Interstate 10 up through White River Canyon. This was desert hiking at its finest. The weather was mild, the flowers were at there peak blooming, and I put in 21 miles without too much strain. I was sore by the end of the day, but not too fatigued. One month later and I would have been drained from the intense heat. Here are just a few of the photos I took that day...

Trip To Southern California: April In Southern California 2010 (Part I)

Last week I went to Southern California for a spur of the moment trip to see my father and brothers in Southern California. My company insisted I take some vacation time since I am between projects, so I, "high tailed it" down to Hemet to see Dad, Lew, Paul and anyone else in the family with whom I could spend time. Here's a picture of the three youngest brothers and our 86 year old dad...



It was great to visit with Lew's daughters, Jessica and Chelsea, as well as his son, Brian. Brian is soon to be married to his finance, Angela and I will be officiating his wedding in July. I spent some time discussing the wedding plans with Brian and his planner. While I was visiting, Chelsea had a very successful competition in the discus and javelin in San Diego at the JC where she is attending. She qualified for the California JC State championships in these events and had the San Diego State coaches looking hard at her during the competition. Looks like she just might be attending San Diego State for both athletics and to study Kinesiology. It turns out that San Diego State has a great Kinesiology program and that is just what she wants to study before going on to teach Physical Education. Here is a picture of me, Dad, and Cealsea...



Speaking of Physical Education, Jessica is just about to complete her student teaching and will the be certified to teach Physical Education in the state of California. She is also getting married this summer! I had the pleasure of spending part of a day hiking with Jess at the nearby Wildlife Refuge of Santa Rosa Mesa. Here we are on our hike. This picture also includes Lew's girl friend, Kim, who went on the hike also. She's a great cook, by the way!




During the week I was also able to head down to see my brother Phil in Ramona. I had never seen his place of business, Plastifab, so I stopped in there before we headed over to his house. Here are pictures of his shop where they fabricate plastics for purposes too numerous to list here...


Phil just turned 63 and in the not to0 distant future will be getting his right hip replaced, which has been a sore subject for a lot of years. No pun intended! Ironically, his company fabricates the type of composite plastic used in artificial hips. Here he is with a piece of that plastic which some day might wind up in his hip!




Here are more pictures of Phil in his garage at his home where he keeps his antique car collection. Phil's been buying, restoring, and selling these cars since he was in his twenties. A real treasure and something to be very proud of.



But, the main reason I went to Southern California was to see my dad. For a week I spent the mornings and evenings with him, while during the day I visited others and headed for the hiking trails. He's doing extremely well and I am very proud of him. I hope to head down again soon to spend some time with him once again.