It was "Bob the Builder" day at trout camp. I journeyed into camp the evening before just as the sunset and the evening temperatures began to chill. It was eerily quiet, save the hoots from a owl perched far off on a Northern mountain crest. I returned the calls with those of my own and naturally solicited a territorial response. Within 10 minutes the dominant male had made his way within several hundred feet of my own perched position upon the skeet deck. Completely blind because of the blanket of darkness that had settled and depending on only my hearing, I began to wonder..."He can probably see me clear as day and I bet he's wondering what I'm up to with my challenging calls!?" Before I could begin to worry that he may just swoop down and attempt to establish the heirarchy on the hill another call came off in the distance. So now there were three! Lucky for me the two real owls went at it and left me alone. I took the momentarily distraction as a call to scoot out without a scratch and set up camp for the night. I slept well even with the 29 degree temperatures. I was thankful of my decision to pack two sleeping bags and a set of fleece for the night. They kept me relatively warm regardless of how cramped it was laying across the bench seat of my Father's F250.
I awoke at 6:45 and decided to get down to work. The tractor tore through the few stumps that littered the winding road into the head of camp. I tried my best to fill and level the holes left in their removal, but I realize that this may be a job to fool with in future outings. Having 8-10 hours to accomplish a mountain of tasks had my priorites elsewhere.
In this period of time I was able to widened the parking area, rip out 30 tree stumps, back drag and flatten the deck area, the drive way, the parking area, the firepit area and remove several root ball mounds left from the 85 tornado. All in all, I would consider it a very productive day. The next trip may have Jim and I installing a 12 X 20' deck that will serve as a place for him to set up his tent, for us to enjoy good eats and an elevated area to retreat in the event things get wet and we need to get of the ground.
By the way, the stars and planets were so bright that it felt as if I could just reach out and grab them all. I've witnessed many bright starry skies, but this particular night lacked any overcast or clouds and as a consequence the stars were super white bright...a very nice treat to admire on my first overnighter on DaJtcha!
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