Hitch Number V

July 25-July 31 2010
West and East Fork Lostine Trails

Once upon a time, as it were, a crew of SCA workers (4 unexpecting, 2 rather suspicious) headed out onto the East and West fork trails of the Lostine (law-STEEN) River (river). Little did they know that they were embarking on a quest filled with rain, rockwork, drooling, the occasional barking angry dogs, drainage, and the birth of an apparent violent rivalry with the Riggens Trail Crew of Riggins (pickled-asparagus-capital-of-the-world), Idaho. The East and West forks are located at the Two Pan trailhead, and are the shortest routes into the Lakes Basin of the Eagle Cap. A change from their usual fare, the "crew" (as they are known in the break-dance underground world) did no lopping. Instead, for the first few days (which also found them in "lightening position" in respect of Zeus's mighty powers every day at 1 pm), the crew dug many draindips, built a few log and rock water bars, a sloth's handful of check steps, and also cleaned out some culverts. This particular leg of the jounrey took place on the West Fork. More technical work included raising the tread in a particularly hairy (literally) section of the trail and resetting a culvert/redirecting tread (to prevent people from drowning in a shin-deep poodle). Though most of their time and energy was dedicated to working on the West fork, the crew spent their last two days working on the East fork trail, removing two trees in the path and taking care of two large drainage projects. They were especially proud of their rock culvert and turnpike that turned a mud-puddle that would have ended Frodo's journey to Mordor (MORE-door) into a walkway representing the shining-beacon of human tinkering. The crew is excited to head back into the area for their next hitch to finish up on the East fork as well as conquer the beautiful Maxwell Lake trail.

With much, much love,
William Wallace Kimmell and Jordan Leslie Albright