![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.ruehlen.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/camp.jpg\" "\\"camp\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe loved this camp. Very nice views of the basin and a built in seat. We called it throne camp as that seat had a very royal feel to it and what a view.<\/p>\n
Here is a shot looking to the east with Horseshoe and Windy.<\/p>\n And another looking to the south east. We’ll be on top of that high peak (Windy) on the left in two days.<\/p>\n The grasshoppers\u00a0really liked our camp!<\/p>\n With our camp all set up and the insects having a party we made some dinner. We’re still\u00a0dehydrating\u00a0veggies at home and packing them in to make these tasty meals. The recipies we currently have in rotation are a\u00a0modified\u00a0Knorr pasta roma recipe,\u00a0tortellini with a broth, and a bean with chips or\u00a0tortillas.\u00a0Lunches have been\u00a0baguettes\u00a0or bagels with cheese and fresh veggies and TJ’s baked tofu. Yummy. Granola and powdered milk is the usual breakfast. We brought some Kashi oatmeal this trip and found it rather offensive. Surprising, as their\u00a0cereals\u00a0are so good. We bring trail mixes or homemade granola bars for snacks and some kind of chocolate for desert. This is a capaliene\u00a0pasta with knorr mix, roasted red pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, parmesan\u00a0cheese, green onions, and spices!<\/p>\n The next day we hiked to our cameras once we got fairly close we turned on the gps to aide our way. Within minutes it was obvious how folks get lost with these things. As I walked with the unit I realized that I was no longer paying any attention to my surroundings. Just stared at the arrow telling me 150′ more this way then swinging and telling me 415′ that way. Confusing? Yes. We felt like we were headed the right direction, but were we? The gps seemed unsure of itself, but we could tell from the peaks we could see that we were in the right area. Eventually the gps got some\u00a0confidence\u00a0and took us right to the first camera. Which had some amazing pictures of black bears checking out the tree we baited. No\u00a0grizzles\u00a0though.<\/p>\n Loving that musky smell!<\/p>\n Me too!<\/p>\n \u00a0Sadly, one of the straps securing the camera to the tree had snapped. So the next 1000 or so shots look like this (grasses blowing in the wind).<\/span><\/p>\n We changed out the batteries and set the camera back up with an improvised strap and headed off to camera two hoping we’d have better shots on this camera when we return in October.<\/p>\n Spoiler alert! The camera was turned off when we returned. We are both super confident that we turned it on after we changed to batteries. Hmm… Broken strap, camera turned off, some folks might speculate about Elves or a Yeti. Some folks.<\/p>\n Oh well, on to camera two. Armed again with the\u00a0indecisive gps we headed down the\u00a0shoulder\u00a0toward the creek and found the knoll without any problem. It had some really nice shots of bears, deer, moose, and coyotes.<\/p>\n \u00a0Cinnamon black bear checking out the lures. It’s standing about 9′ tall.<\/span><\/p>\n Black bear doing to same thing the day prior.<\/p>\n These deer prefer the camera. They’re actually looking up the slope.<\/p>\n Moose!<\/p>\n Coyote cruising thru the knoll. Headed to the creek?<\/p>\n We think that’s the same black cinnamon black bear from camera one. The black bear may be the one we will encounter tomorrow on our way to summit Windy peak. It appears the deer find the camera more interesting than the lure as we get a lot of deer shots like this. We saw another coyote on the shoulder of a mountain near our camp.<\/p>\n We changed out the batteries and indulged on a baugette with a soft cheese, baked tofu, tomatoes, onions, and fresh basil. Quite a yummy treat! We got our selves cleaned up and hiked back to camp.<\/p>\n Nevada decided we needed to pack in our kite. A couple of the mountain tops in this area have a shelf on them and peaks are generally windy places to begin with. So, what better place to fly a kite.<\/p>\n Nevada on Arnold trying to get the kite aloft.<\/p>\n Success! Nevada fly’s with fly.<\/p>\n Mike’s turn on Arnold.<\/p>\n View south from Arnold<\/p>\n Mike had better luck getting the kite aloft at camp<\/p>\n Any success we had with the kite was short lived. The wind would either change direction or stop. We had a lot of fun at our camp. Tomorrow we hike on to summit Windy peak. We set off early and made good time hiking in the cooler predawn hours. Nevada was leading the way when she spotted a black bear cub. Our noise spooked the cub and its mother. We suspect it was the same black bear from the camera. Regardless, we made a lot of noise and stopped for a long lunch. We made it to the peak in the early\u00a0afternoon\u00a0and stashed our packs and made our way to the top. We’ve been on Windy before and the views are amazing.<\/p>\n Where’s Mike?<\/p>\n Bugs love it on peaks. This one was covered in ladybugs and bees.<\/p>\n Full can on the peak<\/p>\n That can was left on the peak by the\u00a0Mountaineers. They have cans on a lot of peaks here in Washington. We took all the old notes out and left some fresh note paper with our log entry. We packed out the old notes and brought them to their headquarters here in Seattle. We were really excited about this as we had understood that they used these notes to record usage data on the backcountry. No such luck. They archive them at the Suzzallo\u00a0library\u00a0at the University of Washington Seattle. Oh well, we had a note in there form 2009 that is now in the archives. Good times!<\/p>\n Hello!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In September, we\u00a0returned\u00a0with fresh batteries, SD cards, and a kite. The plan was to change out the batteries & SD cards, summit some peeks, and fly the kite. We hiked in and found a sweet spot with a seating area … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Refried beans with green onions, tomato, and cilantro sitting in its cozy atop our trash.<\/p>\n<\/a>Don’t forget the hot sauce! Notice the tortilla warmer Nevada made. Under the gloves and pot rag. It’s a foil pouch that rests atop the cook pot and warms the\u00a0tortillas\u00a0perfectly.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n